Structure of Oxford and Cambridge explained!

Because so many people have asked me questions about how the college and department structure works in Oxford (/Cambridge) I thought I would answer such questions in a video. Please let me know in the comments if anything is still unclear.

Map copyright - Google Maps.

If you are interested in support available in making an application to Oxbridge, here are some links that you may find useful. I have nothing to do with either of these organisations, for full disclosure.
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I am Simon, a fourth year physics student at St. Peter's College, University of Oxford. I try my best to help applicants to Oxbridge with answers from the other side of the fence and, where possible, make videos that people will find useful.

[idraote]

It was all very clear when you said college and department were two separate entities, one housing you and the other teaching you. You - not you, really, the system - lost me when you said that tutorials were not organised by the department but by the college.

[joselitojaldo]

Now I have a bit knowledge about the education system of oxbridge. Can you please show some graphics that show how it works or go. Thank you

[calumjohn]

Just wondering whether Biological sciences is an essay based course, which I would assume.
Thanks :D

[AlexCowan]

When explaining this, I usually use the analogy of a family: a family is a coherent unit made up of multiple people - there is no physical object that is 'the family', it just exists as a group that binds individuals together. That's basically the relationship between the colleges & the University. Within any family, you'll have a maternal & paternal lineage, which equates to the college/department divide.

[sebastiangil]

Thank you. This was concise and useful. Do you have any information for how the structure of teaching changes at the masters level?

[inyourgame]

Let's everyone take a moment to appriciate his bias opinion on oxford's ranking hahha

[experiencebg]

Great video ! Hope I can study at Oxbridge one day.

[oy]

no, your application will be based solely on academic merit wherever you apply. you dont need to be religious to go to a college named after a saint (or any other college for that matter) the requirements are the same at every college and they are pretty damn simple. be good at your subject.

[ksnmmmm]

Do you get to choose which collage you want to be in, in Cambridge?

[millieeved]

No no, there are no requirements about religion or political affiliation or anything personal like that :) there are several colleges of Oxford that are named after saints (e.g. St. Catherine's, St. Anne's, St. Edmund's Hall, St. Hilda's) but you don't have to be religious to go to them. The only requirement is the grades you need for the course, then of course they use the interview system to see who's most suited to the course :)

[tuvsho]

wish all university colleges have oxford university standard learning systems

[Alarmedy]

Hi Simon can you do more similar videos

[Menosaverus]

Can I ask which Christian sect each University follows.

[soumyakanti]

Thank you so much for making this video. I have been searching for something like this for years. Clears all my doubts!

[alexibrailey]

Erm... No, Cambridge natsci and Peterhouse are best

[TheBeesKneess]

hey simon, you should do a video showing your wall behind you and all its posters.

[iamziano]

Oxford's structure is so different from the educational system here in the Philippines. Here, a university is composed of colleges. And these colleges are composed of different departments. One good example is my college, College of Arts and Sciences, and under it, there are four different departments: Department of Languages and Mass Communication, Dept of Social Sciences and Humanities, dept of Biological Sciences, and dept Physical Sciences. But, I definitely agree that Oxford is the best university! hahaha!

[MattWebb]

How much easier are A-levels compared to degrees?

[samiraclex]

Oh, a Simon video! I've missed these.

[alisonmckay]

Interesting video with helpful information but you speak so fast, heaps of people won't be able to understand you. It'd be better to go a little slower. but thanks anyway, it was useful.