Study Days are a great opportunity for prospective applicants to experience life as an Oxford student for the day. Study Days will always include taster sessions for the subjects which you are interested in studying at university, but often involve information sessions on admissions, a chance to talk to current undergraduates, and a tour of the College.
Study Days are free of charge with some colleges offering additional financial support to attendees. They are open to students at UK state schools, but places are sometimes prioritised by measures of socio-economic disadvantage.
The Radcliffe Camera from Exeter College
This year, Exeter College, Oxford is hosting a series of subject days for year 11 and year 12 students attending UK state schools. These events aim to provide tailored support for students interested in exploring a range of subjects at University level.
Exeter’s Humanities and Modern Languages Study Day will be taking place on Monday 7th April at Exeter College and is open to students looking to explore any of the following University courses further: Classics, English Language and Literature, History, French, German, Italian, Linguistics, Spanish.
If you would like to attend, please register your interest here by 5pm on Monday 24th February.
If you have any questions, please get in touch: outreach@exeter.ox.ac.uk.
We are delighted to welcome prospective students to Oxford on Saturday 17th May for our annual Modern Languages Open Day. The event will be held from 10.30am-4pm at the Examination Schools, located on the High Street in Oxford’s city centre.
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 all of our languages will be represented at this Open Day:
French
German*
Spanish
Italian*
Russian*
Portuguese*
Modern Greek*
Czech with Slovak*
Polish*.
*All of these languages can be studied here at Oxford from beginners’ level.
Most of our Joint School degree subjects – English, History, Philosophy etc. – will also be represented at the event.
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.
Modern Languages Open Day 2022 photo (c) John Cairns
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 Q&A session for parents’/guardians’/teachers in the afternoon. Tutors and current students from the Faculty will be available throughout the day to answer questions from prospective applicants and their companions.
*Please note that, due to restricted places, only one parent/guardian/teacher may accompany each student for the morning session.
You can view the provisional event programme here.
Booking your place at this event is compulsory – you can register your attendance here. Bookings will close at midnight on 14th May 2025.
Any questions can be directed to schools.liaison@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk.
We look forward to seeing lots of you in May and welcoming you to Oxford!
The Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages is delighted to be running its second Beginners’ Languages TasterDay in March 2025!
Alongside our usual Modern Languages Open Day (which will take place on Saturday 17th May), this year we will once again be holding an event dedicated to our beginners’ languages courses. This event offers students from UK secondary schools in Year 12 or equivalent an opportunity to gain greater insight into our beginners’ languages degree programmes at Oxford. Students in Year 11 who are starting to consider their options for university are also welcome to attend.
The Taster Day will take place on Saturday 8th March in our main Faculty teaching spaces – the Taylor Institution Library and 47 Wellington Square. After an information and Q&A session in the morning, students will have the chance to attend taster sessions in two of our beginners’ languages.
Modern Languages Open Day 2022 photo (c) John Cairns
The following languages will be represented at the Taster Day, with academics and current undergraduates present to provide further information about the course(s) and to answer students’ questions:
German
Portuguese
Italian
Russian
Czech (with Slovak)
Modern Greek
Polish
Last year’s inaugural event received excellent feedback from prospective applicants and their companions:
I really enjoyed the taster day, it was fascinating to learn some Russian and Italian, especially Russian as it was something I had never considered before. Everyone was friendly and it was extremely well organised. I loved it!
The Q&A was really helpful and insightful. I didn’t think that I would enjoy today or get as much out of it as I did (I thought it would be really stuffy but it wasn’t). I think that a lot of my enjoyment was due to the planning of the day as well as how lovely and welcoming everyone who was there/helping was. Thank you for giving me this opportunity.
An enjoyable day – which really opened up our daughter’s eyes to a Beginners Languages degree & the benefits of studying at Oxford University – thank you.
The provisional event programme for 2025 can be found here.
To register for the Taster Day, students should fill out this form by 12 noon on Friday 14th February so we know who to expect at the event. Please note that spaces will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, and the form will close once our maximum capacity has been reached.
We are also pleased to be able to help students who are in need of additional financial support with reasonable expenses such as travelling to and from Oxford for the event. There is a space to include this information in the registration form.
Studying a language from scratch at Oxford
Our beginners’ languages courses offer an exciting and rare opportunity for students to engage with a new language and culture for the first time, or to pick up languages they studied at GCSE. The courses are challenging yet rewarding, with many designed to bring students up to A-level standard within the first year. Therefore, we would love to welcome students who are strong linguists and/or who are looking for a new challenge at University to this event.
As well as alongside a post-A-level language, most of our beginners’ languages can be studied in conjunction with subjects from the Humanities such as English, History, Linguistics, or Philosophy, for which applicants do not need to be studying a language to A-level or equivalent. With this in mind, we would also welcome students of Humanities subjects who are interested in picking up a language at University.
For further inspiration and information, below are some links to content from our tutors and undergraduates about why taking a language from scratch is so worthwhile:
Exclusively for state schoolteachers and colleagues with responsibility for progression, join Trinity College for its programme which aims to provide up-to-date practical information and guidance relating to the Oxford application process and the purpose of each stage, for example, the admissions tests and interviews.
Trinity also has the broader aim of providing teachers and colleagues with guidance that will help them to support their pupils in allhigher education applications, as well as those who may have the potential to apply to Oxford.
They particularly welcome colleagues from non-selective state schools who have little or no experience of the University of Oxford, pupil progression to the Russell Group or Higher Education in general.
The programme takes place online and is made up of six 1.5hr live sessions each taking place after the school day. Whilst the programme begins in January each year, teachers are encouraged to join at any point or just for those sessions they would find most helpful. As part of this programme, a free Teacher Enrichment Residential (details below) is offered, which is also completely optional.
A completion certificate is offered for those attending all six online sessions, however there is no requirement to do so. Colleagues are welcome to register and then join for just the preferred sessions.
Teacher CPD programme of sessions in 2025:
Session
Title
Date
S1
Introduction to Oxford
Monday 13th January 16:15 or Thursday 16th January 17:00
S2
Enrichment and raising attainment
Monday 3rd February 16:15 or Thursday 6th February 17:00
S3
Personal Statements
Monday 31st March 16:15 or Thursday 3rd April at 17:00
S4
Oxford Admissions Tests
Monday 12th May 16:15 or Thursday 15th May 17:00
S5
Teacher Reference Writing
Monday 9th June 16:15 or Thursday 12th June 17:00
S6
Oxford Academic Interviews
Monday 16th June 16:15 or Thursday 16th October 16:15
Residential
Teacher enrichment: fully funded 3-night residential for colleagues to explore any particular topic of personal interest in their subject area or some aspect of their teaching practice or pedagogy, using the University of Oxford’s library collections.
Easter Vacation 2026 date TBC
SIGN UP HEREand the team at Trinity will be in touch closer to January 13th with joining details.
If you have already taken part in this programme, you are very welcome to sign up for refresher support.
Please could you also share this email with other school colleagues who may like to take part and, of course, do not hesitate to get in touch with the Hannah Rolley (Head of Access, Trinity College) hannah.rolley@trinity.ox.ac.uk should you have any questions.
Registration for St John’s College’s ‘Inspire Critical Thinking’ programme is now open! This is a freeonline programme made up of 4 workshops, that will be released each month between January- April 2025. This year’s theme is Why is language so powerful? All students who attend a non-selective state school in the UK in Years 9-12 are invited to register. You can register by scanning the QR code or clicking this link.
Each workshop is filled with articles and videos from University of Oxford researchers and teachers, exploring each question from a range of subjects and perspectives, many of which include a super challenge with opportunities to win prizes. There is something for everyone, from Computer Science to Art! There are also opportunities for students to cast their vote and share their opinions in our online forum to questions posed throughout the programme. In addition to learning about the power of language, there are also self-guided critical thinking skills activities, helping students to develop their communication, problem-solving, creative thinking and evaluation skills.
Once students have registered, they will receive a confirmation email (after the closing date of 7th November) to confirm their place on the programme. The links and passwords will be emailed to students directly once the workshops launch from January.
MFL Teachers – there’s still time to sign up for our Language Teachers’ Conference!
This year’s Conference will be held at Somerville College, Oxford on Friday 27th and Saturday 28th September and will welcome teachers from across the country for an exciting couple of days involving roundtable discussions, learning on all sides, and networking opportunities!
Since our last post about the Conference, we have been liaising with speakers from within and outside of the University and firming up the event programme, the updated version of which can be found here.
We are delighted to welcome recent French & Russian graduate, Lizzie Peck, who will be joining us as our keynote speaker to talk about her experiences of studying languages at Oxford and how language learning has shaped her personal and professional life so far.
Likewise, we look forward to an exciting taster lecture from Prof. Carolin Duttlinger, Professor of German Literature and Culture at Wadham College, about a new AHRC Research Project exploring Franz Kafka’s engagement with communities, and to hearing from a range of wonderful speakers from the Faculty across the two-day event.
Keynote speaker, Lindsay Johns, talking about his experience of language learning at Oxford and beyond at the 2023 Conference.
You can book your place until Friday 13th September via our online booking system here. Please note that we can also take bookings by invoice if required by schools – do get in touch with Nicola at schools.liaison@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk and we can process the booking manually.
Please don’t hesitate to email with any questions. We look forward to meeting you at the end of the month!
St Edmund Hall is inviting A-Level state school students to a series of four interactive workshops exploring the miraculous nature of words and the people, periods and places opened up to us by the study of other languages, literature and cultures.
Open to Year 12 students at UK state schools, the workshops will allow students to develop critical reading and translation skills, introducing them to new avenues into university-style study of languages.
Benefits of participating:
Experience an Oxbridge tutorial
Learn more about the languages courses at Oxford
Develop skills and confidence to study languages at university
Meet others interested in studying languages
Hear from current Oxford University languages students
Strengthen your UCAS personal statement and interview skills
The workshops will take place in mid-July via Microsoft Teams. No language-specific knowledge is needed, and English translations will be provided.
We are delighted to share details about this year’s Language Teachers’ Conference which will take place on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 September 2024 at Somerville College, Oxford.
Our annual conference has developed out of the Sir Robert Taylor Society (named after the founder of the Faculty’s Languages Library), a network of teachers of Modern Foreign Languages in secondary schools, academics from the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages at the University of Oxford, and others interested in MFL.
This conference is now a core aspect of the Faculty’s Schools Liaison work, and provides a unique forum for interaction and exchange between the University and teachers. It offers teachers the chance to spend a night in an Oxford college, to attend various taster lectures and discussions, and to ask our academics and admissions tutors questions about our courses, research, and supporting students’ applications to Oxford.
Photo from the roundtable discussion at our 2023 Language Teachers’ Conference
2024 Programme
We are pleased to be holding the conference at Somerville College once again after a couple of wonderful years at St Anne’s. Somerville was established in 1879 as a hall for women, who were barred from the university at the time, and throughout its history it has remained committed to equality. Today, Somerville marries beautiful architecture with a proud emphasis on inclusivity and diversity.
The full provisional event programme can be found here and more information about the conference is available here.
A particular highlight of this year’s programme is scheduled for Saturday morning when delegates will experience an example of the creative translation workshops offered to schools by The Queen’s College Translation Exchange. The workshops are designed to make translation accessible and creative for school pupils by using the Stephen Spender Trust’s ‘Decode – Translate – Create’ method.
Dr Charlotte Ryland talking about the language outreach and advocacy work carried out by The Queen’s Translation Exchange and the Stephen Spender Trust at the 2023 Language Teachers’ Conference.
Delegate rates and booking
Below are the various rates and ticket options available for both state and independent school teachers.
State school rate
Independent school rate
Full conference, including accommodation and breakfast
£150
£300
Full conference, excluding accommodation
£100
£200
Friday only
£50
£100
Saturday only
£50
£100
Please visit our online bookings webpage to secure your place. You will need to create an account (or log in if you’ve used our website before) and select the right rate for your school type and length of attendance. Bookings will close on 13th September.
On the blog this week, first-year student ambassador, Laurence, describes his experience of attending our Modern Languages Open Day in 2022, and how it led him to where he is today.
I feel so grateful to be where I am today, a student of Philosophy and French at St John’s College. My journey into university language study began at the Faculty Open Day in May of 2022, when I was in Year 12. A couple of months prior, I had woken up one day and decided that I could not graduate with a law degree at 21, start training for the world of work, and never broaden my horizons beyond that. French was my favourite subject at school, and I had a passion for literature and culture as well as a budding desire to travel. I switched my application preparation towards languages, and the Open Day was my first port of call.
As an Oxford Bursary recipient from a state comprehensive in Coventry, I remember feeling awe when I arrived with my mum at the Exam Schools, where we listened to a range of different talks. It was refreshing to talk to other young people who had a passion for languages: MFL learning in my school had suffered from a chronic lack of interest. I particularly enjoyed the variety of sessions at the Open Day, from talks on French specifically, linguistics, and Italian, another language I was considering. Talks from tutors were highly informative regarding the literature/language balance as well as studying a language with philosophy, with personal touches about their own research interests that could not be so easily gleaned from the university website. I loved the excitement in the atmosphere around the Open Day, even the sun was out on the High Street!
The Examination Schools in the sunshine at the 2022 Open Day Photo by John Cairns
I decided that a languages degree was for me, and after further discussions with ambassadors (French and Philosophy is a great combination, they said), we headed home. I remember on the train we even met a woman whose daughter had just graduated in French, it seemed like a sign! I would certainly say that the Open Day stoked my interest in languages further and convinced me, through the emphasis on literature and culture as well as the sheer range of degree options available, that it was a better option than Cambridge or any other university.
Laurence with two other prospective students at the 2022 Modern Languages Open Day Photo by John Cairns
I have now finished two terms as a student here, and the experience has been everything that the Open Day promised, and more. I believe that the tutorial system is especially well adapted for subjects like English and languages because both tutor and student can pore over the text together. I think the Faculty does well at advertising this as what sets Oxford apart from other universities.
I have enjoyed much of the early modern content, including Montaigne and Racine, which may be the focus of my Authors Paper next year – although with the input of the philosophy side, Diderot and Pascal also sound tempting. I’m also excited to look into potential linguistics or cinema papers later in my degree. The language side of the degree has also been engaging: the expertise of my native speaker teachers has shown me a new way to reach fluency beyond learning cast iron grammar rules, namely a sensitivity to context, culture, and idiom.
I feel like I have personally travelled a long way since the Open Day, now a languages ambassador myself. Grateful for the opportunity to help others to discover languages too, getting to give back through this outreach work is the greatest privilege.
****
You can still sign up to attend our Open Day on Saturday 11 May! The programme and booking link can be found here. The deadline to register your place is 8 May – don’t miss out!
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) on Saturday 11th May!
Modern Languages Open Day 2022 photo (c) John Cairns
This annual 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 the 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 – English, History, Philosophy etc. – will also be represented at the event.
*All of these languages can be studied here at Oxford from beginners’ level.
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.
Modern Languages Open Day 2022 photo (c) John Cairns
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. Tutors and current students from the Faculty will be available throughout the day to answer questions from prospective applicants and their companions.
*Please note that, due to restricted places, only one parent/guardian/teacher may accompany each student for the morning session.
A blog for students and teachers of Years 11 to 13, and anyone else with an interest in Modern Foreign Languages and Cultures, written by the staff and students of Oxford University. Updated every Wednesday!
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