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Departments offering courses

A wide range of departments offer graduate courses, spanning all four of the University of Oxford's academic divisions and Oxford Lifelong Learning.

Bodleian library in the snow

Bodleian library in the snow. Credit: Mesulame Namedre / Graduate Photography Competition

A-Z of departments offering graduate courses

The Pitt Rivers Museum.

School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography

The School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography is the largest anthropology department in the UK. It tackles real world problems through its uniquely wide-ranging approach. It produces internationally recognised research and teaches on challenging issues.

Archeological excavation in Spain

School of Archaeology

Oxford’s School of Archaeology is one of the few departments in the world where many diverse aspects of archaeological research are brought together to address critical questions about our past.

Ruskin School of Art

Ruskin School of Art

Oxford’s Ruskin School of Art provides an exceptional teaching and research environment that enables contemporary artists, art historians and art theorists to work closely together in a world-leading, research-intensive university.

The Biochemistry building

Department of Biochemistry

The Department of Biochemistry comprises over 45 research groups and around 400 researchers and support staff, including approximately 100 graduate students.

Sneezeweed (Helenium 'Sahin's early flowerer') in the Botanic Garden.

Department of Biology

The Department of Biology is one of the leading UK university departments dedicated to research and teaching in biology, possessing world-class strengths across the breadth of modern biological science research.

Looking into the reception area of the Saïd Business School at night.

Saïd Business School

Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford blends the best of the new and the old. It is a vibrant and innovative business school, yet deeply embedded in an 800-year-old world-class university.

Working in the Chemistry Research Laboratory

Department of Chemistry

Oxford’s Department of Chemistry is one of the leading chemistry research departments in the world, with around 80 academic staff carrying out international level research and an annual research income of around £38 million.

The Greek and Roman sculpture gallery at the Ashmolean Museum

Faculty of Classics

Oxford offers classical studies in two broad segments: ancient history and classical archaeology; and Greek and Latin languages and literature. The faculty’s core interests lie in the crossovers and synergies between Greek and Roman cultures.

A dark blue filter over the Penrose Paving in front of Oxford's Mathematical Institute

MPLS Doctoral Training Centre

The MPLS Doctoral Training Centre hosts a number of interdisciplinary centres for doctoral training, established with UK Research Council funding or other sources of funding.

A cliff by the sea

Department of Earth Sciences

The Earth sciences focus upon the scientific understanding of this and other planets. The emphasis of both teaching and research in the department is on understanding the fundamental principles of geological processes.

Oxford skyline featuring the Radcliffe Camera and the University Church.

Department of Economics

Oxford's Department of Economics is one of Europe's leading research departments and its members include some of the world's most distinguished academic economists.

Gowns labelled and waiting for their recipients in the Divinity School.

Department of Education

Oxford has been a major contributor to the field of education for over 100 years and today the University’s Department of Education has a world class reputation for research, for teacher education and for its graduate courses.

The octagonal skylight ceiling of the Great Hall in the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities

Faculty of English Language and Literature

Oxford’s Faculty of English Language and Literature is the largest English department in the UK, with a highly distinguished research and teaching record covering all periods of English literature.

East Europe from space

Oxford School of Global and Area Studies

The Oxford School of Global and Area Studies (OSGA) is a community devoted to innovative research and graduate teaching using a range of academic disciplines which seek to understand the complexity and the interrelatedness of societies and regions.

The Blavatnik School of Government

Blavatnik School of Government

The Blavatnik School of Government is a global school committed to excellence in leadership and public policy education and to pursuing a vision of a world better led, better served and better governed.

The octagonal skylight ceiling of the Great Hall in the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities

Faculty of History

The Faculty of History comprises an active research community of up to 800 senior academics and graduate students, all contributing to a range of research seminars, lectures, academic societies, and personal contacts.

A room with red walls and paintings on the walls

Department of History of Art

The department’s core academic staff work on subjects from medieval European architecture to modern Chinese art, and its associated academic staff include teachers and researchers spanning the global and historical range of art and visual culture.

Oxford's Supercomputer

Oxford Internet Institute

The Oxford Internet Institute (OII) is a multidisciplinary research and teaching department, dedicated to understanding the impact of the internet, data, and information technologies on society.

Entrance to St Cross Building

Faculty of Law

Oxford’s Faculty of Law, one of the largest in the UK, offers you the opportunity to study alongside some of the best law graduates of your generation, under the direct supervision of some of leading legal scholars.

Typing on a laptop

Oxford Lifelong Learning

Oxford Lifelong Learning, at the Department for Continuing Education, brings the quality of an Oxford University education within reach of everyone.

Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities

Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics

A hallmark of the faculty is the marriage of theory with data, drawing on historical, philological and comparative linguistic data from ancient and modern languages, and on psycholinguistic and phonetic experimental data.

Working in a Materials Science laboratory.

Department of Materials

As a student on one of Oxford's research degree programmes in materials, you will be part of one of the top-ranked materials departments in the world (according to the QS World University Rankings 2025).

Students at the Mathematical Institute

Mathematical Institute

Mathematics has been studied in Oxford since the University was first established in the 12th century.

Student looking through a microscope in the laboratory, Medical Sciences Division.

Radcliffe Department of Medicine

The Radcliffe Department of Medicine’s (RDM) mission is to improve health through cross-disciplinary research to understand shared mechanisms of disease and to accelerate the transition from scientific discovery to clinical care.

The Taylor Institution

Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages

The Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages at Oxford is one of the world’s leading centres for the study of European languages, literatures, and cultures and their relations with other communities and cultures around the globe.

Musical score on display in the Blackwell Hall within the Weston Library

Faculty of Music

The Faculty of Music is a globally renowned centre of teaching and research in all aspects of music, and an exciting and stimulating environment for work and study.

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging scans

Oxford Neuroscience

Oxford Neuroscience is represented by a thriving research community based across a number of departments in the University, with interests spanning molecular medicine to cognitive science.

Looking at samples through a microscope, Department of Oncology

Department of Oncology

The Department of Oncology has an established graduate training programme for science graduates and clinical research fellows.

A view of the entrance to a large hospital building

Department of Paediatrics

The Department of Paediatrics aims to shape the landscape of medical science by positively impacting the lives of millions of children through global research programmes, academic resources and commitment to success.

Cutting DNA bands from an agarose gel in the laboratory

Sir William Dunn School of Pathology

The Dunn School is a world-class biomedical research department with an outstanding track record. Over 300 scientists from more than 30 countries aim to discover the molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie human health and disease.

Student looking through a microscope in a Medical Sciences Division laboratory

Department of Pharmacology

The Department of Pharmacology is one of the top preclinical departments in the country with excellent research and teaching facilities. It hosts a large and vibrant community of graduate students. 

A student walks up to the entrance of a large building

Faculty of Philosophy

Over 150 Oxford academics are employed by or associated with the Faculty of Philosophy, making it one of the largest philosophy departments worldwide.

A view of the Beecroft Building

Department of Physics

As a graduate student at Oxford’s Department of Physics, you will work alongside world experts and have access to the department’s world-class facilities.

The Richard Doll building

Nuffield Department of Population Health

The Nuffield Department of Population Health (NDPH) brings together over 600 staff and 200 students from a number of world-leading research groups with the aim of reducing premature death and disability from human disease.

Oxford skyline

Department of Psychiatry

The Department of Psychiatry offers supervision in a wide range of research areas including laboratory-based neuroscience, brain imaging, literature synthesis and psychological and pharmacological treatment research.

Oxford skyline featuring the Radcliffe Camera and the University Church.

Department of Social Policy and Intervention

The Department of Social Policy and Intervention is a multidisciplinary centre of excellence for research and teaching in social policy, and in the development and systematic evaluation of social interventions and policies.

An aerial shot of a crowd of people standing on grey pavement

Department of Sociology

The Department of Sociology at Oxford is one of Europe's leading research departments, evidenced by the 2024 QS World rankings.

Oxford's super computer

Department of Statistics

The University's Department of Statistics is a world leader in research in probability, bioinformatics, mathematical genetics and statistical methodology, including computational statistics, machine learning and data science.

Ceiling of Christ Church cathedral

Faculty of Theology and Religion

The Faculty of Theology and Religion at Oxford is a global centre for research in a wide range of fields. There are over 150 graduate students currently studying within the faculty.

Egg vitrification in the laboratory

Nuffield Department of Women's & Reproductive Health

The Nuffield Department of Women's & Reproductive Health is one of the largest academic and clinical departments in the world in its field, encompassing multi-disciplinary research across the full spectrum of women’s health.

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