OxCRED (Oxford Crisis Education) is an education-in-crisis initiative based at Oxford Lifelong Learning. It builds on a one-year pilot project launched in January 2025 to support students during the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and enhance Oxford University’s response to the events in Israel, Gaza and the Middle East. OxCRED offers a flexible and scalable model of online education that enables students affected by crisis, whether through conflict or displacement, to continue their learning and academic engagement.
OxCRED complements other University initiatives, such as the Palestine Crisis Scholarship Scheme and the Refugee Academic Futures Scholarships that bring crisis-affected students to Oxford, as well as the Bodleian Libraries’ scanning service for scholars and students in Gaza and the West Bank. While the Palestine Crisis Scholarship Scheme and the Refugee Academic Futures Scholarships support students through physical relocation, OxCRED aims at aiding students who remain in crisis areas or are displaced elsewhere by offering high-quality online education without the need to leave their region.
During its pilot year, OxCRED has focused on addressing urgent healthcare education needs in Gaza. Working with colleagues at the Medical Sciences Division, OxSTaR, OxPAL, the Bodleian Libraries, and Oxford University Press, our work in medicine involves the development and delivery of two online courses for trauma and orthopaedics. The courses have been tailored to the medical curricula of local universities – such as the Islamic University of Gaza and Al-Azhar University – through direct consultation with their academic leadership and faculties, and are also aligned with the Oxford School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences curriculum. This complex and highly impactful medical programme has benefited from working with experts in innovative educational platforms at Amodisc, and the Conference Zone. In parallel, the project has been curating thematic collections of open-access educational resources for Gazan students on additional disciplines. These collections draw from existing Oxford content and global scholarly materials, and are also designed to supplement or support the curricula of Gazan higher education institutions operating in a resource-constrained environment and enrich the educational experience of their students.
OxCRED aligns closely with Oxford Lifelong Learning’s mission to make Oxford’s educational resources accessible to diverse audiences, and with the University’s strategic goals in digital transformation, global engagement, and equality, diversity, and inclusion. It offers an innovative and cost-effective model of crisis education and contributes to Oxford’s broader role as a global institution committed to social responsibility and academic solidarity. Looking ahead, the project team is working to expand OxCRED into an educational programme that will broaden its geographical reach to include other crisis-hit regions and will provide educational support on a range of subjects. The team is also actively engaging with academic departments and colleagues across the University to expand its educational provision as well as with potential donors and partners to secure the support needed for long-term sustainability. For those interested in contributing to or collaborating with the initiative, we warmly invite you to get in touch.
