h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I went there from 1997 - 2001 (gosh, I'm dating myself here, aren't I), back when it was still one of the few universities around that did Automotive Engineering. The Engineering department there is/was pretty good, and won Formula Student a couple of years ago.

And of course, it was the place where Jeremy Clarkson got a custard pie in the face when he collected his honorary doctorate .

It used to be Oxford Polytechnic, and it seems quite odd that it almost sprouts out of the housing estate and area of Oxford otherwise known as Headington.

PS - I'd volunteer to write the entry, but I already have a h2g2 uni project I can't seem to find the time to write . I'll help out, though!

I think Oxford Brookes has had the Times University Guide "Best New University" award a few times now. It's usually quite high up the rankings too.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8403-1795844,00.html

Ranked no. 53 in the UK in last year's Times University guide.

55% get firsts or 2:1s.

It's also been Best New University every year from 2001 to 2005.

Thanks, Rains and Elentari!

It became a university in 1992, though its origins are in Oxford School of Art, which was founded in 1865. It was a polytechnic from 1970.

It's named after John Henry Brookes, its head from 1928 to 1956.

Famous alumni: BBC correspondent John Pilkington and rugby player Tim Rodber.

University website: http://www.brookes.ac.uk/
Students' Union site: http://www.thesu.com/