Keble College is just under 800 metres north of Carfax, right next to the University Science Area. Well placed for OUSU, the Lamb & Flag pub and the sublime Maison Blanc patisserie. It’s a big and relatively modern college – a mere spring chicken at 134 years old. The main buildings are Victorian redbrick, some of them resembling vast Battenberg cakes. These buildings – and the unforgettable chapel – contrast almost violently with the spaceship which landed one night in the rear quad and claimed it was the bar. Keble students like to get out and about and are often involved in high-profile University activities, especially sports, despite being a fairly casual crew.
| Sex Ratio (M:F): 60:40 |
Founded: 1870 |
| Full-time u’grads: 417 |
Part-time: n/a |
| Postgrads: 245 |
Mature: n/a |
| State:private school: 52:48 |
International: n/a |
| Academic ranking: 14 |
Disabled: n/a |
Large, popular, recently extended bar; two or three themed bops a term, big ball every other year. Feisty Rag and strong drama at the O’Reilly Theatre; music rehearsal rooms at the Sloane Robinson Building with several pianos and a harpsichord. Library (40,000 books); 25 computers, 24hrs. Anglican chapel with successful recording choir. ‘The Brick’ termly for College news. Very sporty (loads of blues) and excellent facilities including gym, weights room and rowing boat about a mile away. Especially strong at rugby and hockey. Keble can house most of its many undergrads and postgrads, thanks to new conference-type rooms (most en suite); catered pay-as-you-eat credit system (you have to buy 30 meals in advance) and limited self-catering; six formals a week; network points in all rooms. Nurse, doctor, women’s, welfare, charities and equal opps officers and rep for ethnic minorities and international students; ramp for wheelchair access; scholarships, bursaries, hardship fund.
FAMOUS ALUMNI
Ed Balls (schools minister); Giles Coren (acerbic critic); Michael Croft (founder, National Youth Theatre); Geoffrey Hill (impenetrable poet); Imran Khan (cricketer); Rev Chad Varah (founder, the Samaritans); Andreas Whittam Smith (founder, The Independent) – yes, Keble’s your college if you’re planning to found something.