2016 in numbers

Each year we like to reflect on our student numbers, and we are always delighted with what we find! 2016 was no exception. We'd like to extend a hearty thank-you to all our wonderful students who joined us this year. We look forward to seeing you in 2017! 

Infographic - 2016 in numbers

20,172 courses and programmes enrolled on

Our students enrolled on 20,172 courses and programmes in 2016.  This means that on average, our 14,000+ students take 1.4 classes per year. 

14,011 students

Did you know that the number of Continuing Education students studying part-time at the University of Oxford is greater than the number of full-time Oxford undergraduates? It is, and by a margin of several thousand! The most recent census for full-time undergraduate students at Oxford University puts their number at 11,600. 

138 years since our founding

Oxford's Department for Continuing Education was founded in 1878, when the Rev'd Arthur Johnson delivered the first extension lecture in Birmingham on 26 Sept of that year. 

More than 120 countries

Most of our students in far-flung parts of the world are students of our short online courses. We have students from as far afield as Fiji and Mozambique. But our global diversity is not limited to the online class cohorts. Of the 1384 students who took our summer schools in 2016, more than 70 travelled to us from outside the UK, and the majority of these were from further afield than Europe. The same can be said for our weekend events, which garner students from around the globe.

18 and 95

In 2016, our youngest and oldest students were separated in age by a gap of seventy-seven years. In 2016, the Department counted 14  students in their 90s, 364 students in their 80s, and 1657 students in their 70s.

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Published 12 December 2016