学院最大功能除要照料学生食宿外，并安排各类体育、团体社交活动，负责指派导师（tutor）照顾学生。由于各学院财务状况不一，有的学院很有钱，有广大的场地及良好的设备或福利，像客房（guest house）、图书馆及研究室等。
而大学所扮演的角色，主要是向外代表各学院，统一安排全校课堂讲授(lecture)及讨论会（Seminar），以及统一颁发毕业文凭等工作。因此就实质情况来看，学生和所属学院的关系，远超过了大学。
学院的主要功能在提供膳宿及导师，所以各学院有专精领域，限制申请者所就读之科系。由于各学院师资设备参差不齐，招收学生人员互异，所以住宿年限规定也不尽相同。像Nuffield College以社会科学为主，每年仅招收二十五名研究生，但每位研究生一旦获准入学，即配有研究室，其图书设备亦相当齐全，该学院号称“全校最有钱的学院”。
Oxford University is the oldest English speaking university in the world and is able to tracetrace n.痕迹， 踪迹， 微量， 迹线， 缰绳 vt.描绘， 映描， 画轮廓， 追踪， 回溯， 探索 vi.上溯， 沿路走 its origins back over at least nine centuries. During that time， Oxford has educated individuals who have gone on to excel in every sphere， including 40 Nobel prizewinners and 25 British Prime Ministers. Today， the University comprises a federationfederation n.同盟， 联邦， 联合， 联盟 of more than 40 fiercely independent colleges and halls， with more than 16，000 students from 130 countries in residence.
Oxford became an established seat of learning as early as the 11th century， but the University as we know is today did not start to take shape until the 12th century. In 1167， due to a dispute with France， Henry II banned all English scholars from attending the University of Paris. Many of these exiled scholars congregated at Oxford and the University began a period of rapid development.
Oxford has recently topped two universityranking league tables produced by British newspapers： it came first according to The Guardian and， for the fourth consecutive year， in The Times table. Although widely contested (as with most league tables) on the basis of its ranking criteria， a recent international table produced by The Times Higher Education Supplement rated Oxford second in the world for both science and the arts and humanities， as well as fifth in the world overall. It was ranked first overall in Europe.
Oxford is a member of the Russell Group of researchled British universities， the Coimbra Group (a network of leading European universities)， the LERU (League of European Research Universities)， and is also a core member of the Europaeum.
History
The date of the University，s foundation is unknown， and indeed it may not have been a single event， but there is evidence of teaching there as early as 1096. When Henry II of England forbade English students to study at the University of Paris in 1167， Oxford began to grow very quickly. The foundation of the first halls of residence， which later became colleges， dates from this period. Following the murder of two students accused of rape in 1209， the University was disbanded (leading to the foundation of the University of Cambridge). On June 20， 1214， the University returned to Oxford with a charter negotiatednegotiate v.(与某人)商议， 谈判，磋商， ，买卖， 让渡(支票、债券等)， 通过， 越过 by Nicholas de Romanis， a papal legate. The University，s status was formally confirmed by an Act for the Incorporation of Both Universities in 1571， in which the University，s formal title is given as The Chancellor， Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford.
One of the notorious events is the St Scholastica Day riot of February 10， 1355. Following a dispute about beer in a tavern between townspeople and two students of the University of Oxford， the insults exchanged grew into armed clashesclash n.冲突， 撞击声， 抵触 v.(使)发出撞击声， 猛撞， 冲突 between locals and students over the next two days which left 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead. The dispute was settled in favour of the university with a special charter. Annually， on February 10， the town mayor and councillors had to march bareheadedbareheadedadj.不戴帽子的 through the streets and pay to the university a fine of one penny for every scholar killed. The penance ended in 1825 when the mayor refused to take part.
Admission
Admission to the University of Oxford is based on academic merit and potential. Admissions for undergraduates is undertaken by individual colleges， working with each other to ensure that the best students gain a place at the University regardless of whether or not they are accepted by their preferred choice. This has resulted in a greater balancing of academic strength across the various constituent colleges than was historically typicaltypical adj.典型的， 象征性的 of the University. Selection is based on school references， personal statements， achieved results， predicted results， written work， written tests and the interviews which are held between applicants and faculty members. Because of the high volume of applications and the direct involvement of the faculty in admissions， students are not permitted to apply to both Oxford and Cambridge in the same year.
For graduate students， admission is firstly by the University department in which each will study， and then secondarily with the college with which they are associated.
Oxford， like Cambridge， has traditionally been perceived to be a preserve of the wealthy， although today this is not the case. The cost of taking a course， in the days before student grants were available， was prohibitive unless one was a scholar (or in even earlier times， a servitorone who had to serve his fellow undergraduates in exchange for tuition). Public schools and grammar schools prepared their pupils more specifically for the entrance examination， some even going so far as to encourage applicants to spend an extra year in the sixth form in order to study for it： pupils from other state schools rarely had this luxury.
In recent years， Oxford has made greater efforts to attract pupils from state schools， and admission to Oxford and Cambridge remains on academic meritmerit n.优点， 价值 v.有益于 and potential. Around half of the students in Oxford come from state school backgrounds. There is still much public debate in Britain about whether more could be done to attract those from poorer social backgrounds. Responding to these criticisms， Oxford has introduced a universitywide meanstested bursarybursary n.(尤指大学的)库房， 金库， 奖学金 scheme effective from 2006， the Oxford Opportunity Bursaries， to offer financial support to those in need.
The University of London
伦敦大学
