Culture
19:08, 26-Jan-2018
Women outnumber men at Oxford University for first time
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The University of Oxford admitted more women than men for undergraduate courses last year for the first time in its history, according to official figures.
The figures, released on Thursday by the UK’s centralized universities admissions body, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), show that in 2017, a total of 1,275 women and 1,165 men received offers from Oxford.
As it turned out, 1,070 women achieved the grades required to secure their places, compared with 1,025 men, the agency said.
The data only tracks back as far as 2010, but it's believed that men have outnumbered women since the school was established around 800 years ago.
Oxford university said that the new figures are "a welcome sign of progress for female applicants."
The campus of Oxford University. /VCG Photo
The campus of Oxford University. /VCG Photo
The gender gap at Cambridge University has also narrowed with 1,140 men starting their studies last fall compared with 1,055 women.
The Times said men are likely to have outnumbered women since the first Oxford college was established in 1249, though records of education being offered in Oxford date back 1,000 years.
Cambridge University. /VCG Photo
Cambridge University. /VCG Photo
Women were first admitted to Oxford university when Lady Margaret Hall opened its doors as an all-women college in 1878. Women could only attend lectures and were not allowed to take degrees, however. They became full members of the university in 1920.
The Good University Guide for 2018 shows the number of better-off children still dwarfs those from poorer backgrounds at Britain's elite universities.
Students walk past the Radcliffe Camera building at Oxford University. /VCG Photo
Students walk past the Radcliffe Camera building at Oxford University. /VCG Photo
At Oxford 1,340 students came from the richest homes last year and 105 from the poorest. At Cambridge it was 1,135 to 110.
The number of university applications across the country fell last year, a result of a smaller cohort of 18-year-olds.
The Oxford Mail newspaper, published in the university city, said the new figures also reveal a record number of Asian students admitted to Oxford in 2017.
The data only goes back as far as 2010, but it's believed that men have outnumbered women since the first Oxford college was established in 1249.