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
Online - live • Short courses • Lecture series • Hybrid - in person or online
Nobody was more surprised than Alec Douglas-Home himself by his elevation to the Premiership in 1963 on Harold Macmillan's resignation. Explore his term as Prime Minister in this hybrid lecture.
- Fri 06 Feb 2026
- 2:00 – 3:30pm
In-person day/weekend • Short courses
Virginia Woolf’s hugely significant modernist novel Mrs. Dalloway was published on 14 May 1925. Join us in Oxford to discuss its lasting impact on literary and popular culture, considering both its immediate contexts and its later reception.
- Sat 07 Feb 2026
- 9:45am – 5:00pm
In-person day/weekend • Short courses
Neanderthals were a cognitively advanced people who made tools and other objects from a great variety of raw materials. This day school explores their technological expertise and other know-how that enabled them to survive in a wide range of environments.
- Sat 07 Feb 2026
- 9:45am – 5:00pm
Online - live • Short courses • Lecture series • Hybrid - in person or online
From Lucian Freud to Keith Vaughan, examine four key artists who endured the 1950s in Britain and created a lasting impact in the history of British art with this hybrid lecture.
- Tue 10 Feb 2026
- 2:00 – 3:30pm
Short intensive • Short courses • Professional development
This online course will address issues including brand planning, brand value, branding in the context of competitive advantage, the evolution of brand strategies over time, brand management, and measuring performance in branding activity.
- Tue 10 Feb 2026 – 13 Feb 2026
- 4 meetings
- 11:30am - 1.00pm (UK time)
Online - live • Short courses • Lecture series • Hybrid - in person or online
Explore Edward Heath's term as Prime Minister, analysing increased inflation, his famous U-turns and his negotiations for British entry to the EEC in this hybrid lecture.
- Fri 13 Feb 2026
- 2:00 – 3:30pm
