Academic Provision
All teaching activities are developed and coordinated by Oxford Summer Academy Programmes and UK Schooling ( UK Schooling), which also ensure the alignment of our tutors with our distinctive teaching philosophy.
All of our tutors are experienced academics affiliated with the University of Oxford and are therefore intimately familiar with the model of the ‘Oxford Tutorial’ in its different forms. Some of our tutors are Senior academics at the Professorial level, others are post-doctoral scholars, and we also employ a number of Doctoral researchers, who often work on some of the most innovative topics in their fields. Our criteria for selection is not only academic seniority, but rather the ability of our tutors to provide an engaging teaching experience while ensuring the highest academic standards and providing insights into recent developments in their respective fields.
Many of our tutors also have also accumulated extensive experience outside academia, for instance in the Corporate, Clinical, Government, Innovation, Tech, NGOs, and Non-profit sectors. This will help students to appreciate how the skills acquired on the programme, and in their studies at large, can be leveraged to plan their future careers in the context of a workplace and society that are undergoing rapid and profound transformations.
Active Learning in Small Groups
The learning experience at the Oxford Summer Academy Programme is deeply shaped by our commitment to the principles of active learning, building on the tradition of the Oxford Tutorial, Teaching Philosophy. To maximise the benefit for students, all our groups/courses are in the form of small class sizes, and we expect that students actively engage with the content in the form of targeted readings, preparation, and completing assignments or teamwork tasks. Seminars are primarily focused around collective problem-solving, discussion, and interaction, and are specifically designed to help students develop precious critical skills. You will meet with your tutor on a daily basis, for a series of interactive 2-hour seminars in small groups and 3 hours for some more focused guided reading, preparation, and project development in small teams of 2 or 3, as well as completing some individual background reading.
Workload and Coursework
You can expect to have an average of about 2 hours of seminar time per day (Mon-Fri), usually from 9 to 11 AM, followed by an additional 3 hours of guided reading and research, project development, and essay writing until 3 PM, optional 2 hours of individual study later in the day. You can also consult a sample timetable. You will also attend four separate 2-hour workshops. The total workload for the 2-week programme is around 50-60 hours, leaving ample time for a range workshops, guest talks, excursions, and site- or museum visits.
Assessment
Assessment for each course is based on a personal project, which can take a variety of forms determined by the tutor, privileging a format suitable for the topic of each course. During week 1 you will discover a wide array of novel topics, concepts, approaches, and techniques, while during week 2 you will apply some of this new knowledge by developing a personal project or case study. This project may produce a traditional essay, but because we actively encourage our tutors in proposing innovative assessment formats, this could also produce a podcast, dataset, poster/pitch, a prototype for an app or software, or another form of creative academic output.
You will select your topic in consultation with your tutor, and will discuss your project with your tutors and your peers in depth, and present your findings to the wider cohort on the last day of the course. This will allow you to understand your own, personal learning style, develop your skills in argumentation, writing, and presentation, all the while also contributing to in-class discussions with fellow students from closely related disciplines, broadening your intellectual, academic, and personal horizons.
Certificate and Transcript
On completion of the course, you will receive a Certificate of Attendance presented by Oxford Summer Academy Programme and UK Schooling, and a course transcript detailing your academic progress from the Oxford Summer Academy Programme will be made available by your tutor. Oxford Summer Academy and UK Schooling do not award credits for the programme. The decision on whether your Oxford Summer Academy Programme can be validated for credit towards your degree rests entirely with your home institution and you should ensure that you have discussed and agreed upon any matters with them before enrolling on the Oxford Summer Academy Programme if you would like to claim credits from your University for the course. Institutions are welcome to contact UK Schooling with any questions about academic provision and suitability for the award of credit within their degree structure.
On the last day of the course, students will present their work at the ‘Projects Showcase Fair’ for the benefit of all the other students in the cohort. Each student will receive a certificate of attendance. Transcripts for the course will be provided to all participants by the Oxford Summer Academy Programme, in electronic form, within two weeks of completion (to allow for marking by the relevant tutors). Transcripts include detailed comments by your academic tutor(s) on your submitted work, in-class contribution, and engagement in your course. Marks will be awarded according to the widely used UK marking scale, using percentage points, and will reference a mark scheme determined specifically for each course offered on the SAP.
References
Students will have the opportunity to request references from their academic tutors on the programme. However, students should note that Academic References in the UK are extremely precise, and Referees are expected to comment on the length of time they have known a student for, on the precise nature and format of the teaching delivered, as well as on their academic performance in assessment and in class. Two weeks is a very short time to prove to your tutors that you are an excellent and high-achieving student, and even considering the intensive small-group format adopted by the Oxford Summer Academy Programme, it may be difficult for tutors to provide adequate and compelling reference unless you are truly determined to excel. If you anticipate that you will be requesting a Reference from your tutors, we recommend that you do your very best to demonstrate your engagement, commitment, and motivation to your tutors, preparing your work with care and contributing to in-class discussion regularly as well as investing significant amounts of energy in your personal project.
Please note that it is common practice in the UK for References to be provided by your course Tutor, rather than the Programme Director, although it is possible for us to produce a Reference that is jointly signed by the Tutor and the Programme Director.
