Philosophy BA (Hons)

Key facts

Course code: V500
Award: BA (Hons)
Duration: 3 years full time, or 4 with a year abroad
Typical offer: A*AA at A level, or 38 points in the IB
Start: September 2027
Places: 112 (1,031 applications for 2026 entry)
Where: Chapter House, Ferry Lane

Why study Philosophy at Oxenfurt

Philosophy at Oxenfurt is taught the slow way. Alongside lectures, every first- and second-year student has a weekly tutorial with one other student and a member of the Faculty, for which you write an essay and then defend it. Most of our graduates say it was the tutorials that taught them to think on their feet.

You will study logic from your first term, as every philosophy student here has since 1611, and the history of philosophy from Plato to Hume alongside the questions philosophers are arguing about now: what we owe people we cannot see, whether a machine could have a point of view, what consent is for.

In your final year you choose four options from about twenty, many taught by the people writing the books on them, and write a dissertation of 10,000 words with a supervisor of your choosing.

Course structure

Year 1: foundations (all compulsory, 120 credits)

Reason and Argument: Logic I (20 credits)
Knowledge and Reality (20)
Moral Philosophy (20)
Plato and Aristotle (20)
From Descartes to Hume (20)
Writing Philosophy: the first-year tutorial (20)

The first year qualifies you for the second but does not count towards your final degree classification.

Year 2: core and options (120 credits)

Three core modules:

Ethics (20)
Metaphysics and Epistemology (20)
Philosophy of Mind (20)

And three options from: Logic II; Political Philosophy; Philosophy of Language; Philosophy of Science; Kant’s Critical Philosophy; Medical Ethics; a module from another subject (20 credits each).

Year 3: options and dissertation (120 credits)

Dissertation (40 credits, compulsory), and four options from a list that changes each year. Options for 2026–27 included:

The Ethics of Perception and Recording
Machine Minds and Moral Status
Consent
Aesthetics and the Photograph
Free Will and Responsibility
Vagueness
Ancient Ethics
Women Philosophers of the Seventeenth Century
Philosophy of Law
Lesser Evils: Moral Philosophy in Hard Cases

Year abroad (optional, between years 2 and 3)

You may apply in your second year to spend a year at one of 23 partner universities in Europe, North America and East Asia. The year is assessed on a pass or fail basis and appears on your degree certificate. Places are limited and are allocated on your first- and second-year results.

Modules listed are those offered in 2026–27 and may change. Options run only when enough students choose them.

Teaching and assessment

In your first year you can expect about 11 hours of timetabled teaching a week in term: six lectures, a two-hour logic class, a weekly tutorial in a pair, and a fortnightly seminar. In the third year lectures give way to seminars of about twelve students, and to supervision of your dissertation.

Outside teaching, expect to spend about 30 hours a week reading and writing. Philosophy is mostly done alone in a library and then argued about in company.

Year 2 counts for 40% of your final classification and year 3 for 60%. Across the course, about half of your marks come from examinations and half from essays, the dissertation and a logic portfolio. You will receive written feedback on every tutorial essay within a week.

Entry requirements

A levels

A*AA, in any subjects. We do not require A level Philosophy, Religious Studies or Mathematics, and taking them gives no advantage.

Contextual offer: AAA for applicants eligible through the Pontar Access Scheme, or who have spent time in care.

International Baccalaureate

38 points overall, with 6, 6, 6 in Higher Level subjects.

Scottish Highers and Advanced Highers

AAAAA at Higher and AA at Advanced Higher.

Access to Higher Education Diploma

Pass with 45 credits at Level 3, of which 36 at Distinction and 9 at Merit, in a humanities or social sciences pathway.

English language

If English is not your first language, an approved English language test at the University’s higher level: an overall score equivalent to 7.0, with no part below 6.5. The Admissions Office keeps the list of tests it accepts.

All applicants are considered on their whole application: predicted or achieved grades, personal statement and reference, and, for shortlisted applicants, an interview. We do not set a written admissions test.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees for entry in 2027
Fee status	Fee
UK students	£10,050 a year (the expected maximum for 2027–28, yet to be confirmed by the UK Government)
International students	£27,850 a year
Year abroad	15% of the full fee for that year

UK students from households with an income below £42,875 receive an Oxenfurt Bursary of up to £3,100 a year. Students living in Novigrad can apply to the Ferry Bursary for help with the cost of the crossing. Fees and funding

Joint honours

Philosophy with another subject
Course	Code	Typical offer
English and Philosophy	QV35	A*AA
History and Philosophy	VV15	AAA
Law and Philosophy	MV15	A*AA
Mathematics and Philosophy	GV15	AAA, including Mathematics
Computer Science and Philosophy	GV45	A*AA, including Mathematics
Classics and Philosophy	QV85	AAA

Careers

Fifteen months after graduating, 91% of our philosophy graduates of 2022–23 who answered the national graduate survey were in work or further study. They work in law, the civil service, publishing, journalism, teaching, software and charities, and about one in six goes on to postgraduate study.

Course changes

We make every effort to run courses as described. Modules, teaching methods and assessment may change between years, and after you have accepted an offer, because of staff changes, student demand or improvements to the course. If we make a significant change after you have accepted an offer, we will tell you, explain your options and, if you wish, help you to transfer to another course or university.