Double first for new vice chancellor at Oxford

Oxford University is to have a Catholic vice chancellor for the first time since the Reformation. Louise Richardson, pictured right, is also the first woman to hold the post.

Her opposite number at Cambridge University, Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, is also a Catholic, as is the Chancellor of Oxford University, Lord Patten of Barnes.

Professor Richardson, who grew up in Ireland, the daughter of a housewife and a former Esso sales manager, is a renowned scholar of terrorism and the current Vice Chancellor of St Andrews in Scotland, a university she says has changed its image to become more inclusive to students of all backgrounds.

State school pupils accounted for only 56.3 per cent of new students at Oxford last year and Professor Richardson said she was committed to raising that figure: “We have to work hard to raise the attainment and ambition of students in deprived areas. But it’s hard to expect universities to solve all these problems.”

Born in Cardiff to Polish refugees who came to Britain during the Second World War, Sir Leszek is a practising Catholic.

As well as Chancellor at Oxford, Lord Patten is a Tablet trustee.