Is Oxbridge that much better?

Hi there! I’m a student about to begin university for an undergraduate degree in a humanities subject in the autumn. For context, I applied to Cambridge but was rejected. I’m mostly fine with this and can totally get past not having the same reputation and perks of it… except one thing. I love my subject and I need to know whether the teaching is just that much better at Oxbridge. Just how much will I be missing out on? Not just in terms of lectures but supervisions/tutorials (which I understand is unique to Oxbridge). I love studying and I know I’ll learn a lot no matter what but how big is that gap?

Reply 1

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Hmm, might depend a bit for the humanities. The thing which Oxbridge often are able to offer which many others unis aren't routinely able to offer in a lot of their courses in the same subjects is often a greater range of subjects/options, and more offerings in more "niche" areas (e.g. in medieval and world history for history, in Old/Middle English and their literatures in English lit/ASNAC, uncommonly offered languages such as Celtic languages, Sanskrit/Prakrit/Pali, Egyptian/Akkadian/Sumerian, Persian and its older forms e.g. Avestan and Middle/Old Pesian, stronger emphasis on classical phases of more commonly available languages like Arabic/Chinese/Japanese, more medieval text and language options for European languages etc). Of course, your interests may not encompass any of those things in which case it might be a moot point!

Bear in mind - given the state of the higher education system in the UK generally now, a lot of academics are on fixed term/temporary contracts, and so it's not uncommon that academics may e.g. teach at Oxbridge for a couple years then move to another university or vice versa. Hence I suspect in general teaching itself is not going to be largely dissimilar in quality compared to other universities (since realistically I imagine at least some if not quite a few of the academics are going to be the same people circulating between the same unis until they can get a permanent position?) - it's more the format which is different and perhaps more intensive (with maybe less room to "hide" as well!). Equally bear in mind most won't have direct experience of undergraduate study at both Oxbridge and another uni (but may have experience of learning in one of the two and teaching in the other for example which can provide some element of comparison).

So I think the differences from what I can tell lie more in what is available and the format of how the teaching is delivered, rather than the teaching itself and teachers (i.e. lecturers/academics) themselves?

@The_Lonely_Goatherd or @elilast might be able to give some more insight into tutorial and other teaching for humanities subject(s) at Oxbridge? @gjd800 and @Sandtrooper might also be able to give some insight from the postgraduate perspective! :smile:

Reply 2

The_Lonely_Goatherd

Hello,

I really wouldn't get too fixated on the idea that you might be missing out on better teaching at Oxbridge. As has been mentioned, some of the modules you may not easily find elsewhere (but that is subject dependent) but as has also been mentioned, academics do move around and tend to take their teaching and ideas with them. We are fortunate in the UK that there are lots of world-class departments and world-class unis in the UK dotted around all over the place - and likeliness is, if you are academically strong enough to have applied to Cambridge, you will be going to one of these world-class unis/departments anyway!

As an Oxford music undergraduate student, I had some world-class teaching (from both DPhil/PhD students and teaching faculty) that I wouldn't have easily found elsewhere. I also had some abysmal teaching/lecturers (again from both DPhil students and tenured teaching faculty). Everywhere has its pluses and minuses, its good eggs and bad eggs, its world-class and its downright whacky.

Go to wherever is your firm now with eagle eyes for all the opportunities you can muster! You may not have every single opportunity you would have had at Cambridge, but you'll meet great people, study great things, and definitely have more sleep! :h:

The world is still your oyster :moon:

so carpe diem!

Reply 3

The_Lonely_Goatherd

It's also worth mentioning that, while the supervision system at Cambridge is of course a unique and amazing thing, it will not suit everyone's learning patterns/styles/tastes :nah:

Reply 4

UtterlyUseless69

Original post by Anonymous

I’m an Oxford chemist and therefore cannot speak for the humanities subjects or Cambridge for that matter, but the teaching really isn’t anything extraordinary much of the time and the idea that the Oxbridge unis offer better teaching than anywhere else is most probably false. If anything, I’ve heard that non-RG universities often employ the best teachers as lecturers and professors, rather than putting brilliant pioneers in their fields who often struggle to teach in the same positions.

What makes Oxford and Cambridge really stand out is how much richer they are than other universities and how good the connections are that alumni can access. A statistic I saw is that between them, Oxford and Cambridge have something like £7.3 billion and all other UK universities between them have £2 billion. As such, they can afford larger departments than most universities and so can offer a broader range of areas for you to study in your subject.

EDIT: the given statistic was probably misremembered or something else entirely and I cannot remember the source. As such, I will provide a more reliable set of statistics to illustrate the above point: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_universities_in_the_United_Kingdom_by_endowment

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 5

gjd800

Speaking as a teacher/academic, you can get loads more done in loads more depth with a ssmaller class size, and so tutorials can be fantastic.

But seminars with a skilled practitioner can also be fantastic. I loved my time at Oxford but in the fundamental, day-to-day ways, it is largely like every other institution I have read or worked at. The people you have access to in terms of social networks and alumnus connections are where a lot of the real-world value lies. Being an Old Member provides some fantastic opportunities.

Reply 6

elilast

I agree with the other comments. There is a lot to like about Oxbridge, especially small tutorials/classes that you find elsewhere. I have been taught by amazing researchers. But especially for humanities, it is less 'teaching' than 'you teach yourself then discuss it with an academic'. The educational value of those discussions depends a lot on how much your tutor cares about teaching/has experience teaching. Some friends who have studied at Oxbridge and elsewhere have commented that they feel teaching was overall better and more consistent at their previous unis. I think much of the best parts of Oxford for me were not the teaching but rather the overall environment (resources, lots of academic people, opportunity to make good connections) and skills (being able to write essays quickly). You can still learn a lot (or quite possibly more) not going to Cambridge...!

Reply 7

Sandtrooper

Volunteer Team

I unfortunately don't have time to give a super detailed response, but I was at Cambridge for one year in the end, and I was utterly miserable (COVID didn't help). I don't think the work I was doing was at any higher level than at my other university, but just at a much, much higher intensity.

Reply 8

Labradoodle1

Original post by UtterlyUseless69

I’m an Oxford chemist and therefore cannot speak for the humanities subjects or Cambridge for that matter, but the teaching really isn’t anything extraordinary much of the time and the idea that the Oxbridge unis offer better teaching than anywhere else is most probably false. If anything, I’ve heard that non-RG universities often employ the best teachers as lecturers and professors, rather than putting brilliant pioneers in their fields who often struggle to teach in the same positions.
What makes Oxford and Cambridge really stand out is how much richer they are than other universities and how good the connections are that alumni can access. A statistic I saw is that between them, Oxford and Cambridge have something like £7.3 billion and all other UK universities between them have £2 billion. As such, they can afford larger departments than most universities and so can offer a broader range of areas for you to study in your subject.
EDIT: the given statistic was probably misremembered or something else entirely and I cannot remember the source. As such, I will provide a more reliable set of statistics to illustrate the above point: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_universities_in_the_United_Kingdom_by_endowment

Endowments make up a small portion of the funding unis actually get (a lot of income comes from elsewhere). While Oxbridge definitely have disproportionately more money than other unis, the difference in how much money they have is not that drastic