Category Archives: Open Days

Oxford Open days

Come and visit us this summer to discover what student life at Oxford is really like.

The University of Oxford is once again ready to welcome prospective applicants and their companions to our annual Summer Open Days! Regardless of which universities you are interested in studying at, open days are an important opportunity for you to get a feel for the cities and/or campuses in which you might be spending three or four years. We recommend visiting lots of different universities if you can to find out which places make you feel most at home.

Here at Oxford, we have University-wide Open Days running on Wednesday 28 June, Thursday 29 June and Friday 15 September. These days offer an ideal opportunity for you to explore Oxford, find out more about our courses, tour colleges, and quiz our tutors and current students.

It will be busy and you will probably leave feeling that there just wasn’t enough time, but you will also have a really good idea of Oxford and whether it might be the university for you. The secret to open days is definitely planning ahead, so do take some time to explore all the information given here.

It is not mandatory to register for an Oxford Open Day, although we strongly recommend that you do in order to receive our university newsletters, full of top tips on how to make the most of your day.

In terms of Modern Languages, we will be running the following sessions between 10:15am and 3:30pm across these days:

  • Modern Languages at Oxford – Taylor Institution Library
    Presentation overview of our courses and resources followed by a Q&A with tutors and current students.
  • Meet the tutors’ drop in session – 47 Wellington Square
    Tutors will be available in this period to answer any individual questions about our courses and the application process.
  • Library tours – Taylor Institution Library
The Taylor Institution Library (commonly known as the Taylorian) 

These sessions are a great opportunity to learn about our Modern Languages courses, talk to our tutors from our different languages, look at our resources and study spaces, and pick up prospectuses.

We do not take bookings for these sessions, but places are allocated on a first come, first served basis. You can take a look at the programme here for more details.

We look forward to welcoming lots of you to Oxford and the Modern Languages Faculty very soon!

Some Reminders

Happy Wednesday all! After some technical difficulties last week (apologies if anyone had issues accessing the blog), we’re back with a couple of reminders about upcoming events for (prospective) Modern Languages students… have a read below!

N.B. The deadlines for applying/registering for these opportunities/events fall within the next week, so don’t hesitate to sign up now!

Wadham College’s Modern Languages Summer School

A Summer School class at Wadham College, 2022
  • When: Monday 21st August – Friday 25th August 2023 
  • Where: Wadham College, Oxford
  • What: Summer Schools are designed to give UK pupils studying in Year 12 a taste of what it’s like to be an undergraduate studying at the University of Oxford. Pupils will take part in an academic programme, live in College, meet student ambassadors studying at Oxford, and receive information, advice and guidance on applying to university.
  • Who: Year 12 French, German, and Spanish students from UK state schools
  • How to apply: Fill out this application form.
  • Deadline to apply: 5pm, Friday 5th May 2023
  • More information: You can find more information here and email the Wadham Access Team at access@wadham.ox.ac.uk with any questions.

Modern Languages Open Day

Modern Languages Open Day 2022
photo (c) John Cairns
  • When: Saturday 13th May 2023, 10.30am-4pm
  • Where: Examination Schools, 75-81 High Street, Oxford
  • What: Our Modern Languages Open Day will offer an overview of our Modern Languages courses and a general Q&A for prospective students in the morning, with individual language sessions and a parents’/guardians’/teachers’ Q&A session occurring in the afternoon. 
  • Who: The Open Day is aimed primarily at Year 12 students and their parents/guardians/teachers, but Year 11 students who are starting to think about university study are equally welcome to attend. 
  • How to register: Booking for this event is compulsory – you can register your attendance here.
  • Deadline to register: Bookings will close at midnight on Wednesday 10th May 2023.
  • More information: You can view the full event programme here and contact the Faculty at schools.liaison@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk with any questions.

We look forward to seeing you at these exciting events over the summer – don’t forget to apply/register ASAP!

Modern Languages Open Day – Book Your Place now!

It has been wonderful to meet so many students at our language-specific open days over the past few weeks. Building on this, we are delighted to be able to welcome prospective students to Oxford for our Modern Languages Open Day on Saturday 13th May, 10.30am-4pm. The event will be held at the Examination Schools, located on the High Street.

Modern Languages Open Day 2022
photo (c) John Cairns

This event is a fantastic opportunity for students who are interested in learning more about our language courses, or who are still considering their options, as this Open Day will cover ALL of our languages: French, German*, Spanish, Italian*, Russian*, Portuguese*, Modern Greek*, Czech*, and Polish*. Most of our Joint School degree subjects will also be represented at the event.

*All of these languages can be studied here at Oxford from beginners’ level. From this year’s admissions cycle, students can also apply to study Beginners’ German with our Joint Schools subjects (e.g. English, History, Linguistics etc.) for the first time.

Modern Languages Open Day 2022
photo (c) John Cairns

Our Modern Languages Open Day is aimed primarily at Year 12 students and their parents/guardians/teachers, but Year 11 students who are starting to think about university study are equally welcome to attend. The Open Day will offer an overview of our Modern Languages courses and a general Q&A for prospective students in the morning, with individual language sessions and a parents’/guardians’/teachers’ Q&A session occurring in the afternoon. You can view the full event programme here.

Booking for this event is compulsory – you can register your attendance here. Bookings will close at midnight on 10th May 2023. Please note that, due to restricted places, only one parent/guardian/teacher may accompany each student for the morning session.

We look forward to seeing lots of you in May and welcoming you to Oxford!

Russian & Slavonic Languages Open Day

Bookings for our Russian & Slavonic Languages Open Day are now open!

This year, our Russian & Slavonic Languages Open Day will be held on Saturday 4th March, 10.15am-12.30pm at University College, Oxford.

Like our other language-specific open days, this event is smaller and more focused in its scope compared to our wider open day later in the year, allowing more time to explore a subject.

Our Russian & Slavonic Languages Open Day is designed to provide greater insight into our undergraduate degree programmes in Russian and other Slavonic languages such as Czech, Polish and Ukrainian. These languages are all available to study at beginners’ level here at Oxford, so the open day presents a great opportunity to find out more about these options and what the courses entail. It’s also a lovely excuse to come and visit an Oxford college and the city for the day, meet our current students and academics, and experience a taste of student life.

Event programme for the 2023 Russian & Slavonic Open Day

If you are interested in coming along to this event, you can reserve your place on our open days webpage. Please note that bookings are mandatory for this open day and that the deadline for registering is 20th February 2023.

As a reminder, we’re running several language-specific open days over the next six weeks… take a look at the table below for further details and sign up to attend here!

*This open day has been designed to be accessible for students considering beginners’ German. From this year’s admissions cycle, applicants can mix Joint Schools subjects with beginners’ German, so please do encourage students considering degrees in English, History, Philosophy etc. to come along and try out some German!

We look forward to meeting you at these events soon!

Learn more about languages at Oxford!

Here at the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages, we organise and run a range of open days for prospective applicants and their parents/guardians and teachers each year. Open days are one of the best ways for students to get a real feel for a University, helping them to make informed decisions about their futures.

The Taylor Institution Library, Oxford University’s centre for the study of Modern European languages and literatures.

Over the course of February and March, we will be holding our language-specific open days, designed to provide greater insight into our undergraduate degree programmes. In comparison to our wider open day later in the year, language-specific open days are smaller and more focused in their scope, allowing more time to explore a subject in depth.

For example, the German Open Day offers an introduction to German film, German linguistics, and different types of German literature. On the Spanish and Portuguese Open Day, our wonderful academics will provide an introduction to Transatlantic Iberian Culture and attendees will get the chance to learn Portuguese in 15 minutes.

So, if you’re thinking about applying to study languages at Oxford, or want to find out more about a particular course, these open days offer a wonderful opportunity to meet some of our tutors and current students, come along to academic taster sessions which will give you a flavour of what it’s like to study languages, and ask lots of questions.

Below are the details of our 2023 language-specific open days. You will need to book a place at these events, which you can do via our open day website, where you will also find the event programmes.

Language-specific open days 2023

*Our German Open Day has been designed to be accessible for students considering beginners’ German. From this year’s admissions cycle, applicants can mix Joint Schools subjects with beginners’ German, so if you’re considering a degree in English, History, Philosophy etc., why not come along and try out some German!

You may have noticed that there is no specific open day for French: students interested in French should attend the Faculty’s main open day later in the year or one of the University open days in June or September. Keep your eyes peeled for more information about those events in future blog posts.

We look forward to having you along to our language-specific open days – don’t forget to book your place!

While you’re here: a reminder that applications to our 2023 UNIQ programme are still open! You can read more about this fantastic opportunity for UK state school students in last week’s blog post, or head to the website for further information.

Apply by 23 January!

SPANISH FLASH FICTION 2022: THE HIGHLY COMMENDED ENTRIES (Y12-13, PART 1)

Following the publication of the winning and runner up entries, we are excited to present the first set of highly commended entries for the Year 12-13 category of this year’s Spanish Flash Fiction competition!

A huge well done to all our highly commended entrants! Without further ado, ¡venga, vamos!

            Buenos Aires, julio de 1977

Photo by Pavel Neznanov on Unsplash

El lunes, yo vi a un fantasma.

Miraba el atardecer por la ventana, cuando apareció repentinamente en aquella propiedad sombría frente a mi casa. Todo encapuchadito, sin rostro, siendo empujado por dos polis que lo llevaban al sótano del edificio. Mi mamá me dijo que dejara de decir bobadas. ‘¿No conocés la historia de Pinocho?’ me regañó, pero te lo juro que le vi y que oí su llanto espeluznante por la noche. Me quedo esperando para ver si habrá otros fantasmas. Anteayer hubo uno, ayer dos y hoy tres.

Todos entran, pero ningún sale. 


Adam Noad, Year 12

Ahogamiento

Photo by Stormseeker on Unsplash

Supresión. Estremecimiento. Miedo.

Agua fría envolvió su cuerpo. El frío le arrastró a las profundidades del mar. Las mortíferas olas se alzaron sobre el joven. Miedo recorrió su cuerpo como un rayo que no lo soltaba. Una ola gigantesca se lo tragó y cayó la oscuridad. Cuando abrió los ojos y trató de respirar, solamente pudo percibir vagamente que se hundía cada vez más. Sus gritos de auxilio fueron inútiles. La profundidad del mar se lo había tragado para siempre. La vida puede ser nuestro mayor oponente: todo forma parte de la huida del ahogamiento en pensamientos desagradables.

Supresión. Estremecimiento. Miedo.


Nicole Puhr, Year 12

Photo by Brian Yurasits on Unsplash

Soy una cuchara de plástico.

Fui hecha en China. Comprada en Amazon. Volada al Inglaterra. Conducida con cientos de las mías a una escuela.

Recogida por un niño emocionado. Dejada por un niño emocionado. Tirado a la papelera por un profesor cansado.

La bolsa estaba rota. Fui dejada en la calle. Transportada en un río por la lluvia. Llevada al mar por la corriente.

Eso fue hace años.

Las olas me han desgastada. Pero sigo aquí. Los pájaros y los peces me han comida. Pero sigo allí.


Debería sentirme mal. Pero no siento nada.

Porque soy una cuchara de plástico.

Toni Agbede, Year 12

La Mar

Photo by Michael Olsen on Unsplash


El miedo me ha envuelto. Tenía una tarea. Una tarea imposible. La brisa marina salada mordió mi cara, ordenándome que tuviera éxito. La naturaleza se ha convertido no sólo en mi señora, sino también mi torturadora en este barco. Las olas turquesas acarician el barco. Quiero unirme a su reino azul.

“¡Capitán, concéntrese!”

Una tarea imposible.

Las balas de lluvia aporrean la cubierta del barco. La verdadera ira de la mar. Me palpita la cabeza. Nuestro destino es desconocido.

Negar su exigencia sería imposible. Sus ojos de azul zafiro perforan mi alma.

Me someto a ella. 

Polly O’Sullivan, Year 12

Photo by Nsey Benajah on Unsplash

El marinero, tratando de mantenerse despierto, cuenta las constelaciones, pintadas por el universo para guiarlo.

Un silencio escalofriante, roto solo por olas oscuras que empujan su barco hacia adelante.

De repente, una voz de miel llena el aire salado. La canción espectral rueda, como un tsunami, hacia el marinero, y gira dulcemente su cabeza hacia el océano.

Entonces la ve. Sus ojos apenas por encima de las olas, brillando más que la Estrella del Norte, lo orientan hacia ella.

Se zambulle, luego grita mientras el océano llena sus pulmones, y desaparece en las aguas negras.

Todo vuelve al silencio.

Daria Pershina, Year 12

¡ Felicidades a todos!

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MFL Teachers – don’t forget! You can:

  • Sign up to our mailing list here to get updates about our schools events and activities, and for a chance to win £100 of vouchers for your department;
  • Learn more about and book on to our MFL Teachers’ Conference (23-24 September) here.

    Any questions: contact us at schools.liaison@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk

Final Summer Open Day!

Come and visit us in September to discover what student life at Oxford is really like.

Oxford is once again ready to welcome prospective applicants and their companions! Regardless of which universities you are interested in studying at, open days are an important opportunity for you to get a feel for the cities and/or campuses in which you might be spending three or four years. We recommend visiting lots of different universities if you can to find out which places make you feel most at home.

Here at Oxford, we have our final University-wide Open Day running on Friday 16 September. This day offers an ideal opportunity for you to explore Oxford, find out more about our courses, tour colleges, and quiz our tutors and current students.

It will be busy and you will probably leave feeling that there just wasn’t enough time, but you will also have a really good idea of Oxford and whether it might be the university for you. The secret to open days is definitely planning, so do explore all the information given here.

It is not mandatory to register for an Oxford Open Day, although we strongly recommend that you do in order to receive our university newsletters, full of top tips on how to make the most of your day.

The Taylor Institution Library (commonly known as the Taylorian) 

In terms of Modern Languages, we will be running sessions across these days in the Taylor Institution Librarybetween 10:30am and 3:30pm. These will be a great opportunity to learn about our Modern Languages courses, talk to our tutors from our different languages, tour the Taylorian, and pick up prospectuses.

We do not take bookings for these sessions, but places are allocated on a first come, first served basis. You can take a look at the programme here for more details.

We look forward to welcoming lots of you to Oxford and the Modern Languages Faculty very soon!

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MFL Teachers – don’t forget! You can:

  • Sign up to our mailing list here to get updates about our schools events and activities, and for a chance to win £100 of vouchers for your department;
  • Learn more about and book on to our MFL Teachers’ Conference (23-24 September) here.

    Any questions: contact us at schools.liaison@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk

Oxford Is Open!

Come and visit us this summer to discover what student life at Oxford is really like.

After two years of online open days, Oxford is once again ready to welcome prospective applicants and their companions! Regardless of which universities you are interested in studying at, open days are an important opportunity for you to get a feel for the cities and/or campuses in which you might be spending three or four years. We recommend visiting lots of different universities if you can to find out which places make you feel most at home.

Here at Oxford, we have University-wide Open Days running on Wednesday 29 June, Thursday 30 June and Friday 16 September. These days offer an ideal opportunity for you to explore Oxford, find out more about our courses, tour colleges and quiz our tutors and current students.

It will be busy and you will probably leave feeling that there just wasn’t enough time, but you will also have a really good idea of Oxford and whether it might be the university for you. The secret to open days is definitely planning, so do explore all the information given here.

It is not mandatory to register for an Oxford Open Day, although we strongly recommend that you do in order to receive our university newsletters, full of top tips on how to make the most of your day.

The Taylor Institution Library (commonly known as the Taylorian) 

In terms of Modern Languages, we will be running sessions across these days in the Taylor Institution Librarybetween 10:30am and 3:30pm. These will be a great opportunity to learn about our Modern Languages courses, talk to our tutors from our different languages, tour the Taylorian, and pick up prospectuses.

We do not take bookings for these sessions, but places are allocated on a first come, first served basis. You can take a look at the programme here for more details.

We look forward to welcoming lots of you to Oxford and the Modern Languages Faculty very soon!

We’re Back!

We hope you all had a restful break with family and friends over the last couple of weeks, whether you were observing religious traditions or hunting for chocolate in the garden (or both!)

Here at Oxford, Trinity term is already underway and it looks to be another busy one, albeit much sunnier than the last!

To ease us back into the new term, here are a few exciting events and opportunities to get involved in over the next couple of weeks!

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Modern Languages Subject Day – Tuesday 10th May, Exeter College

If you are a Year 11 or 12 student who is interested in exploring your options for University, then this day is perfect for you! This Subject Day will include opportunities to experience sessions in French, German, Italian, and Spanish. 

To register for your place, please fill out this form, which should take around 5 to 10 minutes to complete. The deadline to apply is Tuesday 3rd May at 9am.

If you have any questions, please contact outreach@exeter.ox.ac.uk.

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Songs We Learn From Trees – Thursday 5th May, The Queen’s College

On Thursday 5th May, at 4:30-8pm, the Queen’s Translation Exchange are running an in-person workshop and readings based on Songs We Learn from Trees, the first anthology of Amharic poetry in English.

Sign up here to attend!

Sign up for free here to discuss and celebrate Ethiopian poetry in an evening of readings by Ethiopian poets and their translator, followed by a drinks reception.

The event will feature the following poets:

  • Misrak Terefe
  • Bedilu Wakjira
  • Kebedech Tekleab
  • Alemu Tebeje
  • Hama Tuma [virtually]
  • Mihret Kibede [virtually]

with translator and anthology editor, Chris Beckett.

The poets will read from their own and other poets’ work in the anthology, as well as answer any questions the audience may have about the thriving poetry scene in Addis Ababa.

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Modern Languages Open Day – Saturday 7th May, Examination Schools

There’s still a week left to sign up to attend our in-person Open Day at the Examination Schools, here in Oxford.

The Open Day will offer an overview of our modern languages courses and a general Q&A for prospective students in the morning, with individual language sessions and a companions’ Q&A session occurring in the afternoon. Academics, current students and members of staff from the Faculty will all be in attendance to answer your questions and give invaluable insight into studying languages at Oxford. You can view the full event programme here.

Please note that booking for this event is compulsory – you can register your attendance here

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Modern Languages Summer School – 15th-19th August, Wadham College

Wadham’s annual Summer School programme is an excellent opportunity for Year 12 state school pupils to be an Oxford languages student for a week.

Students on Wadham’s Modern Languages Summer School, taken from Wadham College’s website

Throughout the week, pupils will take part in an academic programme, live in College, meet student ambassadors studying at Oxford, and receive information, advice and guidance on applying to university. 

The Summer School is completely free and Wadham will provide financial support to pupils to cover any travel costs.

You can find out more information and the application form here. Applications are currently open and the deadline to submit is Friday 3rd June at 5pm.

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Faculty Open Day Reminder

It’s not too late to register your place at our Modern Languages Open Day at the beautiful Examination Schools (75 – 81 High St, Oxford OX1 4BG) on Saturday 7th May!

We’re so excited to be able to hold this event in person again and to welcome prospective students and their families/teachers to Oxford after two long years, and can’t wait to see as many of you there as possible!

The Voltaire Reading Room in the Taylor Institution, the University’s centre for the study of Modern European languages and literatures

As a reminder, our Modern Languages Open Day will cover ALL nine of the languages we offer here at Oxford: French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, Modern Greek, Czech, and Polish. Most of our Joint School degree subjects will also be represented. The event is aimed primarily at Year 12 students and their parents/guardians/teachers, but Year 11 students who are starting to consider their options are equally welcome to attend.

The Open Day will offer an overview of our Modern Languages courses and a general Q&A for prospective students in the morning, with individual language sessions and a companions’ Q&A session occurring in the afternoon. Academics, current students and members of staff from the Faculty will all be in attendance to answer your questions and give invaluable insight into studying Languages at Oxford.

You can view the full event programme here.

Please note that booking for this event is compulsory – you can register your attendance here. Due to restricted places, only one parent/guardian/teacher may accompany each student for the morning session.

We look forward to seeing lots of you soon!