Mansfield College Oxford was founded in 1834 and moved to Oxford in 1886 to enable non-conformists to study at Oxford University. Today Mansfield offers a wide range of subjects and its population is made up of 240 undergraduates, 250 graduates and 40 visiting students. In recent years, over 90% of Mansfield’s UK undergraduates have been from the state sector – the highest percentage of any Oxford college.
In 2020, Mansfield College was the first Oxbridge college (jointly with Somerville College) to be awarded College of Sanctuary status under the Universities of Sanctuary scheme, in recognition of its commitment to nurturing a culture of inclusivity and awareness on campus for those seeking sanctuary (which includes refugees and asylum seekers).
Principal Helen Mountfield KC joined Mansfield College in September 2018 to become the third female Head of House in a row. Helen graduated with a first class degree in Modern History at Magdalen College, University of Oxford, after attending Crown Woods School (now Stationers’ Crown Woods Academy) in South East London.
Helen is a founder member of Matrix Chambers, an experienced and award-winning barrister, mediator, legal writer and international judge, with expertise in constitutional law, human rights and equality law, including particular experience of the higher education sector. She has appeared in many cases in the Supreme Court, European Court of Justice and European Court of Human Rights, and plays an active role in public policy.
She has given evidence to Parliament on numerous occasions, on issues relating to human rights, counter-terrorism policy, election law and constitutional reform. She was legal advisor to Lord Hodgson’s review of the law on election funding; was co-chair, with Lord Watson, of the Independent Commission on the Future of Work in the Digital Economy; a member of the Royal Society of Arts’ Commission on Drugs Policy; and part of the Disability Rights Commission’s review of barriers to access to the professions.
Helen has been a trustee and director of many non-profit organisations and initiatives, including (currently) Index on Censorship, and (formerly) the Institute for the Future of Work, the Equal Rights Trust, Birthrights, and the National Campaign for the Arts. She is currently Chair with Dame Sally Morgan (Master of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge) of the advisory board of ‘Close the Gap’, a collaboration between the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge to widen participation from Black and Asian British students in graduate research work.
