Tony Abbott's academic transcript from The Queen's College, Oxford.

Tony Abbott's academic transcript from The Queen's College, Oxford. Photo: Facebook/James West

Tony Abbott was not the best student at Oxford university when he was enrolled there as a Rhodes Scholar in the 1980s, but he did finish. And that is more than can be said for other future world leaders of that time.

The young Mr Abbott's academic transcript, obtained by journalist James West, reveals a student somewhere in the ruck, showing few signs of the lofty heights to which he would climb as his country's 28th prime minister.

Tony Abbott in Sydney on Saturday.

Tony Abbott in Sydney on Saturday. Photo: James Brickwood

His results, published on the website Junkee and in the Guardian, show Mr Abbott struggled to gain the highest marks for his efforts in the the philosophy, politics and economics program in which he was enrolled.

The transcript released by The Queen's College, Oxford, shows Mr Abbott did most poorly in the subject "General philosophy from Descartes to present day", for which he received the mark CCB.

Whereas in "Theory of politics", a subject clearly closer to his later interests, the enthusiastic pugilist and arch monarchist registered a B++.

In "Moral and political philosophy" Mr Abbott scored a BBC.

The future prime minister completed the course and was placed in the "second class" of the "Final Honour School of Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE)".

Mr Abbott's contemporary, the Conservative British Prime Minister, David Cameron, emerged with a first-class degree. But former US president Bill Clinton, one of the most intellectually gifted leaders the modern world has seen, who also received a Rhodes scholarship, did not complete the course.

Mr Abbott of course was busy doing other things as well while at Oxford, not least, obtaining a boxing "blue" for his efforts in the ring.

Perhaps those skills were also useful for the robust challenges which lay ahead.