The Student Room Group

Oxford or Cambridge

What is better Oxford or Cambridge and how should I decide on a college?
Neither is objectively better than the other. Some subjects may only be offered at one or the other and the approaches/specialisms/focuses of shared subjects may vary between them. Less objectively one may be better than another for a particular subject, but this is very much a matter of debate.

For choosing a college focus on just picking one that you think seems nice and that fits your needs in terms of accommodation, facilities and amenities etc. While bearing in mind there is a good chance you may be pooled at Cambridge or be made an offer by the second college to interview you at Oxford (they also have a more limited pooling system there too). So don't get too hung up on a particular college...
as the above said, they’re both equally as good as each other, just in different aspects. have a look at the course info on each website to see if you prefer one over the other (and see whether they have entrance exams or not; one of the reasons i chose cambridge was because the same course at oxford had an entrance exam!).

also, it may be worth looking into interview processes at both as they are slightly different, i believe oxford interview a lower percentage of applicants as they put more weighting on GCSEs etc so if yours weren’t great, you may have a better chance at Cambridge.

good luck !
Oxford is, of course, better.

You know I'm being facetious, right? They're basically unsplittable quality-wise and have been forever. And they have a LOT of similarities. But there are reasons why one might be better than the other for you:

They don't offer all the same subjects. If you want to do just a physics or chemistry degree, forget Cambridge. If you want to be a vet or a dentist, forget Oxford.
The exam system is different (Cambridge has exams in all three years, Oxford doesn't).
There's a different emphasis put on things in the entry system. You're more likely to get an interview at Cambridge. You're also more likely to get a really high offer and fail to reach it - almost all Oxford offer-holders achieve their offers but a significant proportion of Cambridge offer-holders don't.
Cambridge has a pool system which goes on for ages while you'll know whether you've been offered a place at Oxford on the same day as everyone else in mid January. You can either look at this as keeping you in the system for longer (at Cambridge) or knowing earlier where you stand (at Oxford).
Oxford is a significantly bigger city than Cambridge.
Oxford no longer has any female-only colleges.

It's not worth setting your heart on a college - at Oxford about 40% of people end up at a college they didn't apply to. If you have a preference, great, but if not then it really doesn't matter.

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