Study with us at DPIR
Teaching for Potential
We teach students in a way that encourages them to reach their potential. Through small group teaching of the tutorial system, students engage with a remarkable group of Professors, Lecturers and Tutorial Fellows—people who ask important questions and answer them in a thoughtful and innovative way.
Our teaching mission: we employ the best academics to ensure that an Oxford Politics and International Relations education is available to the best students from around the world.
Student stories
The Politics part of the course has opened my eyes to the vast array of problems in the world today and the various approaches scholars have taken to prevent and to mitigate these.
The Politics part of the course has opened my eyes to the vast array of problems in the world today and the various approaches scholars have taken to prevent and to mitigate these.
The College Community
Resources
How do we teach politics at Oxford?
Politics is taught through a mixture of lectures, classes, and tutorials. Most students will have 1-3 tutorials a week. These involve preparing an essay and then an hour-long conversation about the essay, and the subject, with a tutor and 1-3 fellow students. The tutorial system differentiates Oxford from almost all other universities.
How do DPhil degrees work?
Both the Politics DPhil and International Relations DPhil are intended for three or four years of full-time doctoral study, or six to eight years of part-time study. You can read more about key milestones for DPhil students on the University's website.
How do I apply?
Detailed information regarding the application process are available on the University's Politics DPhil course page.
You are advised to review profiles of academic staff before you apply as successful applications always depend on the DPIR's capacity to offer appropriate supervision. You must identify one or two potential supervisors and state their names in the ‘proposed supervisor’ field on your application form.