Women became full members of the University of Oxford on 7 October 1920, when the Divinity School held the first formal matriculation ceremony for women.

Women had already been studying at Oxford for decades. Lady Margaret Hall and Somerville opened in 1879, followed by other women’s colleges and societies. Women attended lectures and took university examinations, but Oxford did not allow them to matriculate or receive the degrees their examination results would otherwise have earned.

They could therefore complete much of the same academic work as male students without formally becoming members of the university.

A statute approved by Oxford in 1920 admitted women to matriculation, degrees and full membership. It came into effect on 7 October. Around 130 women took part in the first matriculation ceremony that day, presented in groups by the heads of the women’s colleges and societies.

The change also applied to former students. Women who had already completed the necessary academic requirements could return, matriculate and receive degrees previously denied to them. Some had studied at Oxford decades earlier.

The first degrees were awarded to women on 14 October 1920, one week after the first matriculation ceremony.

Formal membership did not immediately bring complete equality. Restrictions on the number of women students remained, and the women’s colleges did not receive the same status as men’s colleges until decades later. However, from 7 October 1920, women studying at Oxford could formally belong to the university whose examinations they had long taken.