Why choose Oxford?

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2026 rank the University of Oxford as the best university in the world for a tenth consecutive year.

Oxford is also ranked first in the THE's 2026 World University Subject rankings for medical and health, and computer science; second for engineering and social sciences; and in the top 5 globally for life sciences, arts and humanities, business and economics, law and engineering.

The QS World University Rankings 2026: Top global universities place Oxford among the top 4 universities in the world.

Graduate study at Oxford

There are more than 13,500 graduate students at Oxford, forming just over half of the University’s overall student body. Graduate students are key to our academic community, and join our world-leading academics in tackling the most important questions we face today.

Admission to graduate study at Oxford is very competitive. Requirements vary between courses, but in general our academic departments look for students with the ability, enthusiasm, curiosity and commitment needed to pursue higher-level study here. We welcome applications from students of all ages, nationalities and backgrounds.

We have high expectations of our graduate students, and we aim to provide a supportive and stimulating environment in which you can reach your full potential. This includes cutting-edge research facilities and unrivalled resources across the disciplines, as well as personal and welfare support, academic guidance and a sense of community throughout your time here.

Oxford's graduate students have access to outstanding resources and facilities, including the UK's largest library system, cutting-edge experimental labs and world-famous museums and collections. Continue reading this page to find out more.

Oxford is one of the world’s top research universities and boasts world-class facilities for study and research. We are famous for our research excellence and innovation, and home to some of the most talented researchers in the world.

The Research Excellence Framework 2021 (REF) results show that Oxford's submission had the highest volume of 'world-leading' (4*) research of any UK institution, submitting over 3,600 researchers (3,405 full time equivalent) into 29 subject areas, over 8,500 research outputs in a range of formats from journal articles to compositions, and 220 case studies about the impact of Oxford research beyond academia. In 2023-24, the University of Oxford received £778.9 million in external research funding.

The University is at the forefront of research on topics of national, regional and global significance. Our work is ground-breaking, collaborative and interdisciplinary. We're dedicated to fostering research collaborations across the world with research institutions, research agencies, funding bodies, industrial and commercial partners, sponsors and benefactors.

Life as a graduate researcher

Graduate students are central to the University's research efforts. They join our academic staff in working to answer fundamental questions and tackle some of the major challenges facing the world today. We look for the most promising students to join our outstanding departments and faculties.

As a graduate student at Oxford, you’ll work alongside your peers and leading experts in your field, who will inspire and support you throughout your time here. You’ll have access to world-class facilities and resources in your subject, and you’ll be encouraged to get involved in the intellectual life of your department and the wider academic community.

An Oxford research degree is an opportunity to immerse yourself in your chosen area, pursue your own ideas and make a significant and original contribution to knowledge. We provide a supportive environment in which researchers at every stage of their career can flourish. Watch some of our students talk about their research at Oxford, from advanced cooling technologies for jet engines to how blood stem cells are made. You can find out more about our graduate research courses on the Where do I start page.

World-class facilities

The University spends more than £100 million per year on major building projects and will invest £2 billion in its estate over the next decade, including new buildings and the restoration and refurbishment of existing facilities. Investment in the University’s estate is supported by a range of funding sources, including University funds, government funding, philanthropic donations and external partnerships.

Here are just some of our newest world-class facilities:

• The Life and Mind Building opened in 2025 and houses the Departments of Biology and Experimental Psychology and the Ineos Oxford Institute for antimicrobial research. With its state-of-the-art teaching and research facilities, the building was designed to enable researchers to investigate the most fundamental questions of our age – from what it means to be human, to how we address the global challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, mental health and food security.
• The Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities opened in 2025, bringing together seven humanities faculties, the Institute for Ethics in AI and the Oxford Internet Institute. Its state-of-the-art facilities include the Bodleian Humanities Library and a range of teaching and research spaces. The Schwarzman Centre is also open to the public, with a cultural programme that includes exhibitions, performances and talks.
• The Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Building opened in 2022 and is home to the Department of Biochemistry, the Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery and the Oxford Genomics Centre. Its specialist research facilities support areas including advanced bioimaging, structural biology, proteomics and crystallography.

Oxford combines a rich heritage with infrastructure and facilities that are adapted to the needs of today’s students and scholars.

Across the University, digital technologies are enabling new kinds of research and learning, from computational approaches to drug discovery and exploring the Colosseum in VR. Oxford has been a centre of excellence for computing and engineering for decades, and is at the forefront of research in areas such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

But no matter your subject, we want to enable you to make the most of technology to enhance your study and research. We have one of the largest private networks in the UK, providing high-speed internet and excellent IT facilities and support, with hundreds of computers for use throughout the University. Our virtual learning environments (VLEs) allow students to access course materials and collaborate, and many lectures are captured as audio or video podcasts.

Enhanced research

At Oxford, fantastic research materials are often just a few clicks away. Using SOLO, the University’s main search engine for library collections, students can search almost all of the holdings in the Bodleian, as well as departmental, faculty and college libraries across Oxford — that’s millions of printed books, e-books, online journals, articles, reports and databases at your fingertips.

Our museums and libraries use new technologies to provide digital access to their collections, including many objects and texts you might not otherwise get to see. Digital Bodleian makes portions of the Bodleian’s extraordinary library collections freely available to the world. It features over 650,000 digital objects, including images of manuscripts, rare books, maps and ephemera, from medieval Arabic cosmographies to maps of Middle Earth annotated by JRR Tolkien, and from classical papyri to drafts of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The Ashmolean Museum has also embarked on a major project to digitise its collections, with over 60,000 object records available for you to browse or search.

Oxford’s academic community is committed to providing the widest possible access to its world-class research. We have a policy of open access for publications that result from the University’s research. All researchers are encouraged to deposit their research publications in the Oxford Research Archive (ORA), the University’s digital repository, which holds more than 225,000 works including datasets. 

Skills and development

We provide many opportunities for graduate students to gain valuable digital research skills and develop a better understanding of finding and working with data. The Bodleian iSkills programme offers workshops for graduate students in information discovery and scholarly communications, and training in digital research skills is also run by our graduate schools. The Bodleian Data Library can advise you on finding data and statistics and managing your research data. It also manages access to restricted data collections, and helps researchers apply for access to sensitive datasets held offsite.

The University’s IT Learning Centre (ITLC) runs many classroom-based IT courses, taught in state-of-the-art learning rooms. Courses cover topics such as programming, digital media and platforms, data analysis, data management, data visualisation and high-performance computing.

All University members also have free access to a vast library of video learning courses on LinkedIn Learning. These courses are taught by industry experts and cover thousands of topics, from Python to project management.