Open-access short courses
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Part-time learning at Oxford University – online and in Oxford
Start your learning journey at Oxford Continuing Education, at any time of life! You’ll join a highly diverse learning community: students of all ages, from all backgrounds and from all over the world.
Learn more about the different types of courses we offer below.
- Day and weekend events run in person or online, with some offered in both formats. Explore a topic in depth over one or two days with multiple speakers or hone your skills in small workshops and hands-on practical sessions.
- Weekly learning programmes are studied over one or two terms. These include courses that meet in Oxford, online courses with live-time sessions, and flexible online courses. Most of these courses are taught at undergraduate level, require coursework and may be studied for credit.
- Lecture series are a series of six weekly lectures on a given topic, providing a comprehensive introduction to your chosen subject. All are held in person in Oxford, with the majority also being livestreamed.
- Summer schools: Join us in Oxford for personal enrichment, academic progression or professional development. Many summer schools can be taken for credit; others require no coursework, and are non-assessed.
Upcoming courses
Online - live • Short courses • Professional development
Do you want to learn and speak the language of finance? Do you want to build expertise in practical financial analysis applications? Do you want to understand the pros and cons of data analytics and its potential using real-life business cases?
- Mon 02 Sep 2024 – 13 Sep 2024
- 4 meetings
- 19:00-20:30 (UK time)
Online - flexible • Short courses
A practical course covering all aspects of novel writing from character creation and story development to final edit.
- Mon 09 Sep 2024 – 22 Nov 2024
Online - flexible • Short courses
Every day we meet people with interesting life stories. Our lives are made up of tragic, uplifting and humorous experiences which shape us as individuals. We love, fight, apologise, account for and endure through whatever comes our way.
- Mon 09 Sep 2024 – 22 Nov 2024
Online - flexible • Short courses
The aim of musical analysis is to understand how music exerts such a powerful effect on us. This course introduces some of the main approaches as we attempt to bridge the gap between our intuitions about music and our intellectual knowledge of it.
- Mon 09 Sep 2024 – 22 Nov 2024
Online - flexible • Short courses
Why do animals behave the way they do? In this course we will look at the full range of behaviours found in the animal kingdom, from simple escape behaviours to complex tool use and their evolution.
- Mon 09 Sep 2024 – 22 Nov 2024
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