Draft:Department of Education, University of Oxford



The Department of Education. at the University of Oxford is based at Norham Gardens, Oxford, England. The Department is part of the University of Oxford’s Social Sciences Division which is one of the university’s four four academic divisions. The Department celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1919 and has been based at Norham Gardens since 1921.

Rankings

On 26 October 2023, the Department was ranked as 3rd in the world and 1st in the UK in Times Higher Education’s World Rankings 2024 by subject:. In the Research Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021, the Department of Education’s work was rated as world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour. Sixty nine percent of the Department’s submission was scored at 4*, the highest mark available, putting the Department at the top in the UK.

REF is the system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education organisations. The next REF will be in 2029.

Research

The Department runs research activities centred around three themes:


 * Language, Cognition and Development
 * Pedagogy, Learning and Knowledge
 * Policy, Economy and Society

Research Centres

Within each theme the Department has centres and research groups which focus on particular aspects of education.

The centres are:

Courses
 * Centre for Global Higher Education (CGHE)
 * REES Centre
 * Oxford Education Deanery
 * Oxford University Centre for Educational Assessment (OUCEA)
 * Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance (SKOPE)

Courses

The Department runs postgraduate courses.

They are in:


 * DPhil in Education
 * MSc in Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition
 * MSc in Applied Linguistics for Language Teaching
 * MSc in Education
 * MSc in Educational Assessment
 * MSc in Learning and Teaching
 * MSc in Medical Education
 * MSc in Teacher Education
 * Postgraduate Certificate in Education  (PGCE rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted )

Working with the Department for Education

The Department has been chosen to work with the Department for Education on a number of high profile reports, most recently including the OUCEA doing analysis for the national report for England for the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022   , and produced the national report for England for the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2021.

Professor Richard Pring

Professor Richard Pring is a former Director of the Department and has written many publications and books on education including Philosophy of Educational Research, Education, Social Reform and Philosophical Development: Evidence from the Past, Principles for the Future and The Life and Death of Secondary Education for All

Buildings

The Department currently has two buildings: 15 Norham Gardens and the Bruner building.

The Bodleian Education Library is also based within the Department at Norham Gardens.