All Souls College | College History and University Clothing

All Souls College is a constituent college of Oxford University. It was founded by Henry VI of England and Henry Chichele in 1438 to commemorate the victims of the Hundred Years War. For over 500 years this college only admitted men, the first women were allowed to join the college as fellows in 1979. Today the college is primarily a graduate research institution.

This college has no undergraduate members but each year recent graduate and postgraduate students can apply for a small number of examination fellowships through an examination. This examination was once described as "the hardest exam in the world". For those who are shortlisted after the examinations, then they have an interview.

The All Souls examination is open to anybody who fulfils the criteria, no invitations are issued to candidates to sit the exam. Each year several dozen candidates take part and two fellows are usually elected each year. On some occasions the college has awarded just a single place or three places and on rare occasions, no awards were given. It is held over two days in late September with two papers lasting three hours each per day. These are based on a single subject of the candidate choice. The options are Classics, English Literature, Economics, History, Law, Philosophy, and Politics.

There is no compulsory teaching or requirements at All Souls. Although examination fellows must pursue a course of study or research within their first two years of fellowship. They can study anything for free at Oxford with room and board. Each fellow received a stipend of £14,842 annually for the first two years. After this the stipend varies depending on whether the fellow pursued an academic career.

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