Short courses and events
Study with Oxford online or in person
Start or continue your learning journey with Oxford Lifelong Learning at any time of life!
You’ll join a highly diverse learning community: students of all ages, from all backgrounds and from all over the world. Learn more about the different types of open-access short courses we offer below.
- Day and weekend events run in person or online, with some offered in both formats. Explore a topic in depth over one or two days with multiple speakers, hone your skills in small workshops and hands-on practical sessions, or explore the city of Oxford with a walking tour.
- Lecture series are a series of weekly lectures on a given topic, providing a comprehensive introduction to your chosen subject. All can be watched online, with many taking place in a hybrid format – so you can choose to attend online or in person.
- Weekly learning programmes include courses that meet weekly in Oxford, online courses with live sessions, and flexible online courses.
- Professional development short courses are designed with academic experts from across the University and beyond, allowing professional learners from across the globe the opportunity to benefit from Oxford University's excellence in research and teaching.
- Summer schools: Join us in Oxford for personal enrichment, academic progression or professional development. Many summer schools can be taken for credit; others require no coursework and are non-assessed.
Upcoming courses
Short intensive • Short courses • Professional development
This five-day short course from the Experimental and Translational Therapeutics Programme is taught through face-to-face tutorials. It discusses the basic principles of designing and identifying new drug molecules and monitoring their effect.
- Mon 26 Jan 2026 – 30 Jan 2026
Online - flexible • Short courses
This course introduces you to Old English literature: from tales of heroism, courage and fellowship, to poignant elegies of love and loss.
- Mon 26 Jan 2026 – 10 Apr 2026
Online - flexible • Short courses
This course is the ideal introduction to English garden history. It provides an overview of five centuries of development, from baroque formalism through the naturalistic landscape style, right up to contemporary cutting-edge planting style.
- Mon 26 Jan 2026 – 10 Apr 2026
Online - flexible • Short courses
Uncover why the inter-war years gave rise to political extremism and dictatorships across Europe.
- Mon 26 Jan 2026 – 10 Apr 2026
Online - flexible • Short courses
Step into the turbulent world of Elizabethan England, a time of plots, power struggles and discovery, and uncover how ordinary people lived through one of the most dramatic eras in English history.
- Mon 26 Jan 2026 – 10 Apr 2026
Online - flexible • Short courses
What makes humans different from other primates? When did we become human? This course will chart the development of human behaviour.
- Mon 26 Jan 2026 – 10 Apr 2026
