Visit Oxford colleges

No college is tied to any subject. The student resides and studies at his/her own college. The tutorial is at the core of undergraduate teaching. Students meet regularly with their college tutor, either on a one-to-one basis or with one or two other students.

On average, an hour-long tutorial happens every week requiring a considerable number of hours preparatory work for each tutorial, including background reading, essay-writing and problem-solving. This may be supplemented by lectures within the University.

The academic year at Oxford University runs from October to June. The year is divided into three eight week terms, Michaelmas (autumn), Hilary (spring), and Trinity (summer).

Visiting Oxford Colleges

Most of the colleges are happy to admit visitors who wish to look around. However, most are only open in the afternoon for a few hours and many charge a small fee

Official guides are able to take small groups into colleges at times when the general public cannot enter. If you take a coach tour to Oxford, a walking tour will form the main part of your visit. What you see and where you go varies widely from tour to tour, even with the same company - so do read this part of the tour itinerary closely.

Oxford University and City Walking Tours

Walking tours of the city centre, conducted by the Guild of Guides, depart from the Oxford Information Centre and last between 1.5 and 2 hours.

As well as introductory guided walking tours, specially themed tours are also available - walk in Harry Potter's footsteps or take in Oxford's architecture for example.

The University and City tour is most popular introductory tour taken by the majority of visitors. The guide will take you through the heart of the historic city centre, illustrating the story of Oxford and it university. Describing the architecture and traditions of its most famous buildings and institutions.

The guide will provide a full briefing on the start of the College's and University life today.

The University and City Tour normally visits inside at least one college and also covers the other main sights around the city centre .

The University and City Tour runs daily with frequencies reflecting the time of year.

There is normally at least two tours daily with up to eight tours at peak times.

The tourist office is easily found in Broad Street and is well signposted all over Oxford city centre.