Open-access short courses

Part-time learning at Oxford University – online and in Oxford
Start your learning journey at Oxford Continuing Education, 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 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 or hone your skills in small workshops and hands-on practical sessions.
- Weekly learning programmes are studied over one or two terms. These include courses that meet in Oxford, online courses with live-time sessions, and flexible online courses. Most of these courses are taught at undergraduate level, require coursework and may be studied for credit.
- Lecture series are a series of six weekly lectures on a given topic, providing a comprehensive introduction to your chosen subject. All are held in person in Oxford, with the majority also being livestreamed.
- 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 • Professional development • Hybrid - in person or online
Department for Continuing Education’s second annual research ethics colloquium; a dynamic forum exploring AI’s evolving role in lifelong learning and its ethical implications in academic research.
- Fri 13 Jun 2025
- 9:30am – 5:00pm
In-person day/weekend • Short courses
How best to raise good citizens who will do the right thing even when under pressure to do wrong? This day school will consider this question, as well as the role of authority, critical thinking and moral relativism.
- Sat 14 Jun 2025
- 10:15am – 5:30pm
Online - live • Short courses • Hybrid - in person or online
In a career spanning decades, Miles Davis revolutionized jazz multiple times – from cool jazz to fusion. Explore the groundbreaking music and cultural impact of Miles Davis, as we trace his influence across genres and generations.
- Sat 14 Jun 2025
- 9:45am – 5:00pm
In-person day/weekend • Short courses
Learn more about the many fascinating butterflies and moths that can be found in Oxfordshire. Gain an overview of the main species and their natural history, and have a chance to look for urban butterflies and moths in Oxford.
- Sat 14 Jun 2025
- 9:45am – 5:00pm
Online - live • Short courses
An online day school presenting experimental and theoretical information for clinical and experimental psychologists, therapists, counsellors, psychiatrists and other clinicians, taking as a starting point that brain and mind are linked and overlapping.
- Thu 19 Jun 2025
- 10:00am – 5:00pm
In-person day/weekend • Short courses
We will take a brief look at the workings of the brain, and how psychologists describe the functions of attention, perception and memory. Explore how these processes can work to fool us, and what we have learned from dysfunction.
- Fri 27 Jun 2025
- 10:00am – 5:00pm
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