Oxford University
One of the challenges of writing about Oxford is that Oxford is not like most universities that English-speaking readers are likely to be familiar with, unless they actually attended Oxford or Cambridge.
I've done my utmost to make what's going on clear enough in context.
For people who prefer a more linear explanation not burdened by what the characters are likely to mention, here are the useful details in one place.
There are a variety of positions at each college when it comes to teaching - lecturers, tutors, professors, and others.
The terminology can be extremely opaque.
When I'm referring to real people in the text, I'm using the form of address (Mr, Miss, Professor, Doctor) used in the University Gazette for them.
This is a period when things were moving from mostly unmarried academics living in rooms at college (true up to about the Great War) to being married with families and living in the town or nearby areas.
Secondary education:
Both Pen and Edmund attended Schola, one of Albion's Five Schools.
Schola teaches a range of academic subjects (though in a different structure than most non-magical schools of the era).
Both of them needed to do additional tutoring to be prepared for the university exams. Fortunately, this is the sort of thing that could be handled by tutors and some hard work over the summer.
Schedule:
Oxford has three terms a year: Michaelmas, Trinity, and Hilary.
The terms run for twelve weeks (with some events and activities the week before and after term).
In the 1947-1948 year, Michaelmas Term ran from October 12th to December 6th, Hilary or Lent Term from January 18th to March 13th, and Trinity Term from April 25th to June 19th.
The vacations aren't time off, though! This is meant to be the time when students do extensive reading in their subject, so when they come back up to university, they can do deeper analysis and work with it.
It was common to have reading parties where groups of students would go to some often scenic location, do their reading, and also other activities.
This often involved having some resources to travel or a spare house that could absorb students.
The Swiss Alps were a popular location, as well as the Lake District and other particularly scenic locations in the British Isles.
As more middle and lower class or income students began going to Oxford and Cambridge, these patterns started changing.
Those students often picked up work during the vacations to pay their bills.
Studying a subject:
When applying for a place at Oxford, you applied for a specific college but also a specific subject.
The college only had so many tutors in a particular topic, and so there were a finite number of places available.
In the year of this book, there are three tutors in what we'd mostly refer to as Classics at Exeter College.
(More about this in the author notes as it applies to Edmund and Pen.)
The shape of study also looked quite different from what I and many others are used to.
My college education involved taking four or five classes a term, each with a different professor assigning their own assignments and exams, final papers, or projects.
The next term, it'd likely be four different professors, and four different topics.
At Oxford, the only thing that matters for whether you get your degree is how you do on your exams. The degree was three years of study (most subjects, including maths) with some subjects (including Greats) lasting for four.
Pen is reading maths or mathematics. Edmund's is a little more complex.
Formally he's reading (the Oxford term for 'studying' or 'majoring in') Literae Humaniores (Latin for "more human literature"), or what many of us would refer to as Classics.
More commonly at Oxford it's referred to as "Greats".
In this period, it required mastery and translation of both Latin and Greek, as well as a study of other relevant topics (with some specialisation possibly) including classical literature, Greek and Roman history, philosophy, archaeology, and linguistics.
At Oxford, lectures are scheduled across the university.
Students could attend any lecture they liked in most cases.
You could go one week, miss the next three, and then turn up again, without any penalty and with no specific assignments or feedback.
The lecture schedules were published in the University Gazette, available to everyone in the university.
There were some smaller classes that had a limited number of seats as well, like science lab courses, that worked a little differently.
The one regular weekly appointment for most students was their tutorial.
These could be the student and tutor, or a small group of two or three students.
Depending on the subject, there would be specific material to cover, such as writing a paper on a set topic or doing problem sets.
The tutorial would dive into that, provide suggestions for improvement, and recommend specific works or lectures or resources for the topic.
These were also, however, technically entirely optional.
Exams were what mattered. Greats had not only a final exam, but also the looming Honour Moderations exams or Honour Mods, taken just after the end of Trinity term in the second year.
(As Edmund takes them here.) These were gruelling, with two three-hour exams each day, morning and afternoon, for six days, a total of twelve exam papers.
Exams are marked as earning a first (highest honours), second, or a pass.
"Collections" were exams taken before term started, to help guide what you needed to work on. Final exams at the end of your degree determined if you earned your degree, and how well you did. Doing well on intermediary exams (like the Honour Mods) could earn you visible academic honours.
Life at your college:
Most students lived in rooms at college.
These varied a bit, but they generally involved a sitting room and a bedroom (small, but not shared).
The lavatories, baths, and plumbing were often in an entirely different building, so there were also chamberpots and pitchers and basins in use.
These and things like the fireplaces for heat, would be tended by scouts assigned to a specific set of rooms. Those were usually referred to as a staircase, as the rooms would be off a set of stairs.
The scouts would also see to laundry, providing breakfast, and a wide range of other housekeeping services.
Some students - especially when Oxford was overcrowded, as in this period - lived in rooms outside of their college.
Edmund here is glad to have that opportunity in his second year, for more privacy, vastly better plumbing, and more space for his ritual work.
Students had specific expectations for clothing.
Wearing academic dress was expected for tutorials, exams, and other academic appointments or for formal hall.
This included an academic gown, and a suitable mortar board or soft cap.
For certain occasions, you'd wear subfusc, a term for a dark suit or black skirt and white blouse, as well as black socks or hosiery and a suitable tie.
Observing the specifics mattered! At other times, students would wear tidy clothing suitable for the period - a suit, dress, blouse and skirt, etc. - under their academic gown.
The academic gown also indicated things about your status.
The commoners’ gown (as Pen wears) is a simple hip-length vest with hanging strips over the shoulders.
The scholars’ gown for undergraduates is vastly more voluminous, falls to the knees, and is worn by those who did particularly well on their scholarship exams or on something like Honour Mods.
Graduate students have their own, and so do the academic staff.
Lunch and dinner were generally eaten in hall.
Different colleges had different schedules for formal hall, with particular customs, but usually this was at least a few times a week.
Being at hall was expected most of the time, as it was a key point in the college community gathering.
More about how rationing was handled in period in the author's notes.
Colleges also had porters, who accepted packages, saw to getting items moved around in college, and various other tasks.
They'd have an office near the main entrance.
Usually there would be pigeon holes (pidges) or cubbies nearby, for student mail and notes.
In a time before email and mobile phones, these were key in making arrangements to meet up with friends.
The porters also paid attention to who hadn't come in, and university dons (teachers) and proctors also would keep an eye on the streets and gates to catch people trying to sneak in after curfew.
In general, there were some significant restrictions on behaviour, although complicated in the post-war period by both the large numbers at Oxford, and the fact that many of both the men and women had recently been serving during the war in various ways, and were not entirely inclined to be treated like schoolchildren.
The women's colleges worked in a similar way to the men's, but tended to be a lot more strict.
A woman who didn't sleep in her rooms could be sent down (expelled) far more commonly than men were for the same thing.
It was also not permitted to have men up to your rooms, so common spaces, general university spaces, clubs, and a friendly available punt were common options for people who were seeing each other who wanted to avoid trouble.
Finally, the Junior Common Room (JCR) was a gathering place for undergraduates.
The Senior Common Room or SCR was for lecturers, tutors, professors, and other academic staff.
Some colleges had a Middle Common Room for graduate students.
It was common for students to chat before or after hall in the evening, or to use the space for casual conversations, gossip, and other amusements.
It was also a convenient place to leave an academic gown if you didn't need it right then, or maybe a book.
Activities
There were a wide range of student organisations available.
Both Pen and Edmund have other things keeping them busy, so they mostly don't appear here.
However, sports were absolutely a major focus for many students, both on land (cricket and others) and rowing.
Various social clubs ranged from the mild (book discussions, music performances) to the wild (drinking clubs like the Bullingdon, who get a brief mention.)
Oxford sits at the junction of the Isis (what the Thames is called in those parts) and the Cherwell rivers.
There would be racing on the river, such as during Eights Week in the spring and other times during other terms. Punting on the river in long flat-bottomed boats was an excellent way to get outside, have a bit more privacy to talk or flirt, and otherwise enjoy nature.
The Academy
Finally, a word about the Academy, the college for magical students of Albion.
This basically functions like any other Oxford college, with two exceptions.
First, everyone there must also be associated with one of the non-magical colleges, and that's how their courses, tutorials, housing, meals, and everything else are arranged.
That's also true for the academic staff.
Giles Lefton, for example, is a tutor at Oriel, and takes his meals in hall there.
The Academy here has its own spaces: lecture halls, common rooms, library.
Instead of providing rooms for sleep, they provide magical workroom spaces, essential for students living in non-magical rooms in their own college.
They don't generally serve meals (especially during the periods of rationing) but do keep tea and tisane available.
The Academy is also vastly more flexible about men and women being in private together.
Back to chapter 1 or keep reading for the author’s notes and additional details about how these things play out for Pen and Edmund.