Were the Victorians Cleverer than us?

New research suggest that the Victorians were cleverer than their twenty-first century ancestors! The nineteenth-century was a glorious era of scientific discovery, industrial progress, and improvement in living conditions. The reason for their success – its simple – they were ‘substantially cleverer’ than us.

Five Reasons Why Our Broadening Horizons Course is Better Than Ever.

Universities and employers are looking for academically talented individuals who have skills that go beyond the classroom. Here at Oxford Royale Academy we believe that our study abroad in Oxford Broadening Horizons course for 16 to 18 year olds provides the perfect preparation for those final years in secondary education, or that first adventure away from home at university. Here are five more reasons why our summer 2013 Broadening Horizons course is better than ever.

Historical Celebrities Get a Modern Makeover.

A new TV show in the UK is set to re-imagine historical figures as twenty-first century celebrities. The cult of celebrity is a historical phenomenon and royalty such as Marie-Antoinette and Henry VIII have led the way. The makers of Secret Life Of…commissioned pictures to show what the celebrities of the past might have looked like today.

Internships have, in recent years, become an integral part of the school and collegiate landscape across the world. In this article, originally published by ICEF Monitor, we look at the growing importance of international internships, offer tips on finding opportunities abroad, and what this multicultural work experience means for employers and students.

The UK's highest acting honour for Her Majesty!

Stories about two scientific projects in Oxford have made national news this week - one from the University and one from a local Oxford community. Read about both projects here. 

To celebrate William Shakespeare’s 449^th birthday, the Oxford Preservation Trust is opening to the public the 16^th century “Painted Room” on Oxford’s Cornmarket. 

London to Come to a Halt for Oxford’s Most Famous Alumna

Baroness Thatcher, Britain’s first (and only) female Prime Minister passed away earlier this week. She arrived at Somerville College, Oxford, as Margaret Hilda Roberts, to study Chemistry in 1943. The university has paid tribute to the determination and achievement of one of the most remarkable politicians of the twentieth century.

School Teachers Pick Their Top 100 Books.

If teachers are the guardians of the next generation’s knowledge, it’s good to know that they are fans of literary classics. Asked to nominate their favourite reads, many teachers chose texts from the national curriculum, exam courses or books that they themselves would have studied at school.

There are now 90 nationalities enrolled on Oxford Royale Academy 2013.

Memories From Broadening Horizons 2012

Abbey from the United States was one of last summer’s scholarship winners. Abbey took Oxford Royale Academy’s Broadening Horizons course and here talks about memories from her time in Oxford.

Meet the ORA team #1: Paul James, Programme Director

At ORA, we pride ourselves on our commitment to excellence in every way. One place in particular that this shows through is in the education, quality and background of our staff.

We are sure our 2013 students (those who have booked and those who haven't yet reserved their place!) would like to know more about the people they might be meeting in the summer. So, over the next couple of weeks, we will be publishing a series of short interviews with different members of the ORA team. This week, Programme Director Paul James is in the spotlight!

The Man Who Demolished Shakespeare's House

Britain is known as a country in love with its heritage. But it wasn’t always this way. It took some shocking acts of destruction, and some very near misses, to help shape the way it is now treasured and protected.

The Art of Collecting.

What are the factors that influence art collectors? Do they do it for simple enjoyment, or is it a way of making friends and influencing people, or is it a canny financial investment? Either way, the great cultural institutions of the UK are very much indebted to them.

What your Facebook clicks reveal about you.

Do you feel a peculiar thrill during a thunderstorm, like Pride and Prejudice and enjoy creating scrapbooks? Then you’re probably very smart, content with life and in a relationship. Or do you prefer Usain Bolt, have a tattoo and use an iPod? The you’re more likely to be single, a keen drinker and unhappy with your circumstances.

Inspirational Creative Writing courses with ORA

Are you the next great novelist from your country? Do you have a passion for poetry? Then our Creative Writing courses would be perfect for you!

Do you have a passion for the Environment?

Do you know a young environmental expert in the making?  New for this year, we have a number of summer programmes designed to help students exercise their passion for the natural world.

Make English the Language of Europe!

Not our words at Oxford Royale Academy, but the words of Germany’s president Joachim Gauck, who has called for English to be made the language of the European Union (EU) as he appealed to the UK to stay in the EU.

2013 Best Year Yet to Study Abroad in Oxford!

Oxfordshire is a world renowned county with lots to offer. From studying abroad or learning English as a foreign language with Oxford Royale Academy in the city of dreaming spires through to visiting the wonderous stately homes and country gardens of the beautiful Oxfordshire country, there as so many things to do and see if you choose to spend part of your summer with us at Oxford Royale Academy.

Students’ Rooms: 1890s v 2010s

A treasure trove of nineteenth-century photographs of students at Royal Holloway, University of London, gives a rare insight into Victorian accommodation. Students have always used their rooms to express their personality, but how has this changed over the past one hundred years?

5 reasons to choose Oxford Royale Academy!

At ORA, we pride ourselves on hosting truly exceptional summer programmes. In this article, we have outlined our top 5 reasons to choose ORA for 2013, all of which combine to provide our students with an unforgettable summer in Oxford!

An Oxford in China? International Schools Spread Across China.

The website for a private school in Changzhou, one of China’s smaller cities – but still with a population of 4.5 million people – features blue blazers and plaid skirts, music classes and an ivy-clad brick doorway. For anyone brought up in the UK all the trappings of the British private school system would be easily apparent. 

Alfred the Great Next in Line to be Dug Up.

With the excitement surrounding the successful exhumation and identification of Richard III’s bones, attention has now turned to the Anglo-Saxon king, whose remains may (or may not) lie in a church in Winchester. For those unfamiliar with Alfred, The Guardian newspaper has provided a handy idiot’s guide:

Richard III: King of England, Buried in a Carpark

A skeleton discovered under a car park in the midlands city of Leicester is, it was announced this week, that of King Richard III, who lost the Battle of Bosworth field in 1485 and with it his life. Richard reigned for only two years and 47 days. 

Oxford's Nineteenth-Century Female Pioneers

The University of Oxford wasn’t a women’s place before the end of the nineteenth century. Until 1879, the University of Oxford was an exclusively male bastion of privilege and opportunity. In that year, 21 pioneering women quietly entered two recently established residential halls – Lady Margaret Hall and Somerville.

Happy Two Hundredth Birthday Pride and Prejudice!

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is two hundred years old this month. It has one of the most famous opening lines in literature, it turned Colin Firth into a heartthrob and it has even spawned a zombie spin-off. As with any important international anniversary, a whole series of events are taking place across the world.

Famous Oxford Women: From the Twentieth Century to the Present Day.

Wanting to provide a similar sketch of the great individuals who have passed through the hallowed quadrangles of Oxford for women, as we have for male alumni, has proved rather difficult. As an earlier article has made clear women had to wait until the late nineteenth- and early twentieth centuries to really make their mark in Oxford. This week, we’ll consider one of these early pioneers, the explorer and archaeologist Gertrude Bell.

Why do Hollywood versions of American History lie?

Last weeks Oscar nomination list reveals something rotten in the state of America. All but one of the American-led films unearth the country’s dark and shameful history, and spill it all over the red carpet.

The First World War: Lest We Forget?

In 2014 it will be one hundred years since the start of the First World War. How will this be remembered in Europe? How do we remember when we have no survivors from the trenches to remind us what it was like? Professor Hew Strachan, of the University of Oxford, is worried that British commemoration of World War One is in danger of becoming sterile and boring.

What do you give the family who have everything?

2012 was the summer of the Olympics, the Diamond Jubilee, and as far as the Royal Family goes, the summer of freebies. A personalized ‘Harry’ number plate, palm floor mats and a bio fireplace were among gifts given to the Royal Family on overseas tours in 2012.

How do we Remember?

Studying the ways in which we remember is an opportunity to analyse our continued need to commemorate the past and to question the effectiveness of such markers and what they represent. 

Famous Oxonians: 7. C.B. Fry

Continuing the series we started in 2012, here at Oxford Royale Academy we’ve been studying the life of one of the most fascinating Oxford graduates of the nineteenth-century, the sporting polymath Charles Burgess Fry. 

Downton Abbey's Secrets

The third series of the multi-award-winning Downton Abbey arrived in America this week. It has often been observed that the show has scored a greater success among guileless Americans than class-savvy Brits.

ORA coach excursions: cultural education outside of the classroom

At Oxford Royale Academy, we are committed to providing our students with a complete educational experience. A key element of this is our richly varied programme of excursions, devised by our dedicated Events Team. Read all about our highlights from 2012, and our plans for 2013, in this article!

Famous Oxonians: 6. Dr Samuel Johnson.

The man who codified the English language by producing its first ever dictionary attended Pembroke College Oxford for just over one year in the eighteenth century. Samuel Johnson, often referred to as Dr Johnson or Dictionary Johnson, made arguably the most influential and long-lasting contribution to the English language.

Famous Oxonians from the Thirteenth to the Twenty-First Century: 5. John Wilmot, Second Earl of Rochester.

What links Johnny Depp, the University of Oxford, and bawdy seventeenth-century poetry? The answer, John Wilmot, 2^nd Earl of Rochester, an infamous rake, drunk and letch at the court of King Charles II of England. Depp immortalized Wilmot in the film The Libertine, which captured the filth and the glamour of the English Restoration court.

Famous Oxonians from the Thirteenth to the Twenty-First Century: 4. Sir Walter Raleigh.

One of the most romantic and captivating figures to walk through the ancient quadrangles and halls of the University of Oxford was Sir Walter Raleigh. Little is known about Raleigh’s early life, but he was registered as an undergraduate student at Oriel College, Oxford between 1568 to 1572.

Award-winning Oxford summer courses with Oxford Royale Academy

At Oxford Royale Academy, we pride ourselves on offering academically challenging and enriching summer courses to students from around the world. For 2013, we have worked harder than ever to produce our fantastic course portfolio. We are sure it contains a programme to suit every young learner! This article outlines the courses available for July and August 2013.

Does Chocolate Make You Clever?

The work of Franz Messerli of Columbia University in New York caught our eye recently. In a study, Dr Messerli seems to suggest that eating more chocolate could improve a nation’s chances of producing Nobel Prize winners.

Famous Oxonians From the Thirteenth to the Twenty-First Century: 2. William of Wykeham.

William Wykeham, the founder of New College Oxford, was born around 1324 in Wickham, Hampshire, the son of John Long, a villager of some substance. William’s story is not quite ‘rags to riches’ but his spectacular career can have owed reasonably little to his family background. Presumably John Long was able to sacrifice his son’s labour on the farm and provide some support for his education. There were several schools in Winchester, ten miles away, and numerous churches and religious houses that could provide support.

The Real Downton Abbey

Downton Abbey, the drama series following the trials and tribulations of the Earl of Grantham and his family has been a global smash hit. Highclere Castle, just twenty miles from Oxford, which serves as the backdrop to the series has enchanted viewers from around the world, who have been eager to discover one of England’s most famous stately homes and witness the historical truth behind the fiction.

The Four Fs: Overcoming Barriers to Studying Abroad

Here at Oxford Royale Academy we are passionately committed to encouraging a students from a wide-variety of backgrounds and nationalities to take the leap and come and spend an unforgettable summer with us in Oxford. But we also understand that you may have some reservations about taking such a bold step. By addressing the four fs – Family, Finances, Faculty and Fear – this article aims to put your minds at ease.

Gunpowder, Treason, and Oxfordshire.

Oxfordshire’s link to the events Bonfire Night recalls is particularly close. Chastleton House, near Chipping Norton, used to be owned by the leading figure behind the ill-fated plot to blow up Parliament, a man called Robert Catesby.

Are you a future world leader?

At Oxford Royale Academy, we are looking forward to welcoming hundreds of the world's brightest, most motivated young students to our 2013 courses.  We have no doubt that many of our students, past and future, will go on to shape the world we inhabit in future years.  For those with designs on a career in international politics, or a general interest in leadership, we are delighted to offer a number of exciting courses and options.

University of Oxford Releases Practice Interview Questions.

Here at Oxford Royale Academy we have been getting our brains around some sample Oxford interview questions – direct from the tutors who conduct the interviews – which have been released to help explain the reasoning behind even the most strange-sounding questions.

What is History's Role in Society?

As far as one can tell the thinking goes like this: the study of history, English, philosophy or art doesn’t really help anyone get a job and does not contribute to the economy to the same degree that science or engineering or business studies obviously do. So why is History important?

Why I Chose to Study in America, and to Turn Down Cambridge.

In a bid to close our week of articles on applying to Oxford and Cambridge, here Oxford Royale Academy highlights the story of George Burgess, a British student at Stanford, who turned down his place at Cambridge.

Things I Wished I’d Known Before I Went to Oxbridge

Continuing our series on applying to Oxbridge, in this article we highlight the things that journalists from The Times newspaper whish they had known before they studied at the UK’s two premier universities. Those who want to apply to Oxbridge have to do so by 15 October.

What are the easiest and hardest subjects to get in for at Oxbridge?

We are now within a week of the application deadline for students hoping to study at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Following the lead of the The Times newspaper, Oxford Royale Academy will be dedicating a series of articles to the UK’s two most famous universities.

The End of The British Stiff Upper Lip?

Unblinking fortitude in the face of adversity and hardship – or the suppression of boiling emotion – is referred to in the UK as stiff upper lip. The British newspaper editor, Ian Hislop, better known for his appearances on the television comedy Have I Got News for You, has recently asked whether this characteristic still exists.

Are Tyrants Good For Art?

Can art thrive under conditions other than liberal western democracy?

Scrap Tuition Fees for Engineering Students, UK Entrepreneur Urges.

Sir James Dyson, an inheritor to the rich tradition of British inventors stretching from Sir Isambard Kingdom Brunel to Sir Frank Whittle, has urged the UK government to create a generation of manufacturing entrepreneurs by waiving tuition fees for science and engineering students, while paying the brightest students £40,000 a year to continue their research at postgraduate level.

What's the Point in Being Idealistic?

German Idealism changed the world and influenced politics, science, art and numerous other fields. Over the past three years, more than 40 researchers from Britain, Germany and the United States have been involved in the ‘Impact of Idealism’ project, examining how the idealist movement, perhaps the most influential force in philosophy over the past two centuries, shaped the way in which we see the world and ourselves today.

Research Shows That Studying Abroad Boosts Creativity

Here at Oxford Royale Academy we’re delighted that what we’ve known for years thanks to our extensive experience of delivering high-quality summer school experiences for international students has been proven by an academic study: studying abroad boosts creativity.

Prince Harry: Playboy Prince or Brave as a Lion?

The news of Prince Harry partying hard in Las Vegas, in scenes reminiscent of the Hollywood movie The Hangover, came just two weeks after the end of Oxford Royale Academy’s British Monarchy Past and Present summer course at Corpus Christi College. The photos would have provided a perfect topic for discussion as they highlight the different role that monarchy now plays in twenty-first century British society.

Discovering Ancient Wonders - Petra

22 August is not a well-known anniversary date. But among the numerous treasures at Cambridge University Library are the private documents of the explorer, John Lewis Burckhardt, who rediscovered Petra in August 1812.

Goodbye Oxford Royale Academy! Student Stories from Week Six

Our students at campuses across Oxford and Cambridge were blessed with sunshine and warm weather for their final week in England. Read about some of their highlights below.

Week 5 Highlights

As the last of three fabulous sessions got underway across Oxford and Cambridge Oxford Royale Academy’s counselors and campus staff had mixed emotions, as their work with a talented, cosmopolitan group of international students drew to a close. This did not, however, prevent our third session from enjoying some of the following highlights.

The making of a modern classic

As attention turns away from the spectacle of the Olympics and back towards more everyday concerns, the publisher Penguin has placed Nick Hornby’s 1992 novel Fever Pitch on its Modern Classics list, alongside The Great Gatsby and 1984. But can a novel just 20 years old be a Classic? Dr Patrick Hayes of Oxford University’s English Faculty is unsure.

Week 4 Highlights (Continued...)

More highlights from across the ORA campuses...

Week Four Highlights

With the eyes of the world on London, our students at Oxford Royale Academy have been revelling in the Olympic fever which has been sweeping the nation. Such has been the Olympic excitement, that we have been distracted from providing an update on our students’ activities. So now, let us take you back to week four, with some highlights.

Week Three Highlights: More Fun (and Learning!) in the Sun!

After weeks of dreadful weather, Oxford has finally been blessed with sunshine, and our students have been taking full advantage of the beautiful weather in one of the world’s most beautiful cities.

Week Three Highlights

After a successful end to our first summer session of 2012, students from the second session have just completed their first week in Oxford and Cambridge. Here we present the greatest hits taken from our counsellors’ excellent blogs.

‘From PhD to BBC’: are academic historians too hungry for fame?

A columnist in the UK’s Guardian newspaper, John Gallagher, has recently discussed whether a great piece of history writing has to address itself to one readership over another?

Highlights from Week Two: Round Two!

Having given you an overview of some of the activities at four of our summer campuses, now we turn our attention to the remaining three…

Week Two Highlights

Continuing our weekly round up of the ‘best bits’ of Oxford Royale Academy’s summer courses, week two sees us playing roulette at the Randolph, climbing the castle walls at Warwick, enjoying a performance of Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, and meeting Baroness Susan Greenfield.

How Well Do You Know Your British History?

The UK Government has announced a major update to the citizenship test taken by all those who want to settle in Britain with a UK passport. The Guardian newspaper has released a sample version of a similar test. How would you do?

Week One Highlights

With the first week of our summer 2012 programmes drawing to a close, here at Oxford Royale we’re taking this opportunity to look back at some of the opening highlights across our Oxford and Cambridge campuses.

Fancy Studying At Harvard or MIT?

Have you always dreamed of studying at an American Ivy League University? For many of Oxford Royale Academy’s students this is a very real dream, which starts from a young age. Our SAT Preparation course helps guide aspirational students towards their university goals. But this Autumn, more than one million students are going to be part of an experiment that could re-invent the landscape of higher education.

What Makes A Movie Successful? Required Reading For All Our Film Academy Students.

An academic at the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School believes she knows the secret ingredient which makes a movie successful; and that the industry and experts are looking in the wrong places when it comes to measuring the financial gain of a film – so often the bottom line when determining a ‘hit’.

Oxford Historians Find The Bones of St John the Baptist

Dan Brown’s tales of mystery and intrigue have dominated the bestseller lists for the last decade with their heady mix of crime, mystery and religion. But now a real life plot, so unlikely that even Brown could not have dared to imagine it, has come to light in Bulgaria.

Leading Don Attacks Negative Stereotyping of Oxford and Cambridge

A leading University of Cambridge academic has warned that children risk being turned off applying to Oxford and Cambridge because of crude caricatures of their ‘toff image’.

UK prepares for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Weekend

This coming weekend marks the start of the most exciting UK summer in recent memory. Before the Olympics we will first celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee with a series of events. Marking 60 years of The Queen’s reign, the Diamond Jubilee will centre around an extended weekend on 2, 3, 4 and 5 June. 

Broadening Horizons 16-18: experience exciting new subjects this summer!

At Oxford Royale Academy, we believe that the summer is the perfect time for students to introduce themselves to a new topic of study, or even a whole new subject! For this reason, our Broadening Horizons programme for 16-18s includes academic options that students might not get the chance to experience at school.

Ocean’s Eleven at the University of Cambridge: £18m Art Theft at Fitzwilliam Museum

Ocean’s Eleven, one of the most exciting heist films of the last decade, seems to have inspired a daring raid on the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.

Lessons On How To Be “British” for Chinese Students.

The UK’s Daily Mail newspaper has recently reported the rise of ‘education consultants’ paid by wealthy Chinese families to give their children various lessons, including on ‘Britishness’ and the ‘art of small talk’, with the goal of helping them get into Oxbridge.

Procrastination: A Student’s Worst Enemy?

An article in the UK’s Guardian newspaper has confirmed that procrastination is the disease eating away at student productivity. An American study estimates that over 70% of students “exhibit [this] behaviour".

Concrete Cambridge: The Boom Years of Brutalism

The universities of Oxford and Cambridge are not all dreaming spires and ancient stonework. In the years following World War Two both universities expanded rapidly to meet the demands of a growing student body. A new exhibition at the University of Cambridge tells the story of these years of innovation and ambition, which too often have been dismissed by later generations.

Fewer Applicants to Oxford and Cambridge, study finds.

Fewer than half of state school teachers in the UK would advise bright pupils to apply to the UK’s top universities, and the numbers are falling, research by The Sutton Trust suggests. 

29 April 2011 was a day of worldwide celebration in honour of the marriage of Kate Middleton to Prince William. Discussions of the wedding dominated Oxford Royale Academy’s immensely popular British Monarchy Past and Present course in summer 2011, and we’re sure that it will be an equally popular topic of conversation in 2012.

From Germany to China, record numbers of parents are choosing a British education for their children. Indeed, the UK’s schools are fast becoming one of the country’s greatest exports. As figures last week confirmed, there is a growing band of international students seeking out British independent schools – Harrow and Wellington are even opening up branches overseas to keep up with demand.

April 2012 marks the two hundredth anniversary of one of the most important workers’ movements of nineteenth-century Britain, the Luddites. The phrase ‘Luddite’ is still in popular parlance and means one who is scared of machinery and unable or unwilling to use modern technology. The origins of this pejorative term can be traced back to the spring of 1812 – a moment where historians have traditionally argued that the working class found their political voice.

Saturday marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.  The BBC has looked back at the myths surrounding the ship's final hours.  Read a summary here! 

Here at Oxford Royale Academy we understand that many of our students think long and hard about whether to spend a summer with us in either Oxford or Cambridge. To those doubting whether the decision to spend a summer in two of England’s most historic and vibrant cities, recent research has suggested that it is more important than ever to study abroad.

The dreaming spires of the ancient city of Oxford are recognised the world over as symbols of academic excellence, achievement and privilege, closed to all but the world’s educational elite. Oxford Royale Academy, however, offers students from around the world the opportunity to live and learn English as a foreign language in the university’s famous buildings, whilst experiencing and enjoying the city as a locale.

With students at home for the Easter holidays, the historic university city of Oxford has felt much less crowded. This will all change thanks to the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival, one of the largest events of its kind in the UK, bringing thousands of literature fans to Oxford from across the world.

Many buildings in the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford are named after famous alumni or benefactors. Take the Sheldonian Theatre, named after the Archbishop of London, Gilbert Sheldon; the Radcliffe Camera, named after the Yorkshire Physician John Radcliffe; or the new Blavatnick School of Government, named after the eponymous Russian billionaire. Jowett Walk, home to Oxford Royale's New Perspectives summer course for 13-15s, is no different.

President of YouGov, Peter Kellner, spoke recently at the University of Oxford, and argued that MPs in the British Parliament have ‘lost their nerve’ in their own judgement and abdicated their responsibility for more and more decisions to be taken by crude yes-or-no referendums. So, is British democracy in danger?

In a recent interview with Associated Press, Sir Roger Bannister, the first man to break the four-minute mile, remembers his exertions as if they were yesterday – rather than May 1954. “It’s amazing,” says Bannister, “that more people have climbed Mount Everest than have broken the 4-minute mile.”

The French film The Artist has swept the board at all this year’s major award ceremonies. At the Oscars it won, among others, a best actor award for Jean Dujardin, a best director award for Michel Hazanavicius, and best picture; having previously won the same awards at both the Baftas and the Golden Globes. But why has it been so successful? A Cambridge academic has suggested some of the reasons why The Artist was the first silent film to win an Oscar since 1929.

One of Oxford Royale Academy’s most popular courses for adult learners is our ‘Interface Between Religion, Science and Philosophy’ taught by Dr Jim Driscoll. For two weeks in July and August students can pursue lessons and lectures in this fascinating topic in the historic venue of Corpus Christi College Oxford.

Oxford is a city that amazes and inspires in equal measure.  For this reason, we think it is the best place in the world for students to prepare themselves and their applications for university.

The recent success of War Horse both in the theatre and cinema has led its author, Michael Morpurgo, to ask why children love animal stories so much. The author argues that the inspiration for his story about the suffering of animals in the first world war came from a much more recent experience.

A report published this month recommends that students should spend at least one summer holiday working as an intern to prepare them for the graduate jobs market. The report’s author, Professor Sir Tim Wilson, suggests that every undergraduate should be offered a structured internship of between 10 and 12 weeks in a professional environment approved by their university.

Visitors come face to face with waxworks of cultural figures, celebrities, scientists and royalty. 

Marcus du Sautoy, Charles Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford, has launched a series of walking tours designed to help you discover the maths hidden in our urban surroundings. Anyone can join the free tours of London and Oxford which explore how cities – their buildings, roads, railways, sewers, and power systems – are all built on mathematical foundations. 

Eighteenth-century aristocrats were a cultured bunch. They travelled across Europe in search of the antique civilisations of Greece and Rome, they commissioned that unique aesthetic contribution of the English, the landscape garden, and they built some of the world’s finest country homes. But what role did the humble pineapple play in all this?

Oxford Royale Academy’s Archaeology and Anthropology course is new for summer 2012. This course explores the complex and fascinating phenomenon that is our human heritage, striving to go beyond the merely academic in order to throw light on the direct relevance of archaeology and anthropology to our modern everyday lives.

A university of Cambridge academic has shown how the Olympic Games have had a profound effect on areas such as cardiology, nutrition, genetics and biomechanics.  

Our General English and Cultural English programmes enable adult students to work on their English in the inspiring surroundings of an Oxford University college. With a choice of two start dates and an additional campus for 2012!

The two hundredth anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens has been the occasion for much soul-searching about the role that literature and reading plays in our twenty-first century lives. Dickens’s biographer, Claire Tomalin, has recently claimed that children are being brought up without the attention span to read a Dickens novel because the television is always on in their homes.

A Cambridge academic believes that we just don't understand the ancient world. Why? Read on...

Sir Isaac Newton, arguably the most famous mathematician in the world, studied at Cambridge, and it is where the apple fell from the tree, inspiring his theory of gravity. Now, for the first time, his manuscripts are being made available to the world outside of academia.

The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge are historic cities in themselves. They also contain two of the best history departments in the world. History is constantly written and rewritten within the historic quads and courts of Britain’s oldest universities. A researcher at the University of Cambridge believes that she has discovered the final secret of a ruthless band of eleventh century mercenaries.

A New Type of Public Intellectual?

Here in Britain we don’t have many ‘public intellectuals’. France is chock-full of public intellectuals pontificating on late night television. It looks like we might be going the same way this side of the Channel.

Is The Iron Lady The Cast Iron Truth?

Meryl Streep has been wowing cinema audiences across the world with her portrayal of former British Prime Minister Baroness Margaret Thatcher. But just how authentic is the film, and the image of Thatcher that is presented?

Creating Charles Dickens

Inspired by the 200^th anniversary of the world-famous author Charles Dickens’ birth, an Oxford academic has taken a fresh look at one of England’s most celebrated authors.

Oxford Museums Win Lucrative Funding Grant

Oxford’s Museums are some of the finest in the world. The Ashmolean Museum, the world’s oldest university museum, is now one of the most popular visitor attractions outside of London. Oxford’s museums play a crucial role in the extra-curricular programme of Oxford Royale Academy’s summer programmes. From Egyptian mummies to Van Dyck paintings, via shrunken heads and dinosaur skeletons, Oxford has it all.

Why are some racehorses quicker than others?

Pioneering research at the University of Cambridge suggests that a variant of the so-called ‘speed gene’ found in top racehorses can be traced back to a single British mare living about 300 years ago.

The College Porter: Life in the Lodge

At Oxford Royale Academy, we are very proud of the fantastic relationship we have developed with the six Oxford and Cambridge colleges who host our summer programmes. Students arriving in either of these ancient university towns will suddenly be exposed to a bizarre series of Oxbridge terms, such as ‘porter’ and ‘lodge’.

Gardens of Spin and Intrigue: The Dangerous World of Seventeenth-Century Gardening.

Lisa Jardine, the award-winning historian, recently spoke to BBC Radio 4 about the political power of gardening. 

The Science of Success: Cycling Towards Gold

With the London Olympics less than two hundred days away, here at Oxford Royale Academy we’re getting more and more excited about Britain’s chance for gold medals. In this article we look at the science behind cycling, and explore how technological advances are making our athletes faster.

The Rise and Fall of the Gothic Cathedral

A series of lectures at the University of Cambridge's History of Art Department will examine some of the most awe-inspiring structures ever created by man; the Gothic Cathedral.

Britannia Rules the Waves? The Politics of the Royal Yacht

The British people’s relationship with their monarchy has undergone a total revolution since the marriage of Prince William to Kate Middleton in April 2011. However, with news of a plan to present the Queen with a new royal yacht, in commemoration and celebration of her Diamond Jubilee, critics have suggested that it would be inappropriate to honour the monarch in such a way, given the current financial crisis.

Putting a Face to a Name: Who was Lady Margaret?

Oxford Royale Academy are very excited to report that a number of our adult cultural and adult English language courses for summer 2012 will be based at Lady Margaret Hall. But who was Lady Margaret?

Michael Johnson’s Olympic Hero

Michael Johnson, the American 200m and 400m Olympic Gold Medallist and World Record holder is already a hero to many sportsmen and women. But who is his sporting hero?

Are You Good Enough to Get Into Cambridge?

The University of Cambridge says that it wants a more diverse set of applicants to choose from. But how does the interview system actually work? A journalist from The Guardian newspaper gained unprecedented access to the admissions process to find out.

Oxford Mathematicians Help Sherlock Holmes.

A few months ago Oxford Royale Academy reported how the Sherlock Holmes sequel starring Jude Law and Robert Downey Jnr was being filmed near Oxford. Now we can reveal that the University was even more involved with the Baker Street sleuth than we first realised.

The Inventor and the University

James Dyson, the internationally renowned inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner and the bladeless fan, is one of the most creative manufacturing forces in the UK. In a £1.4 million deal announced earlier this month, Sir James is funding a Cambridge University professorship to support breakthrough engineering and scientific research over the next decade.

Is Germany The New Saviour of Europe?

Europe is in crisis and its future, and the future of the single European currency, is said to depend on Germany. Relationships between the United Kingdom and Germany continue to be prejudiced by the experience of two world wars, but a new historical study asks, just how much do we know about Germany’s past, and how much we understand Germany in the twenty-first century as a result.

The Real Mad Men? Advertising The Cold War

A recent academic conference organised by Cambridge University’s CRASSH (Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities) studied the use of different advertising techniques to ‘sell’ ideologically motivated policies to domestic audiences during the Cold War.

The UK’s minister for education Michael Gove has accused the exam system of neglecting British history and has said that he is ‘startled’ by the narrow concentration on Nazi Germany and the American Wild West

In an opinion piece for BBC News, leading classicist and public intellectual Mary Beard has been reflecting on the nature, reputation and purpose of the Oxford and Cambridge interview. 

The University of Oxford's Ashmolean Museum, the world's oldest university museum, has unveiled its new Egyptian galleries, which include many mummies never before exhibited.

In their 2 weeks in Oxford the film academy students have produced numerous short films that are available to watch on YouTube. This summer we will be using even more professional actors to give students a chance to get involved in the creative and directorial elements of film production. We will also be hoping to host premier-style screenings of the movies produced. 

Funding for the Arts and Humanities in the UK is at an all time low. Yet the creative industries have always allowed Britain to punch above its weight on the world’s stage. In addition, the coalition government has recently announced plans to concentrate the British schools’ curriculum on a core of ‘traditional’ subjects.

ORA staff members attended a charity quiz hosted by PEAS (Promoting Equality in African Schools). Proceeds from the envent amounting to over 60,000 pounds went towards building five new schools in Uganda.

The Royal Family has dominated news in the United Kingdom in 2011. First Wills and Kate and the marriage of the millennium, then Mike Tindall and Zara Phillips, and now a change to the laws of succession means that for the first time in the history of the British monarchy sons and daughters of any future monarch will have equal right to the throne.

Writing in the latest edition of the academic journal Changing English, Dr Mario Saraceni, a linguist at the University of Portsmouth, has called on native English speakers to “give up their claim to be the guardians of the purest form of the language”.

Oxford Royale Academy’s students, especially those from France, may have read with concern about the retirement of Asterix creator Albert Uderzo. In an interview with The Times newspaper he reveals that his formidable Gaul will continue his adventures. 

Here at Oxford Royale Academy we like to keep our finger on the literary pulse, which is why we were delighted to read that Julian Barnes had been awarded the Man Booker Prize for his novel The Sense of an Ending. 

With the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in April of this year, support for an Australian republic waned to its lowest level in 17 years. But with the pomp and ceremony over, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge settling into their lives as the ‘next-big hope’ of the Royal Family, will the Queen’s current visit to Australia be her last?

History is not just a sequence of dates and names. Here at Oxford Royale Academy we believe in the importance of an interdisciplinary approach, for both staff and students.

A handful of elite universities are pulling away from the rest of Britain’s higher education establishments as the gap between top institutions and the rest widens.

Recent research from the University of Cambridge suggests that certain myths about the Arab Spring have been cultivated in the Western Media.

For the first time in over one hundred and fifty years there has been a contested election for the Chancellorship of the University of Cambridge, and this weekend the result was announced.

The Clarendon Scholarship, funded by an annual transfer of £7.5m each year from Oxford University Press, are awarded for academic excellence, with awards worth on average more than £30,000 per student in funding each year. 

With a little under two weeks to go until the deadline for applications to Oxford, the univeristy has released a number of sample admissions interview questions.

Brits are notoriously bad at speaking a foreign language. With English the global lingua franca children, students and adults do not see foreign language ability as a skill worth investing in. In an article in The Guardian newspaper, the educationalist Anthony Seldon warns that they are close to extinction in British schools.

A building that has set empty in the heart of Oxford for several years has been refurbished and reopened to the public as a central meeting place for charities run by Oxford university students.

One of the UK's leading engineering firms has pointed to a lack of women studying science and maths.

The news that jobseekers who don't learn English may have their benefits cut has prompted the University of Reading to host a debate - Cultural Hegemony vs. Linguistic Diversity: Do we really need to learn foreign languages?

Thinking about working abroad? In this article we explore teaching English in Asia as a potential career path.

For historians the days spent in dark, musty archives may soon be over, thanks to new technology which is revolutionising the way ancient manuscripts are consulted.

In this article we consider why education reformers are looking beyond their own national boundaries for inspiration.

Leonard Da Vinci, La Principessa, Martin Kemp, Art, Portrait

As cinema-goers flock to see the acclaimed adaptation of John Le Carre's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy the issue of Soviet spies in the United Kingdom has attracted renewed attention. The most famous case of the Cold War was the espionage ring - the Cambridge Five - which originated in the University during the 1930s.

Deputy Prime Minister in the coalition government Nick Clegg has promised £50 million to fund a series of summer school projects across England.

Oxford, Samuel Beckett, Theatre, Architecture, Science, Buckminster Fuller

League tables ranking country's capabilities often obscure the real picture. 

Oxford University's ancient Bodleian Library has announced a major new development of its reader and visitor facilities. 

The international smash hit Dowton Abbey returned for a second series in the UK yesterday evening. A Cambridge academic has suggested that it is important to look behind the glossy facade of the English country house to examine the daily lives of those who worked as servants.

A giant panda and some pioneering educational work have helped Cambridge University Press become one of the first foreign winners of a special award at the 2011 Beijing International Book Fair.

Across the UK excited students are starting their university careers in the next few weeks. A league table released by The Sunday Times suggests that while there has been little change at the top, universities are acting in innovative ways to attract students despite the rise in tuition fees.

St Peter's College, one of Oxford Royale Academy's summer campuses, has hosted a national discussion of Vasily Grossman's famous novel, Life and Fate.

New figures released by the British Council suggest that English language ability can increase the earning potential of individuals by around 25%.  

Oxford has influenced and been a home to CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, Lewis Carroll, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Aldous Huxley, Graham Greene, William Golding, Iris Murdoch, John Fowles, PD James, Colin Dexter, John Updike, Ian McEwan, and Martin Amis.

Philip Pullman, author of The Golden Compass and Lyra's Oxford, is angered over plans to close Oxford libraries. His emotional speech has since become a manifesto for those wanting to save their own community libraries from closure.

Toby Ord, an Oxford post-doctoral researcher in philosophy and ethics says he is prepared to give away a tenth of his lifetime earnings to charitable causes around the world.

Squirreled away in the shadows and nooks of Oxford's most famed and most beautiful buildings lies a secret, the hidden underbelly of the University's 800-odd years of student life. The walking tour guides and the tourist maps won't lead you there, but if you look hard enough, traces of Oxfordian deliquency can, oftentimes, be uncovered.

For our 13-15 year old students St. Peter’s College has been a home away from home in the heart of Oxford. With all the students enrolled on the New Perspectives, Oxford English Perspectives, Tennis Academy and Film Academy courses living in St. Peter’s College Oxford Royale staff have frequently commented on the sense of community that has developed amongst the students who have travelled from all over the world to be part of the Oxford Royale experience. Students have not only learnt about Britain but have benefitted from spending time with students from different religions, cultures and continents.