Thursday 30th April 2026

Opinion

We need to talk about Oxford’s gossip problem 

Gossiping is an innately human pastime, existing long before our generation, and a beloved form of social interaction that teeters on the boundary between harmless fun and cruelty. Yes,...

When I met Peter Mandelson

In October 2024, during the Oxford Chancellor election, one of my responsibilities as Deputy Editor of Profiles at Cherwell was to interview Peter (then Lord) Mandelson, who was among the five frontrunners contesting the election.

There really is no smoke without fire

Preoccupation with one’s appearance is to be expected when starting at University. New wardrobes...

I was wrong. Oxford needs a ‘reading’ week.

In passing, friends often bemoan how their partners at other universities get a week...

Don’t let the chatbots win

Using AI to write an essay is embarrassing. There's almost always an element of deception involved.

Cartoon: ‘Ticking time bomb’

A response to the rise of Reform UK across campuses.

How far has Oxford come since the millennium?

An Oxonian is prime minister, the University’s chancellor is a baron, and our financing is still amoral at best.

If private schools were abolished, everyone would win

Attending a state comp gives you a greater sense of perspective.

Not everyone needs – or ought – to go to university

Student Finance is a truly wonderful thing. But it comes at a massive cost.

Cartoon: ‘Daddy I got in!’

Reaction to a new round of offers to study at Oxford.

Admissions tutoring proves that money beats merit

Private tutoring for Oxbridge admissions exemplifies everything wrong with educational inequality.

In defence of the History Admissions Test

Whilst the History Faculty is right to reconsider how it implements the HAT, scrapping it won’t do any good.

It’s time for a new view on college disparities

If we lived on the sterilised campus of one great identikit 'Oxford University', we should all imagine ourselves to be less fortunate.

Cut the job chat

It’s Michaelmas term of my final year. The days are short, my patience even shorter, and every conversation seems to circle back to the...

The inevitability of Noodle Bridge

In a controversial move, Christ Church College has been granted approval for the construction of a new footbridge crossing the A40. But what makes...

Lessons from the Cambridge Union

I went to Cambridge a few weeks ago, and attended a Cambridge Union debate on whether feminism and religion were compatible. I should warn...

Unfortunately, the Union Matters

Within a decade of being founded, the Oxford Union was already doing its best to tear itself apart – complete with a faux-epic of...

Divestment will take more than a review board

As reported by Cherwell last week, the Ethical Investment Representations Review Subcommittee (EIRRS) is conducting a review of the University’s current investment policy. The...

The gaps in Oxford’s political societies

The alignments of our nation are changing, and the failure of student politics at Oxford to keep up is nothing less than a dereliction...

Screw the Scrooges, students deserve to have fun

Having survived 5th week Blues (didn’t hear any Louis Armstrong), students can now look toward the end of Michaelmas. The days get shorter, the...

Booking needs binning

A leftover COVID system is stymying the freedom and spontaneity students need. Colleges should give it up and let us choose. In 2020, as the...

A case for the EDI training I forgot about

With everything Freshers' week has to offer, the University's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) trainings risk being overwhelmed. Even so, they should be welcomed. The...

The Oxford Union: How to break the rules

How does one successfully get away with breaking the rules? The Oxford Union’s recent antics provide an elegant solution: sack everybody who could get...

The myth of woke universities

In June 2023, the Conservatives created a new director of freedom of speech at the Office for Students. This innovation spoke to the success...

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