trip to Oxford

Christ Church, Oxford

The IES group took a day trip to Oxford and had the British education system explained.  What we call "private" schools in the States are referred to as "public" schools in England.  Roughly 8% of British children attend a public school and Oxford boasts that 50% of its students are from public and 50% of its students are from private school.  If you really think about those statistics, they aren't equal.  

I think it helps to understand how the Oxford academic system works for full-time undergraduates. A bachelor's degree takes three or four years to complete, depending on the subject (most subjects take three years, but some science degrees take four, as do languages because students are required to spend a year abroad). Students apply to study (”read,” in Oxford lingo) a specific subject, and they only study that subject for their entire undergraduate career. (”Liberal arts” is not really in the lexicon here.) To receive a bachelor’s degree, students must pass several days of exams at the end of their first year and the end of their final year. Those exams are the ONLY official grades they receive in their entire undergraduate career. All of the work students do throughout the year — essays, problem sets, presentations — is for them to learn and receive feedback, but does not impact their transcripts in any way.

Most of the learning at Oxford is done independently. Students are assigned lots of reading each week, as well as assignments (essays, problem sets, etc.) based on that reading. Each subject also includes lectures, classes, and tutorials. Lectures are not required — you can graduate Oxford without ever having attended one — but they are the primary method of teaching new information. Classes allow students in the same subject to discuss what they are learning. But it is tutorials that are the heart of the Oxford curriculum. Students meet with dons (we call them professors in America) every week, either individually or in groups of two or three, and receive direct feedback on their essays.

Radcliffe Camera, Oxford

This is Oxford student's library.  It's not open to the public and books cannot be taken out of it.  When students enter Oxford they have to pledge to never steal a book from "Rad Cam."  It was also interesting to learn that when students enter Oxford they "go up to Oxford" and when they leave or graduate they "come down from Oxford."