How our short courses work
Join us online or in Oxford
Ways to study with Oxford Continuing Education
Explore a new topic or revisit a favourite subject over the course of a few days, a few weeks or a term. Our short courses run in person or online, with some offered in both formats – so you can choose the study option best for you.
- ‘Online – live’ courses are taught completely online and have scheduled, live-time meetings to attend. Live-time discussion and Q&A take place via an online platform. Additionally, some ‘online – live’ weekly courses have prerecorded lectures to enjoy. Courses include day events, weekend schools, lecture series and weekly classes.
- ‘Online – flexible’ courses are taught fully online but have no live-time meetings – so you can study when it suits you at any time of the day or night. Teaching takes place in a virtual learning environment, with students and tutors interacting in online text-based forums. The forums are not live and students can add their comments at any time.
- In-person events require attendance in Oxford and have no online components. These include weekly classes, day events and weekend schools.
- Hybrid teaching events are livestreamed from Oxford, or another specified location, and include lecture series, day events and weekend schools. You can choose to join either in person or online.
Upcoming courses
Online - flexible • Short courses
If you are new to higher education, or have not studied for some time, you may find it useful to brush up your reading, note-making and essay-writing skills, and to revisit the basic rules of punctuation and grammar.
- Mon 22 Apr 2024 – 05 Jul 2024
Online - flexible • Short courses
This course examines the rise and fall of the British Empire and its manifold legacies in Britain and beyond.
- Mon 22 Apr 2024 – 05 Jul 2024
In-person weekly • Short courses
An introduction to classical design in architecture, its ancient origins and modern examples. To include demonstrations by well-known modern practitioners and the chance for students to create their own designs.
- Mon 22 Apr 2024 – Mon 08 Jul 2024
- 10 meetings
- 2:00 – 4:00pm
In-person weekly • Short courses
This interactive course further develops the participants' language skills and understanding of the culture, society and daily life in the French-speaking countries.
- Mon 22 Apr 2024 – Mon 08 Jul 2024
- 10 meetings
- 7:30 – 9:30pm
In-person weekly • Short courses
An overview of the change of focus from classical physics describing an ideal world to a new approach, modelling nonlinearity and chaotic behaviour. Chaos theory describes a world where the smallest actions might have the greatest consequences.
- Mon 22 Apr 2024 – Mon 08 Jul 2024
- 10 meetings
- 7:00 – 9:00pm
Day schools and weekend events
Join us in Oxford or online to explore a topic in depth over one or two days with multiple speakers or extend your knowledge over several weeks with a lecture series.Lecture series
Weekly lectures on a given topic. All can be enjoyed online via a livestream, with the majority being offered in a hybrid format – so you can choose to attend online or in Oxford.Weekly learning
Study with Oxford on a weekly schedule over one or two terms. Choose from courses that meet in-person in Oxford, online courses with live-time sessions and flexible online courses.