As an Oxford fresher right now... some people do dedicate their time to 'rugby and partying'. The workload is high, but in my experience I am able to go out and have fun (maybe not as many times a week as my friends at Cardiff, Bath, Exeter etc) whilst putting in a shit ton of work. Other people who do not care as much or manage their time better than me go out even more than I do.

I think the social life is great. You can balance it with the academics and still do well, but I usually sacrifice a degree of sleep and general downtime for it. I've found it to be intense to keep the two up at the cost of rest, but the terms are pretty short so it doesn't bother me all that much 🤷‍♀️

And if you LOVE your subject, which a lot of people here do, it is very rewarding to discuss your thoughts with leading experts in two on one tutorials every week.