Studying at Oxford should open up the very highest doors but the people who go there aren’t necessarily the most intelligent people in the UK or the world, and it certainly doesn’t mean that they are better or nicer than other people in every respect- they have just managed to answer questions to a high enough level on a narrow range of subjects in their exams.

Cambridge University has actually been classed as slightly better in league tables overall in recent years. Cambridge University has a much better reputation for science than Oxford, whereas Oxford has aa better reputation for the arts (but the difference between the two in the arts is probably very small and Cambridge has the Footlights society.)

Although some people mention the ancient universities of Scotland. eg St Andrews, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow, the closest equivalent to Oxford and Cambridge in England is arguably Durham University, as it also has a collegiate system. Although York (where I went) also has a collegiate system, it is pretty arbritary, with no discernible differences between each college.

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