College Girls

College Girls is a Channel 4 documentary series, first transmitted in the United Kingdom from 8 September 2002. The documentary followed the lives of six students who studied at St Hilda's College, Oxford, the last remaining single-sex college at the University of Oxford, between 1998 and 2001.

Background

Series producer Anna Hall and director Kevin Sim, both former students at the university, developed the idea for the series. They felt a documentary should be made that would show the reality of life as a student at Oxford rather than the clichéd image seen in novels such as Brideshead Revisited. It was felt that choosing St Hilda's would be of additional interest as it would allow "an examination of women at the beginning of the 21st century". The college was in the news due to controversial votes by the fellows as to whether it should retain its single-sex status. The college were concerned for the welfare of students involved in the project, and also feared that they may not be treated fairly by media coverage without any editorial control, but with the support of college fellow Sally Mapstone, permission was granted. The Channel 4 documentary team were allowed access to the college for up to 40 days per year.

The students

The students featured in the series included:

Lucy Aitkens—Student who was ambitious to progress through the ranks of the Oxford Union. Was the primary focus of the second episode, which saw her elected as librarian, only to be stripped of the position through breaking the union's policies on electioneering.