Complex sentence: Early records suggest that the university grew out of an association formed by scholars leaving the University of Oxford after a dispute with townsfolk; the two "ancient universities" have many common features and are often jointly referred to as "Oxbridge".
Split into simpler sentences: Early records suggest that the university grew out of an association formed by scholars leaving Oxford after a dispute with townsfolk. The two "ancient universities" have many common features and are often jointly referred to as "Oxbridge".