Oxford vs Cambridge: What are the pros and cons?
I am trying to pick between the two and I am making academic considerations already. I am hoping to get more information on daily life experiences.
If people would be willing, I’m interested in how the following compare:
- Walking around city (time and comfort)
- Travel by car (in and around city)
- Availability of Asian supermarkets
- Safety
Any additional quality of life factors you feel are worth sharing, please do.
If people would be willing, I’m interested in how the following compare:
- Walking around city (time and comfort)
- Travel by car (in and around city)
- Availability of Asian supermarkets
- Safety
Any additional quality of life factors you feel are worth sharing, please do.
Reply 1
My answers are for Oxford (I've spent hardly anytime in The Other Place 
).
The city centre is very compact and even the so-called 'far out' colleges are within walking distance of 25-30 mins or so. The city centrepoint is Carfax Tower
Taking a car is not needed and would be impractical, as some of the city centre is not that accessible by car iirc.
Depends what type of Asian supermarket you mean! There are plenty of South Asian shops down the Cowley Road (near St Hilda's College and Magdalen College). If you mean East Asian, there used to be a supermarket near the train station (I've never been inside, so can't attest to what it's like, or whether it's still there).
Oxford city centre always felt very safe to me, personally. That might be because my family live in London, which is a lot bigger with probably more crime...
).The city centre is very compact and even the so-called 'far out' colleges are within walking distance of 25-30 mins or so. The city centrepoint is Carfax Tower
Taking a car is not needed and would be impractical, as some of the city centre is not that accessible by car iirc. Depends what type of Asian supermarket you mean! There are plenty of South Asian shops down the Cowley Road (near St Hilda's College and Magdalen College). If you mean East Asian, there used to be a supermarket near the train station (I've never been inside, so can't attest to what it's like, or whether it's still there).
Oxford city centre always felt very safe to me, personally. That might be because my family live in London, which is a lot bigger with probably more crime...
Original post
by AnonymousI am trying to pick between the two and I am making academic considerations already. I am hoping to get more information on daily life experiences.
If people would be willing, I’m interested in how the following compare:
- Walking around city (time and comfort)
- Travel by car (in and around city)
- Availability of Asian supermarkets
- Safety
Any additional quality of life factors you feel are worth sharing, please do.
If people would be willing, I’m interested in how the following compare:
- Walking around city (time and comfort)
- Travel by car (in and around city)
- Availability of Asian supermarkets
- Safety
Any additional quality of life factors you feel are worth sharing, please do.
Undergraduate students aren't normally allowed to keep a car in the city at Cambridge so not sure how the travel by car applies there. Unless you mean by taxi or similar. In which case...Cambridge traffic is pretty bad at times.
Cambridge is very walkable though and with the many greens/commons is quite pleasant to walk.
There will be Asian food stores in just about any university city in the UK.
Always seemed pretty safe when I was there, at least in the city centre. The bits that you probably wouldn't want to hang around at night you'd also realistically have no reason to go to as a student anyway.
Reply 3
Both are very safe places with compact and walkable centres. Neither is a sensible place to try to get around by car and you would struggle to park anyway. There will be Asian supermarkets in both, but you may need to go out of the centre into the more residential areas.
Reply 4
Original post
by artful_loungerUndergraduate students aren't normally allowed to keep a car in the city at Cambridge so not sure how the travel by car applies there. Unless you mean by taxi or similar. In which case...Cambridge traffic is pretty bad at times.
Cambridge is very walkable though and with the many greens/commons is quite pleasant to walk.
There will be Asian food stores in just about any university city in the UK.
Always seemed pretty safe when I was there, at least in the city centre. The bits that you probably wouldn't want to hang around at night you'd also realistically have no reason to go to as a student anyway.
Cambridge is very walkable though and with the many greens/commons is quite pleasant to walk.
There will be Asian food stores in just about any university city in the UK.
Always seemed pretty safe when I was there, at least in the city centre. The bits that you probably wouldn't want to hang around at night you'd also realistically have no reason to go to as a student anyway.
I will be attending as a postgraduate, and I need to commute to the midlands fairly regularly so being able to drive is somewhat important.
However, it seems cars are impractical for both
If I must, are there colleges at either university who offer more support in this regard?
Reply 5
Original post
by The_Lonely_GoatherdMy answers are for Oxford (I've spent hardly anytime in The Other Place ).
The city centre is very compact and even the so-called 'far out' colleges are within walking distance of 25-30 mins or so. The city centrepoint is Carfax Tower Taking a car is not needed and would be impractical, as some of the city centre is not that accessible by car iirc.
Depends what type of Asian supermarket you mean! There are plenty of South Asian shops down the Cowley Road (near St Hilda's College and Magdalen College). If you mean East Asian, there used to be a supermarket near the train station (I've never been inside, so can't attest to what it's like, or whether it's still there).
Oxford city centre always felt very safe to me, personally. That might be because my family live in London, which is a lot bigger with probably more crime...
).The city centre is very compact and even the so-called 'far out' colleges are within walking distance of 25-30 mins or so. The city centrepoint is Carfax Tower
Taking a car is not needed and would be impractical, as some of the city centre is not that accessible by car iirc. Depends what type of Asian supermarket you mean! There are plenty of South Asian shops down the Cowley Road (near St Hilda's College and Magdalen College). If you mean East Asian, there used to be a supermarket near the train station (I've never been inside, so can't attest to what it's like, or whether it's still there).
Oxford city centre always felt very safe to me, personally. That might be because my family live in London, which is a lot bigger with probably more crime...
Thank you for your thorough advice
Reply 6
TL/DR - check the courses, have a shufty, flip a coin.
Each of Oxford and Cambridge is small, easy, and safe to walk and cycle around in. Hardly any student drives around either city. Students walk (at night they may stagger, because reasons), ride a bike, or take a bus.
Everywhere in Oxford and Cambridge is close to everywhere else. Even so-called distant colleges such as St Hugh's at Oxford and Girton at Cambridge are not really far from anywhere. If a person is not mobility-impaired and the idea of walking twenty minutes from a college to a Faculty, lab, or library bothers that person, then he or she would have, I suggest, issues in life larger than "which of Oxford and Cambridge"?
Disabled access varies across the universities. Some of the older buildings cannot easily be adapted for wheelchair access. Quads (Oxford) and Courts (Cambridge) are not always wheelchair-friendly, and the traditional arrangement of college living and academic spaces in a series of staircases is problematic for those who cannot use stairs easily or at all. But every college has at least one modern building, ranging from sometimes dodgy 1970s ones at or near the end of their shelf-lives to very recent ones which are state of the art in mobility access.
The two cities are set up for pedestrians and cyclists, not for motorists, which is as it should be. Oxford is the car town of the two (Morris, then BL, now BMW Mini), but both cities have ring roads/bypasses, park and ride car parks, and so on. Oxford has a C Zone and a (small) LEZ zone. I don't know about Cambridge in that regard. Driving should, I suggest, not even be on (or high on) your list of considerations when choosing between these two (and some other) university towns. Parents can drop off and pick up their beloved wains at the beginning and end of terms - it's no big deal.
When you say "Asian", do you mean South Asian or East Asian? Oxford has a bigger South Asian population than Cambridge, mainly located in East Oxford, where there are South Asian shops. The student populations of both universities are ethnically, socially, and religiously diverse. The non-university population of Cambridge is, I think less diverse than that of Oxford, because Cambridge does not have an equivalent of East Oxford.
Because of Cowley and Blackbird Leys, Oxford is more working class than Cambridge, but both are very middle class cities. You see flag-shagging in parts of Oxford, but not (as far as I know) in Cambridge (although Cambridge is an enclave of civilisation surrounded by deep Farage-country). Oxford feels psychologically closer to London than Cambridge does, although each is geographically close to the Capital and well connected to it by trains and coaches (the 24/7 Oxford tube coach service included). Oxford has easy access to and from Heathrow by coach. Cambridge is closer to Stansted.
Note that Oxford and Cambridge are the only places in the UK to which you go UP when travelling from London.
The student lifestyle at each of Oxford and Cambridge is similar. The two old collegiate universities have far more in common than their differences of official terminology, academic slang, and customs and traditions might suggest. Strictly speaking, Oxford has traditions, and Cambridge just has habits. I am joking. It is fashionable for Oxonians to pretend to deplore Cambridge, but in reality we don't. Cambridge is our daughter university and we love her, in the way that we might love a naughty and foolish daughter.
Oxford is, as well as being a university town, an industrial city with a huge car factory. Cambridge is mainly a university town with associated science and tech industries. Each city has one of the very best NHS teaching hospitals anywhere in the UK.
Visit both. Decide on look and feel and on course contents.
Architecture? Oh yes, each city has some of that. Oxford has nothing to rival the Cambridge Backs. Cambridge has nothing to rival Radcliffe Square. Oxford has nothing to rival King's College Chapel. Cambridge has nothing to rival the Schools Quadrangle of the Bodleian Library, or indeed the Radcliffe Camera itself. Ashmolean Museum (Oxford) vs Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge)? It's a draw.
WARNING!!! Cambridge punts from THE WRONG END OF THE PUNT. Naughty and foolish daughter, you see?
Each of Oxford and Cambridge is small, easy, and safe to walk and cycle around in. Hardly any student drives around either city. Students walk (at night they may stagger, because reasons), ride a bike, or take a bus.
Everywhere in Oxford and Cambridge is close to everywhere else. Even so-called distant colleges such as St Hugh's at Oxford and Girton at Cambridge are not really far from anywhere. If a person is not mobility-impaired and the idea of walking twenty minutes from a college to a Faculty, lab, or library bothers that person, then he or she would have, I suggest, issues in life larger than "which of Oxford and Cambridge"?
Disabled access varies across the universities. Some of the older buildings cannot easily be adapted for wheelchair access. Quads (Oxford) and Courts (Cambridge) are not always wheelchair-friendly, and the traditional arrangement of college living and academic spaces in a series of staircases is problematic for those who cannot use stairs easily or at all. But every college has at least one modern building, ranging from sometimes dodgy 1970s ones at or near the end of their shelf-lives to very recent ones which are state of the art in mobility access.
The two cities are set up for pedestrians and cyclists, not for motorists, which is as it should be. Oxford is the car town of the two (Morris, then BL, now BMW Mini), but both cities have ring roads/bypasses, park and ride car parks, and so on. Oxford has a C Zone and a (small) LEZ zone. I don't know about Cambridge in that regard. Driving should, I suggest, not even be on (or high on) your list of considerations when choosing between these two (and some other) university towns. Parents can drop off and pick up their beloved wains at the beginning and end of terms - it's no big deal.
When you say "Asian", do you mean South Asian or East Asian? Oxford has a bigger South Asian population than Cambridge, mainly located in East Oxford, where there are South Asian shops. The student populations of both universities are ethnically, socially, and religiously diverse. The non-university population of Cambridge is, I think less diverse than that of Oxford, because Cambridge does not have an equivalent of East Oxford.
Because of Cowley and Blackbird Leys, Oxford is more working class than Cambridge, but both are very middle class cities. You see flag-shagging in parts of Oxford, but not (as far as I know) in Cambridge (although Cambridge is an enclave of civilisation surrounded by deep Farage-country). Oxford feels psychologically closer to London than Cambridge does, although each is geographically close to the Capital and well connected to it by trains and coaches (the 24/7 Oxford tube coach service included). Oxford has easy access to and from Heathrow by coach. Cambridge is closer to Stansted.
Note that Oxford and Cambridge are the only places in the UK to which you go UP when travelling from London.
The student lifestyle at each of Oxford and Cambridge is similar. The two old collegiate universities have far more in common than their differences of official terminology, academic slang, and customs and traditions might suggest. Strictly speaking, Oxford has traditions, and Cambridge just has habits. I am joking. It is fashionable for Oxonians to pretend to deplore Cambridge, but in reality we don't. Cambridge is our daughter university and we love her, in the way that we might love a naughty and foolish daughter.
Oxford is, as well as being a university town, an industrial city with a huge car factory. Cambridge is mainly a university town with associated science and tech industries. Each city has one of the very best NHS teaching hospitals anywhere in the UK.
Visit both. Decide on look and feel and on course contents.
Architecture? Oh yes, each city has some of that. Oxford has nothing to rival the Cambridge Backs. Cambridge has nothing to rival Radcliffe Square. Oxford has nothing to rival King's College Chapel. Cambridge has nothing to rival the Schools Quadrangle of the Bodleian Library, or indeed the Radcliffe Camera itself. Ashmolean Museum (Oxford) vs Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge)? It's a draw.
WARNING!!! Cambridge punts from THE WRONG END OF THE PUNT. Naughty and foolish daughter, you see?
Reply 7
Original post
by AnonymousI will be attending as a postgraduate, and I need to commute to the midlands fairly regularly so being able to drive is somewhat important.
However, it seems cars are impractical for both
If I must, are there colleges at either university who offer more support in this regard?
However, it seems cars are impractical for both
If I must, are there colleges at either university who offer more support in this regard?
Few colleges if any have parking spaces for students. There are bus and train services between Oxford and the Midlands. I grew up in the West Midlands. I had no driving licence or car when I was an undergraduate at Oxford in the 1980s. I had no difficulty travelling between my parents' house and Oxford by train, bus, or in my father's 1979 Leyland Princess 1800 HL. I once or twice hitched it in a lorry, to chisel on train costs (skinto student!).
You could maybe park a car in a quiet street on the northern outskirts of Oxford, or maybe in Kidlington, a satellite of Oxford a few miles north of the ring road. If the streets require parking permits, you might be able to rent a parking space on someone's driveway for a modest amount. Walk, bus, or bike between central Oxford and wherever the car lives.
(edited 1 month ago)
Reply 8
It is going to be a lot easier to access the Midlands from Oxford than from Cambridge. I’d suggest that this isn’t the best reason to choose a postgrad course though. Terms are only 8 weeks long and intense and you won’t have much time to get away. Outside term time you don’t need to be there. How often in that 8 week time do you need to go to the Midlands and how would that fit with the seminars etc you’d have to go to?
You could rent a parking space on someone’s drives in the suburbs- a quick look on parkopedia suggests that it isn’t cheap though, and the car would be a bus ride away from where you’d be living and studying. Again, is it worth it for 8 weeks where you’d be pretty busy in Oxford/Cambridge?
You could rent a parking space on someone’s drives in the suburbs- a quick look on parkopedia suggests that it isn’t cheap though, and the car would be a bus ride away from where you’d be living and studying. Again, is it worth it for 8 weeks where you’d be pretty busy in Oxford/Cambridge?
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