Education is not limited to those gaining a degree – it is about the opportunity to learn for every citizen. The University of Oxford has recognised this since the 19th century, when it pioneered the university extension movement. Today, through its Department for Continuing Education, the University is one of the largest centres in the UK for lifelong learning. More than 13,000 students, many of whom have had no previous contact with the University, or are studying for the first time, are currently taking more than 600 short and part-time courses.
Courses include evening and weekend classes, residential and summer schools, undergraduate and graduate level qualifications, professional development programmes, and courses delivered via the internet. Students on weekly classes at Continuing Education are likely to live within a 60-mile radius of Oxford, whilst day schools, award bearing courses, summer schools and online courses attract a wide array of students from across the UK and around the world.
Part-time courses
The Department for Continuing Education runs part-time courses open to the public on subjects as wide ranging as archaeology, computing and mathematics, creative writing, environmental conservation, local and social history, modern languages, literature, psychology and counselling. These public part time courses are not only run in Oxford but in other centres around Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. A number of these are held in conjunction with the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA), the UK’s largest voluntary provider of adult education, which supports access to education and learning for adults from all backgrounds.
SPOTLIGHT: WildCRU: Training conservationists in developing nations
Bornean Clouded leopard
Founded in 1986, WildCRU was the first university-based conservation research unit in Europe, and is today recognised as a world leader in the field. WildCRU has educated conservation scientists from around the world for decades, and now a new postgraduate diploma is training conservationists from the developing world. The diploma, with a special focus on wild cats, equips conservation practitioners with the necessary scientific and professional skills to make a significant contribution to biodiversity conservation in developing countries, and strengthen those countries’ capacity for wildlife management. During the pilot stage, the group included biologists whose expertise ranged from tigers in China to leopards in Iran, lions in Tanzania and lynx in the Balkans – each region wrestling with huge conservation challenges.
"This new diploma will not only make a great contribution to building conservation capacity in parts of the world where action is urgently needed on the ground, it will be a milestone in opening access to Oxford."
David Macdonald, Director, WildCRU
International programmes
Participants for Oxford’s international continuing education programmes come from more than 50 countries, including many developing nations. Featured below are two examples of programmes:
Masters in International Human Rights Law A part-time degree involving distance learning via the internet as well as two summer sessions held at New College, the Master’s programme in International Human Rights Law has a globally recruited faculty including eminent human rights scholars and practitioners. Students come from every continent and are working in the United Nations and other international organisations, non-governmental organisations, the armed forces, universities, the media, medicine and other fields. Alumni have included two members of the War Crimes Tribunal Investigation Team in Rwanda, the Director of the UNCHR in Afghanistan and Oxfam’s Programme Officer for Somalia. The Commonwealth Foundation made an award of £105,000 to support seven students from sub-Saharan Africa taking this programme in 2009 -11.
Adilisha: Capacity-building in southern Africa The Department for Continuing Education’s Adilisha programme has worked with 35 human rights NGOs throughout sub-Saharan Africa, supporting the development of human rights advocacy and research on the plight of populations at risk, with due focus on the violation of the human rights of women and children. The project employed distance-learning resources, CD-based interactive materials and in-region workshops. Most recently, the Department has partnered higher education institutions in South Africa, helping to open up university education to the young black populations of the former townships.
