DPhil in Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics
About the course
The DPhil is an advanced research degree for qualified students who are ready to begin thesis work in the field of general linguistics (including phonetics but not applied linguistics), in historical and comparative philology and linguistics, or in the linguistics of a specific language.
The DPhil in Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics is an advanced research degree, awarded on the basis of a thesis and an oral examination. The emphasis in the DPhil is on self-directed learning, with guidance from the supervisor and other faculty. You are expected to submit your thesis three, or at most four, years from the date of admission (six, or at most eight, years for part-time students).
You are encouraged to attend and to contribute to the wide range of research seminars, conferences and workshops organized by the faculty. You will also have access to specialist training courses offered by the Bodleian Library, Language Centre and IT services.
Linguistics at Oxford is an interdisciplinary subject, with most areas of general linguistics as well as Indo-European, Romance and Slavic historical and comparative linguistics being represented by one or several members of staff.
Current research falls into seven main areas:
- linguistic theory (morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and their interfaces)
- Indo-European comparative philology (especially Greek, Italic/Latin, Indo-Iranian, Anatolian, Celtic, Slavic and Tocharian)
- phonetics and phonology (especially phonetics/phonology interface, speech perception, language comprehension)
- Romance philology (Research Centre on Romance Linguistics, especially diachronic morphology, syntax of Italo-Romance and phonetics of French)
- Psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics
- ancient grammatical thought in the Greco-Roman tradition.
Attendance
The course can be studied full-time or part-time with both modes requiring attendance in Oxford. Full-time students are subject to the University's Residence requirements. Part-time students are required to attend course-related activities in Oxford for a minimum of 30 days each year.
The full-time degree is studied over three years and the part-time degree has the same requirements, but is studied over six to eight years.
If you study part-time, you will be required to attend classes, seminars, supervision meetings and other obligations in Oxford for a minimum of 30 days each year. There will be some flexibility in the dates and pattern of attendance, which will be determined by mutual agreement with your supervisor. Typically, attendance will be required during term-time on at least two days in at least two terms, determined by mutual agreement with your supervisor. You will have the opportunity to tailor your part-time study in liaison with your supervisor and agree your pattern of attendance.
Resources to support your study
The Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics will be based in the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, a brand-new building at the University of Oxford, which will accommodate seven faculties, two institutes, a new library, a large number of well-equipped teaching and seminar rooms, and performance and arts venues. Each faculty will have its own centre and social hub within a building which will also facilitate interdisciplinary and collaborative work. At the heart of the building is a large atrium – called the Great Hall – which will be a beautiful space, bringing light into the building, and serving as a space for informal work, relaxation, meeting with friends, taking breaks, having refreshments – and much more.
The building will enable the recently-established Cultural Programme to flourish, with a 500-seat world class concert hall, a theatre, experimental performance venue, 100-seat cinema, and exhibition hall. Many of these venues will support academic and student-led activities, as well as performances and creative works by professional artists. The cultural programme will enrich the lives of students, and will also provide opportunities to get involved.
Phonetics Laboratory
The experimental area consists of a recording studio, an acoustics and speech processing laboratory, a physiological laboratory and a speech perception laboratory. Hardware for physiological study, available to students and staff, includes labial electromyography, oral/nasal aerometry (measurement of air pressures and flow) and ultrasound tongue imaging.
The studios, for recording and for running experiments, are equipped with high-quality microphones and digital recording equipment, and computer systems for the presentation of visual and/or auditory stimuli.
Language and Brain Laboratory
The language and Brain Laboratory offers research staff and students bespoke facilities and specialist equipment to conduct a wide variety of behavioural, eye-tracking and neurolinguistics experiments. There is a common room for tutorials and meetings.
The laboratory has separate spaces for Neurolinguistics, Eye-Tracking, Production, and Behavioural studies. We have two electronically shielded sound-proofed climate-controlled EEG booths for recording brain waves. EEG recordings are made using high-impedance (300 Mohms) active electrode systems: we are currently conducting experiments on two systems: BioSemi and Brain Vision. An additional soundproof room is used for high quality audio recordings and eye-tracking studies. Our state-of-the-art SR Research Eyelink1000 eye tracker can be used on its own, or in combination with our EEG equipment.
One of the largest spaces is the Behavioural Lab, where there is bespoke equipment and software to run experiments such as lexical decision tasks or timed forced choice experiments. Eight participants can currently run simultaneously at individually screened desks, or up to 16 participants with a projector setup. All of the testing rooms have an associated control room to monitor the experiments and analyse the results.
Library provision
Oxford's library provision in linguistics is one of the largest in the country. Oxford's libraries are superbly provided with material on theoretical linguistics, the structure and history of European languages, ancient Indo-European languages, and non-Indo-European as well as Indo-European languages of Asia.
There will be 340 general reader seats, and around 80 graduate study seats – with a further 320 formal and informal study seats throughout the building outside the library.
Open-shelf lending collections will be complemented by access to electronic resources, scan on demand, and material requested from the Bodleian’s Collections Storage Facility. As well as the Library’s extensive staffed hours, there will be a 24/7 study space, including smart lockers for self-collect of borrowable items out of hours. Subject support is provided by a team of subject librarians.
Supervision
The allocation of graduate supervision for this course is the responsibility of the Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics and it is not always possible to accommodate the preferences of incoming graduate students to work with a particular member of staff. Under exceptional circumstances a supervisor may be found outside the Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics.
You will be supported by a supervisor or supervisors who will help you develop a programme of research and writing. You will also benefit from the advice and support of other members of the faculty and can draw on the expertise of scholars and colleagues throughout the faculty and University.
Supervision meetings vary in frequency. Most students have the opportunity to meet with their supervisor once weekly to once a month in term time, depending on the student's needs. In the summer vacation, meetings will be less frequent.
Assessment
For students coming from Oxford's MPhil, there will be one internal viva voce (oral examination) known as confirmation, which will take place within two (or, if part-time, four) terms. For all other students, there will be two internal vivas (transfer and confirmation), which will usually take place in the third and eighth term after admission as a probationary DPhil student (with the appropriate adjustments for part-time students). These vivas are with two faculty members and discuss a sample of your work. You will be required to pass these vivas before proceeding.
Your thesis will be based on extensive original research and engagement with current scholarship. You will need to defend your thesis orally (viva voce) in front of two examiners, one of whom will be external to the University. You are expected to submit your thesis three, or at most four, years from the date of admission (six, or at most eight, years for part-time students).
Graduate destinations
Graduates follow career paths that include academia and higher education, research services, research and development, secondary and further education, industry and the civil service.
Changes to this course and your supervision
The University will seek to deliver this course in accordance with the description set out in this course page. However, there may be situations in which it is desirable or necessary for the University to make changes in course provision, either before or after registration. The safety of students, staff and visitors is paramount and major changes to delivery or services may have to be made if a pandemic, epidemic or local health emergency occurs. In addition, in certain circumstances, for example due to visa difficulties or because the health needs of students cannot be met, it may be necessary to make adjustments to course requirements for international study.
Where possible your academic supervisor will not change for the duration of your course. However, it may be necessary to assign a new academic supervisor during the course of study or before registration for reasons which might include illness, sabbatical leave, parental leave or change in employment.
For further information please see our page on changes to courses and the provisions of the student contract regarding changes to courses.
Entry requirements for entry in 2025-26
Proven and potential academic excellence
The requirements described below are specific to this course and apply only in the year of entry that is shown. You can use our interactive tool to help you evaluate whether your application is likely to be competitive.
We know that factors such as socio-economic circumstances and school performance can make it difficult for students to demonstrate their full potential. This course is taking part in an initiative to use contextual data to help us to better understand your achievements in the context of your individual background. For further details, please refer to the information about improving access to graduate study in the How to apply section of this page.
Please be aware that any studentships that are linked to this course may have different or additional requirements and you should read any studentship information carefully before applying. Contextual data may also be used in the assessment of studentships.
Degree-level qualifications
As a minimum, applicants should hold or be predicted to achieve the following UK qualifications or their equivalent:
- a master's degree in a relevant subject with a very good result or a result close to distinction level; and
- a first-class or strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours in a relevant subject.
However, entrance is very competitive and most successful applicants have a first-class degree or the equivalent.
Applicants are expected to have a background in linguistics comparable to Oxford's MPhil degree in Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics or the MSt degree in Linguistics, Philology and Phonetic (Research Preparation).
Under exceptional circumstances substantial professional experience may be considered a substitute.
For applicants with a bachelor's degree from the USA, the minimum overall GPA that is normally required to meet the undergraduate-level requirement is 3.5 out of 4.0. However, most successful applicants have a GPA of 3.7.
If your degree is not from the UK or another country specified above, visit our International Qualifications page for guidance on the qualifications and grades that would usually be considered to meet the University’s minimum entry requirements.
GRE General Test scores
No Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or GMAT scores are sought.
Other qualifications, evidence of excellence and relevant experience
- Applicants are not expected to have publications already, but if they happen to have publications in a relevant area they are encouraged to submit them as their written work.
- In the case of mature students/intended career changes professional experience in cognate areas may compensate for shortcomings in the formal academic record.
- Applicants should already have the knowledge and skills necessary to begin work on their chosen topic. This may include knowledge of the language to be studied, or for a computational thesis, relevant programming skills.
English language proficiency
This course requires proficiency in English at the University's higher level. If your first language is not English, you may need to provide evidence that you meet this requirement. The minimum scores required to meet the University's higher level are detailed in the table below.
| Test | Minimum overall score | Minimum score per component |
|---|---|---|
| IELTS Academic (Institution code: 0713) | 7.5 | 7.0 |
TOEFL iBT, including the 'Home Edition' (Institution code: 0490) | 110 | Listening: 22 Reading: 24 Speaking: 25 Writing: 24 |
| C1 Advanced* | 191 | 185 |
| C2 Proficiency† | 191 | 185 |
*Previously known as the Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English or Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE)
†Previously known as the Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English or Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE)
Your test must have been taken no more than two years before the start date of your course. Our Application Guide provides further information about the English language test requirement.
Declaring extenuating circumstances
If your ability to meet the entry requirements has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic (eg you were awarded an unclassified/ungraded degree) or any other exceptional personal circumstance (eg other illness or bereavement), please refer to the guidance on extenuating circumstances in the Application Guide for information about how to declare this so that your application can be considered appropriately.
References
You will need to register three referees who can give an informed view of your academic ability and suitability for the course. The How to apply section of this page provides details of the types of reference that are required in support of your application for this course and how these will be assessed.
Supporting documents
You will be required to supply supporting documents with your application. The How to apply section of this page provides details of the supporting documents that are required as part of your application for this course and how these will be assessed.
Performance at interview
As part of the admissions process, you may be interviewed. Interviews are typically conducted online via Microsoft Teams (or, should it be possible and convenient, in person) by a minimum of two interviewers.
If you are applying for part-time study and invited to attend an interview, you may be asked about your ability to commit sufficient time to study and fulfil all elements outlined in the course description (eg completing coursework, assessments, and attending course and University events and modules).
Please note that the faculty receives comparatively large numbers of applications for a small number of places.
Offer conditions for successful applications
If you receive an offer of a place at Oxford, your offer will outline any conditions that you need to satisfy and any actions you need to take, together with any associated deadlines. These may include academic conditions, such as achieving a specific final grade in your current degree course. These conditions will usually depend on your individual academic circumstances and may vary between applicants. Our 'After you apply' pages provide more information about offers and conditions.
In addition to any academic conditions which are set, you will also be required to meet the following requirements:
Financial Declaration
If you are offered a place, you will be required to complete a Financial Declaration in order to meet your financial condition of admission.
Disclosure of criminal convictions
In accordance with the University’s obligations towards students and staff, we will ask you to declare any relevant, unspent criminal convictions before you can take up a place at Oxford.
Evidence of ability to study for employed part-time applicants
If you are applying for part-time study and are currently employed, you may be asked to provide evidence that your employment will not affect your ability to study and that you can commit sufficient time to fulfil all elements outlined in the course description. You may be asked to provide details about your pattern of employment and provide evidence to show how you will fulfil your commitment to make time available to study, to complete coursework, and attend course and University events and modules.
Other factors governing whether places can be offered
The following factors will also govern whether candidates can be offered places:
- the ability of the University to provide the appropriate supervision for your studies, as outlined under the 'Supervision' heading in the About section of this page;
- the ability of the University to provide appropriate support for your studies (eg through the provision of facilities, resources, teaching and/or research opportunities); and
- minimum and maximum limits to the numbers of students who may be admitted to the University's taught and research programmes.
Linguistics, Philology & Phonetics
Linguistics is the study of language in all its aspects. In British English, the word ‘philology’ denotes the historical study of language. Phonetics is the study of speech.
A hallmark of the Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics at Oxford is the marriage of theory with data, drawing on historical, philological and comparative linguistic data from ancient and modern languages, and on psycholinguistic and phonetic experimental data.
The faculty will provide you with an environment where a strong philological tradition is sustained while all core areas of linguistic theory are supported (phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics), from both synchronic and diachronic perspectives. The faculty also has a strong profile in teaching and research on psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics.
Teaching and research in linguistic subjects is centred around the Centre for Linguistics and Philology, which occupies part of the former Clarendon Press Institute on Walton Street. Most graduate courses in linguistics and philology are held in the building.
The Phonetics Laboratory has excellent provision for research in speech physiology and acoustics, and outstanding computing facilities. Currently, the Phonetics Laboratory's main areas of research are:
- prosody and speech timing, especially;
- contact phonetics and prosody;
- geolinguistic variation;
- multimodal analysis of gesture and prosody; and
- functional phylogenetic and other statistical- computational methods of reconstructing speech from the past.
Languages of particular interest in the faculty's research projects are: Indian English and other languages in India and the diaspora; Italo Romance (especially Venetian); languages of the Eastern Mediterranean.
Research in the Language and Brain Laboratory covers all aspects of linguistics, including phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. The laboratory contains offices for postdoctoral researchers, research assistants and DPhil students working in Psycholinguistics and Neurolinguistics.
Funding
For entry in the 2025-26 academic year, the collegiate University expects to offer over 1,000 full or partial graduate scholarships across a wide range of graduate courses.
If you apply by the January deadline shown on this page and receive a course offer, your application will then be considered for Oxford scholarships. For the majority of Oxford scholarships, your application will automatically be assessed against the eligibility criteria, without needing to make a separate application. There are further Oxford scholarships available which have additional eligibility criteria and where you are required to submit a separate application. Most scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic merit and/or potential.
To ensure that you are considered for Oxford scholarships that require a separate application, for which you may be eligible, use our fees, funding and scholarship search tool to identify these opportunities and find out how to apply. Alongside Oxford scholarships, you should also consider other opportunities for which you may be eligible including a range of external funding, loan schemes for postgraduate study and any other scholarships which may also still be available after the January deadline as listed on our fees, funding and scholarship search tool.
Details of college-specific funding opportunities can also be found on individual college websites:
Please refer to the College preference section of this page to identify which of the colleges listed above accept students for this course.
For the majority of college scholarships, it doesn’t matter which college, if any, you state a preference for in your application. If another college is able to offer you a scholarship, your application can be moved to that college if you accept the scholarship. Some college scholarships may require you to state a preference for that college when you apply, so check the eligibility requirements carefully.
Further information about funding opportunities for this course can be found on the faculty's website.
Costs
Annual fees for entry in 2025-26
Full-time study
Fee status | Annual Course fees |
| Home | £13,380 |
| Overseas | £34,980 |
Part-time study
Fee status | Annual Course fees |
| Home | £6,690 |
| Overseas | £17,490 |
How long do I need to pay course fees?
Course fees are payable each year, for the duration of your fee liability (your fee liability is the length of time for which you are required to pay course fees). For courses lasting longer than one year, please be aware that fees will usually increase annually. For details, please see our guidance on changes to fees and charges.
What do course fees cover?
Course fees cover your teaching as well as other academic services and facilities provided to support your studies. Unless specified in the additional information section below, course fees do not cover your accommodation, residential costs or other living costs. They also don’t cover any additional costs and charges that are outlined in the additional information section below.
Continuation charges
Following the period of fee liability, you may also be required to pay a University continuation charge and a college continuation charge. The University and college continuation charges are shown on the Continuation charges page.
Where can I find further information about fees?
The Fees and Funding section of this website provides further information about course fees, including information about fee status and eligibility and your length of fee liability.
Additional information
Full-time study
The faculty makes available some funding for language training, where relevant, and for conducting experiments or carrying out fieldwork, where required by the students research activities. There are no compulsory elements of this course that entail additional costs beyond fees (or, after fee liability ends, continuation charges) and living costs. However, please note that, depending on your choice of research topic and the research required to complete it, you may incur additional expenses, such as travel expenses, research expenses, and field trips. You will need to meet these additional costs, although you may be able to apply for small grants from your department and/or college to help you cover some of these expenses.
Part-time study
Please note that you are required to attend in Oxford for a minimum of 30 days each year, and you may incur additional travel and accommodation expenses for this. The faculty makes available some funding for language training, where relevant, and for conducting experiments or carrying out fieldwork, where required by the student’s research activities. There are no compulsory elements of this course that entail additional costs beyond fees (or, after fee liability ends, continuation charges) and living costs. However, please note that, depending on your choice of research topic and the research required to complete it, you may incur additional expenses, such as travel expenses, research expenses, and field trips. You will need to meet these additional costs, although you may be able to apply for small grants from your department and/or college to help you cover some of these expenses.
Living costs
In addition to your course fees and any additional course-specific costs, you will need to ensure that you have adequate funds to support your living costs for the duration of your course.
Living costs for full-time study
For the 2025-26 academic year, the range of likely living costs for a single, full-time student is between £1,425 and £2,035 for each month spent in Oxford. We provide the cost per month so you can multiply up by the number of months you expect to live in Oxford. Depending on your circumstances, you may also need to budget for the costs of a student visa and immigration health surcharge and/or living costs for family members or other dependants that you plan to bring with you to Oxford (assuming that dependant visa eligibility criteria are met).
Living costs for part-time study
Your living costs may vary depending on your personal circumstances but you will still need to cover your cost of living on a full-time basis for the duration of your course, even if you will not be based in Oxford throughout your studies. While the range of likely living costs for a single, full-time student living in Oxford is between £1,425 and £2,035 per month, living costs outside Oxford may be different.
Part-time students who are not based in Oxford will need to calculate travel and accommodation costs carefully. Depending on your circumstances and study plans, this may include the cost of a visitor visa to attend for short blocks of time (assuming that visitor visa eligibility criteria are met).
Further information about living costs
The current economic climate and high national rate of inflation make it very hard to estimate potential changes to the cost of living over the next few years. For study in Oxford beyond the 2025-26 academic year, it is suggested that you budget for potential increases in living expenses of around 4% each year – although this rate may vary depending on the national economic situation. For further information, please consult our more detailed information about living costs, which includes a breakdown of likely living costs in Oxford for items such as food, accommodation and study costs.
College preference
Students enrolled on this course will belong to both a department/faculty and a college. Please note that ‘college’ and ‘colleges’ refers to all 43 of the University’s colleges, including those designated as societies and permanent private halls (PPHs).
If you apply for a place on this course you will have the option to express a preference for one of the colleges listed below, or you can ask us to find a college for you. Before deciding, we suggest that you read our brief introduction to the college system at Oxford and our advice about expressing a college preference.
If you are a current Oxford student and you would like to remain at your current Oxford college, you should check whether it is listed below. If it is, you should indicate this preference when you apply. If not, you should contact your college office to ask whether they would be willing to make an exception. Further information about staying at your current college can be found in our Application Guide.
Full-time study
The following colleges accept students for full-time study on this course:
Part-time study
The following colleges accept students for part-time study on this course:
Before you apply
Our guide to getting started provides general advice on how to prepare for and start your application. You can use our interactive tool to help you evaluate whether your application is likely to be competitive.
If it is important for you to have your application considered under a particular deadline – eg under the January deadline in order to be considered for Oxford scholarships – we recommend that you aim to complete and submit your application at least two weeks in advance. Check the deadlines on this page and the information about deadlines and when to apply in our Application Guide.
Application fee waivers
An application fee of £20 is payable for each application to this course. Application fee waivers are available for the following applicants who meet the eligibility criteria:
- applicants from low-income countries;
- refugees and displaced persons;
- UK applicants from low-income backgrounds; and
- applicants who applied for our Graduate Access Programmes in the past two years and met the eligibility criteria.
You are encouraged to check whether you're eligible for an application fee waiver before you apply.
Readmission for current Oxford graduate taught students
If you're currently studying for an Oxford graduate taught course and apply to this course with no break in your studies, you may be eligible to apply to this course as a readmission applicant. The application fee will be waived for an eligible application of this type. Check whether you're eligible to apply for readmission.
Do I need to contact anyone before I apply?
You do not need to make contact with the department before you apply but you are encouraged to visit the relevant departmental webpages to read any further information about your chosen course.
If you have any questions about the course, these can be directed to the course administrator via the contact details provided on this page.
Improving access to graduate study
This course is taking part in initiatives to improve the selection procedure for graduate applications, to ensure that all candidates are evaluated fairly.
Socio-economic data (where it has been provided in the application form) will be used as part of an initiative to contextualise applications at the different stages of the selection process.
Completing your application
You should refer to the information below when completing the application form, paying attention to the specific requirements for the supporting documents.
For this course, the application form will include questions that collect information that would usually be included in a CV/résumé. You should not upload a separate document. If a separate CV/résumé is uploaded, it will be removed from your application.
If any document does not meet the specification, including the stipulated word count, your application may be considered incomplete and not assessed by the academic department. Expand each section to show further details.
Proposed field and title of research project
Under the 'Field and title of research project' please enter your proposed field or area of research if this is known. If the department has advertised a specific research project that you would like to be considered for, please enter the project title here instead.
You should not use this field to type out a full research proposal. You will be able to upload your research supporting materials separately if they are required (as described below).
Proposed supervisor
Under 'Proposed supervisor name' enter the name of the academic(s) whom you would like to supervise your research.
The faculty assigns a supervisor (or in some cases, two supervisors) to each successful applicant. The proposed supervisor will be taken into account when a supervisor is assigned, but for various reasons the assigned supervisor will not always be the one proposed in your application.
Referees:
Three overall, academic preferred
Whilst you must register three referees, the department may start the assessment of your application if two of the three references are submitted by the course deadline and your application is otherwise complete. Please note that you may still be required to ensure your third referee supplies a reference for consideration.
All references should generally be academic. However, in the case of mature students or intended career changes, a professional reference may be submitted instead of one of the academic references.
If you are a current master’s student or have completed a master’s course, one of your referees should be your supervisor or course director on this master's programme. If you do not provide a reference from your master's supervisor or course director, the faculty will usually ask you to do so before completing the assessment of your application.
Your references will support intellectual ability, academic achievement, motivation, and ability to work in a group.
Official transcript(s)
Your transcripts should give detailed information of the individual grades received in your university-level qualifications to date. You should only upload official documents issued by your institution and any transcript not in English should be accompanied by a certified translation.
More information about the transcript requirement is available in the Application Guide.
Research proposal:
A maximum of 2,500 words
The research proposal should be written in English and the overall word count does not need to include any bibliography. It should include information about your background in linguistics and degree of preparation already achieved for the research, as well as an outline of your thesis and of the research you plan to conduct.
If possible, please ensure that the word count is clearly displayed on the document.
It will be normal for your ideas subsequently to change in some ways as you investigate the evidence and develop your project. You should nevertheless make the best effort you can to demonstrate the extent of your research question, sources and method at this moment.
Your statement should focus on the research itself rather than personal achievements, interests and aspirations.
If you are applying for part-time study, you should provide evidence of your ability to commit sufficient time to study and fulfil all elements outlined in the course description (eg completing coursework, assessments, and attending course and University events and modules).
This will be assessed for:
- your reasons for applying
- the coherence of the proposal
- the originality of the project
- evidence of motivation for and understanding of the proposed area of study
- the ability to present a reasoned case in English
- the feasibility of successfully completing the project in the time available for the course (a maximum of four years)
- commitment to the subject, beyond the requirements of the degree course
- preliminary knowledge of research techniques
- capacity for sustained and intense work
- reasoning ability
- ability to absorb new ideas, often presented abstractly, at a rapid pace
- your ability to commit sufficient time to study and fulfil all elements outlined in the course description if you are applying for part-time study.
Written work:
Two essays, a maximum of 2,000 words each
Academic essays or other writing samples from your most recent qualification, written in English, are required. Extracts of the requisite length from longer work are also permissible.
Applicants with prior experience of study in linguistics or related subjects are encouraged to submit work in those areas. If you do not have any existing material that fits this requirement, we suggest that you critique an article or write a book review based on the course subject. The written work should be related to the course, and should be on two separate topics. The written work should demonstrate your competence in the proposed area of study.
The word count does not need to include any bibliography or brief footnotes.
If possible, please ensure that the word count is clearly displayed on the document.
Written work will be assessed for:
- comprehensive understanding of the subject area,
- understanding of problems in the area,
- ability to construct and defend an argument,
- powers of analysis,
- and powers of expression in English.
Start or continue your application
You can start or return to an application using the relevant link below. As you complete the form, please refer to the requirements above and consult our Application Guide for advice.
Apply - Full time Apply - Part time Continue applicationClosed
After you've submitted your application
Your application (including the supporting documents outlined above) will be assessed against the entry requirements detailed on this course page. Whether or not you have secured funding will not be taken into consideration when your application is assessed. You can find out more about our shortlisting and selection process in our detailed guide to what happens next.
Find out how to manage your application after submission, using our Applicant Self-Service tool.
ADMISSION STATUS
Closed to applications for entry in 2025-26
Register to be notified via email when the next application cycle opens (for entry in 2026-27)
Deadlines
12:00 midday UK time on:
Tuesday 7 January 2025
Latest deadline for most Oxford scholarships
Final application deadline for entry in 2025-26
| Full Time | Part Time | |
|---|---|---|
| Course code | RD_CPK2 | RD_CPK9P2 |
| Expected length | 3-4 years | 6-8 years |
| Places in 2025-26 | c. 5 | c. tbc |
| Applications/year* | 35 | 2 |
| Expected start | 5 October 2025 | |
| English language | Higher level required | |
*Three-year average (applications for entry in 2022-23 to 2024-25)
Further information and enquiries
This course is offered by the
Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics
- Course page on the faculty's website
- Funding information from the faculty
- Academic and research staff
- Faculty research
- Humanities Division
- Residence requirements for full-time courses
- Postgraduate applicant privacy policy
Course-related enquiries
Advice about contacting the department can be found in the How to apply section of this page
✉ academic-office@ling-phil.ox.ac.uk
☎+44 (0)1865 280405
Application-process enquiries
Other courses to consider
You may also wish to consider applying to other courses that are similar or related to this course:
Visa eligibility for part-time study
We are unable to sponsor student visas for part-time study on this course. Part-time students may be able to attend on a visitor visa for short blocks of time only (and leave after each visit) and will need to remain based outside the UK.