Permanent private hall
A permanent private hall at the University of Oxford is an educational institution within the university. There are six permanent private halls at Oxford, five of which admit undergraduates. They were founded by different Christian denominations. The principal difference between a college and a PPH is that whereas the former are governed by the fellows of the college, the governance of a PPH resides, at least in part, with the corresponding Christian denomination.
Students at PPHs are members of the University of Oxford and have full access to the university's facilities and activities. Regent's Park College is the largest PPH, and admits men and women of any age. St Benet's Hall formerly only accepted male students, but has admitted women as graduates since 2014 and as undergraduates since 2016. Blackfriars, St Stephen's House and Wycliffe Hall accept only mature students. Campion Hall admits Jesuits and priests of other orders and congregations who are graduate students. It occasionally accepts non-ordained students and ministers of other churches.
History
Private halls
The Oxford University Act 1854 and the university statute De aulis privatis of 1855, allowed any Master of Arts aged at least 28 years to open a private hall after obtaining a licence to do so. One such was Charsley's Hall.The Universities Tests Act 1871 opened all university degrees and positions to men who were not members of the Church of England, which made it possible for Catholics and Nonconformists to open private halls. The first Catholic private halls were Clarke's Hall, opened by the Jesuit Order in 1896 and Hunter Blair's Hall opened by the Benedictine Order in 1899.
Permanent private halls
In 1918 the university passed a statute to allow private halls which were not run for profit to become permanent private halls and the two halls took their current names.In some cases, a PPH can be granted full collegiate status; recent examples include Mansfield College and Harris Manchester College. However, one hall, Greyfriars, closed at the end of the academic year 2007–08, as the Franciscan order which ran and funded it could no longer afford the expense. Greyfriars' students were transferred to Regent's Park College when it closed.
List of permanent private halls
| Name | Founded | PPH status since | Affiliation | Undergraduates | Graduates | Visiting students | Total students | Undergraduate degree subjects |
| Blackfriars | 1221; refounded 1921 | 1994 | Roman Catholic | 4 | 39 | 9 | 52 | PPE, Philosophy and Theology, Theology |
| Campion Hall | 1896 | 1918 | Roman Catholic | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9 | - |
| Regent's Park College | 1810 | 1957 | Baptist Union of Great Britain | 115 | 70 | 16 | 201 | Classical Archaeology and Ancient History, Classics, Classics and English, English, Geography, History, History and Politics, Law, Philosophy and Theology, PPE, Theology |
| St Benet's Hall | 1897 | 1918 | Roman Catholic | 47 | 4 | 0 | 51 | Classics, Classics and Oriental Studies, History, History and Politics, Oriental Studies, PPE, Philosophy and Theology, Theology |
| St Stephen's House | 1876 | 2003 | Church of England | 24 | 46 | 0 | 70 | Theology |
| Wycliffe Hall | 1877 | 1996 | Church of England | 77 | 27 | 55 | 159 | Philosophy and Theology, Theology |
Former permanent private halls
| Name | Founded | PPH status from | Affiliation | Current Status |
| St Peter's Hall | 1929 | 1929 | Church of England | Became a new foundation 1947, full college 1961 |
| Mansfield College | 1886 | 1955 | Nonconformist | Became a full college 1995 |
| Manchester College | 1889 | 1990 | Nonconformist | Became a full college 1996 |
| Greyfriars | 1224; refounded 1910 | 1957 | Roman Catholic | Closed 2008 |