5 famous celebrities rejected by Oxford University

After completing his undergraduate law degree at the University of Leeds, Sir Keir Starmer went on to study at St Edmund Hall, where he earned a postgraduate Bachelor of Civil Law degree in 1986.

Other famous alumni include Hugh Grant, Bill Clinton and Imran Khan, as well as Harry Potter actress Emma Watson have been studying at the university.

But there is also a long list of famous faces who were not so fortunate, and ended up being rejected by the university.

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Peep Show star David Mitchell, who is now appearing in new BBC detective drama Ludwig, grew up in Oxford and applied to study at Merton College, but was rejected.

David Mitchell (Image: BBC/Big Talk Studios/Olly Courtney)

He went to Cambridge University instead, where he joined the Footlights comedy troupe and met his long-time comedy partner Robert Webb.

Prominent Bollywood actress Sara Ali Khan has revealed she was rejected by Oxford University.

She went on to earn her degree from Columbia University in New York before launching her successful film career.

Rob Rinder, also known as Judge Rinder, is now a barrister and TV star.

He applied to Oxford University to study politics, philosophy, and economics (PPE) but was turned down.

Judge Rinder (Image: Contributed)

He later told the Evening Standard that being rejected by Oxbridge was “the best thing that ever happened to me”.

In 1982, at the age of 17, JK Rowling took the entrance exam for Oxford University and got rejected.

She was accepted by Exeter University to study languages and classics, and went on to write the Harry Potter novels which were then adapted for movies.

JK Rowling (Image: Ian West/PA)

In 2000, Laura Spence was refused a place at Magdalen College after gaining five A grades in her A-levels.

Gordon Brown, who was chancellor at the time, labelled Oxford’s decision to reject her “an absolute scandal”.

Ms Spence, who took her A-levels at Monkseaton community high school in Whitley Bay, was then offered a £35,000 scholarship to study at Harvard University in America.