Oxford and Cambridge

The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University), located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world.

The University of Cambridge is rich in history - its famous Colleges and University buildings attract visitors from all over the world. But the University's museums and collections also hold many treasures which give an exciting insight into some of the scholarly activities, both past and present, of the University's academics and students.

The University of Cambridge is one of the oldest universities in the world and one of the largest in the United Kingdom. Its reputation for outstanding academic achievement is known world-wide and reflects the intellectual achievement of its students, as well as the world-class original research carried out by the staff of the University and the Colleges.

Many of the University's customs and unusual terminology can be traced to roots in the early years of the University's long history, and this booklet looks to the past to find the origins of much that is distinctive in the University of today.

The universities of Oxford and Cambridge are often jointly referred to as Oxbridge. In addition to cultural and practical associations as a historic part of English society, the two universities also have a long history of rivalry with each other.

Early history

Roger of Wendover wrote that Cambridge University could trace its origins to a crime committed in 1209. Although not always a reliable source, the detail given in his contemporaneous writings lends them credence. Two Oxford scholars were convicted of the murder or manslaughter of a woman and were hanged by the town authorities with the assent of the King. In protest at the hanging, the University of Oxford went into voluntary suspension, and scholars migrated to a number of other locations, including the pre-existing school at Cambridge (Cambridge had been recorded as a "school" rather than university when John Grim held the office of Master there in 1201). These post-graduate researchers from Oxford started Cambridge's life as a university in 1209. Cambridge's status as a university is further confirmed by a decree in 1233 from Pope Gregory IX which awarded the ius non trahi extra (a form of legal protection) to the chancellor and universitas of scholars at Cambridge. After Cambridge was described as a studium generale in a letter by Pope Nicholas IV in 1290, and confirmed as such in a bull by Pope John XXII in 1318, it became common for researchers from other European medieval universities to come and visit Cambridge to study or to give lecture courses.

Women's education

Originally all students were male. The first colleges for women were Girton College (founded by Emily Davies) in 1869 and Newnham College in 1872. The first women students were examined in 1882 but attempts to make women full members of the university did not succeed until 1947. Although Cambridge did not give degrees to women until this date women were in fact allowed to study courses, sit examinations, and have their results recorded from the nineteenth century onwards. In the twentieth century women could be given a "titular degree"; although they were not denied recognised qualifications, without a full degree they were excluded from the governing of the university. Since students must belong to a college, and since established colleges remained closed to women, women found admissions restricted to colleges established only for women. Starting with Churchill College, all of the men's colleges began to admit women between 1960 and 1988. One women's college, Girton, also began to admit men, but the other women's colleges did not follow suit. In the academic year 2004-2005, the university's student gender ratio, including post-graduates, was male 52%: female 48%

2. How the University works

The University of Cambridge is a confederation of Colleges, Faculties and other institutions.

The University functions with a relatively small central administration, and with central bodies consisting of, and mainly elected by, the current academic personnel of the Faculties and Colleges.

A large part of Cambridge's day-to-day administration is carried out by teaching staff on behalf of their colleagues, and the University's governmental structure is democratic.

As Cambridge approaches its 800th anniversary, it is not surprising that the way in which the University governs itself can appear complex. These pages outline the principal elements in these procedures in simple terms and define some Cambridge terminology. They are not an authoritative statement of the University's Statutes, nor of the legal position in relation to the rights and duties of any body or bodies.

A. Schools, Faculties & Departments

Arts and Humanities

- Faculty of Architecture and History of Art

- Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

- Faculty of Classics

- Faculty of Divinity