Graduate Admissions
Admission for entry in October 2025 is currently OPEN. Information on the application deadline can be found here.
Below you will find information about the graduate courses offered by the Oxford Philosophy Faculty, including the Faculty’s flagship two-year Master’s course, the BPhil in Philosophy. For information about the application process, please visit the Admissions Procedure and Entry Requirements page.
Introduction to graduate study in Philosophy
Each year, around 60 graduate students in philosophy are admitted to Oxford. Around 25 are admitted for the Bachelor of Philosophy in Philosophy course, the “BPhil” (note that, despite its name, the BPhil is a Master's level, postgraduate degree, equivalent to a two-year MPhil) and between five and eight students are admitted for each of the Faculty’s specialised Master of Studies courses, in Ancient Philosophy and Philosophy of Physics. A number of students are also admitted to the Doctor of Philosophy course (the “DPhil”, the Faculty’s doctoral programme) each year, usually as Probationary Research Students initially. These students will typically have already completed substantial graduate work in philosophy, usually equivalent to that required for the BPhil.
The aim of the Faculty’s graduate programmes is to prepare students for an academic career in philosophy. The usual progression through the Oxford philosophy graduate programme is to take the BPhil or one of the specialist MSt courses and then to continue research on the DPhil, which is examined by a thesis of approximately 75,000 words. Students who progress from one of the specialist MSt courses must spend one year as a Probationary Research Student (“PRS”) before applying for full DPhil status. Typically, a candidate’s thesis for the BPhil or the MSt in Ancient Philosophy will provide a basis for his or her DPhil thesis. There is no thesis element to the MSt in Philosophy of Physics, but candidates who progress to the DPhil from that course are required to write a 20,000 word thesis during their year as a PRS. For all these degrees the student must be a matriculated member of a college, and must normally reside in Oxford for at least one or two years.
It is also possible to study philosophy at Oxford at graduate level without being enrolled for a degree. In order to do this, you must apply for entry as a Recognised Student.
In addition to progressing from the BPhil or one of the specialist MSt courses, an alternative route to the DPhil, involving initial admission directly as a Probationary Research Student (PRS) and later transfer to DPhil status, is available to candidates who already have a substantial background in philosophy, usually equivalent to that acquired by taking the BPhil. A general condition for admission of any candidate to the DPhil course is that their proposed thesis constitutes a suitable philosophical project of the required length and that there is a member of the Faculty who is able to act as supervisor.
For a full description of the DPhil, please visit the DPhil in Philosophy page.
The BPhil is an intellectually demanding course, presupposing an undergraduate and/or graduate background in philosophy or a closely related discipline. It is not suitable as a conversion course for students changing to philosophy from another subject and it cannot be studied part-time or externally. It is regarded both as training for the DPhil and a basis for teaching a range of philosophical subjects and requires sustained and focused work over two years.
For a full description of the BPhil in Philosophy, please visit the BPhil in Philosophy. page.
The MSt course in Ancient Philosophy attracts students of the highest calibre with a background in philosophy or classics and aims to provide a graduate education in ancient philosophy of the highest possible quality: one which will provide a foundation on which students can go on to pursue doctoral work in the area. The course consists of two subject options (examined by a total of three 5,000 word essays) and a thesis of 10,000-15,000 words.
It is not a course requirement that students without any (or with little) Ancient Greek attend the Ancient Greek language classes currently run by the Faculty of Classics but it is highly recommended that they do so as being able to read philosophical texts in the original language is an advantage for Ancient Philosophy studies.
Students who pass the MSt in Ancient Philosophy will have the opportunity to apply to continue to the Faculty’s DPhil (doctoral) programme, via a year as a Probationary Research Student. MSt in Ancient Philosophy graduates who continue to the DPhil, will be expected to have reached a certain standard in classical Greek. While there is no related examination requirement, it is a requirement for the MSt in Ancient Philosophy students without any (or with little) knowledge of classical Greek to attend language classes run by the Faculty of Classics, if they want to progress to the DPhil.
For a full description of the MSt in Ancient Philosophy, please visit the MSt in Ancient Philosophy. page.
This course aims to attract students with a strong background in physics at undergraduate level or higher, who wish to learn about philosophy in general and philosophy of physics in particular. The course will offer a graduate education in Philosophy of Physics of the highest possible quality, providing a foundation on which candidates can go on to pursue doctoral work in the area.
The course consists of three subjects: Philosophy of Physics, Philosophy of Science, and an elective component (chosen from the following list: Metaphysics and Theory of Knowledge; Philosophy of Mind and Action; Philosophical Logic and the Philosophy of Language; and Philosophy of Mathematics).
Students who pass the MSt in Philosophy of Physics will have the opportunity to apply to continue to the Faculty’s DPhil (doctoral) programme, via a year as a Probationary Research Student.
For a full description of the MSt in Philosophy of Physics, please visit the MSt in Philosophy of Physics. page.
Other degrees that may be of interest include the MSt in Practical Ethics, MSt in Film Aesthetics, MSt in Women's Studies, MSt in Philosophical Theology and MPhil in Philosophical Theology.
Entry Requirements
For a detailed description of the entry requirements for each course, please click on the relevant course link below:
Open Day
We hold a Graduate Open Day in March each year, for applicants who receive an offer of a place. If your application is successful, you will receive further information about this in due course. The Open Day in 2025 is provisionally scheduled for Wednesday 19 March.
Fees
For the latest information on fees charged by the University, and living costs, please visit the Fees and Funding page.
Funding
Please visit our Graduate Funding page to identify various sources of funding for the Philosophy Faculty’s graduate programmes.
Enquiries
Please read through our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Admissions pages.