oxford requirement to study Archaeology and Anthropology; www.ox.ac.uk

Table of Contents

UCAS code	LV64	Duration	3 years (BA)
Entrance requirements	AAA	Subject requirements	Combination of arts and science subjects
Admissions test(s)	None	Written work	Two pieces
Admissions statistics*	Interviewed: 72% Successful: 24% Intake: 26 ^{*3-year average 2019-21}	Contact	+44 (0) 1865 278121 Email Archaeology

Subject requirements: Essential Recommended Helpful – may be useful on course

Unistats information for this course can be found at the bottom of the page

Together, archaeology and anthropology cover the study of humankind from its inception to the present day. The two disciplines have a long history: Antiquarianism in the 18th century gave rise to archaeology, while anthropology got its start even earlier in the early days of colonial encounter. The arts, the social sciences, and the physical sciences all employ sophisticated methods today in both fields.

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OXFORD Admission requirements for entry

Oxford’s distinctive combination of archaeology and anthropology, pursued over three years, offers an unusually broad perspective on human societies from earliest prehistory to the present. The course offers a comprehensive guide to the richness and diversity of human cultural experience throughout space and time. By choosing to study here you will be able to:

explore how humans evolved
get to grips with major transformational processes in human history such as the development of farming, the emergence of towns and trading systems and the spread of world religions
learn why societies structure their families, economies and political systems in the ways that they do
investigate how material culture represents and reproduces beliefs and ideologies.

Six Oxford institutions specialise in these subjects: the Schools of Archaeology and of Social and Cultural Anthropology, the Ashmolean Museum, the Pitt Rivers Museum, the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art. All play a key role in the provision of teaching for the degree.

Fieldwork/work placements/international opportunities

As part of your course you must undertake a minimum of four weeks of fieldwork (subject to approval by your tutors), which is normally completed in the summer vacation at the end of your first year. Fieldwork can take place in field settings, or in a laboratory or museum and involve anthropological as well as archaeological projects. Recent destinations include Azerbaijan, Denmark and South Africa.

Financial support for your fieldwork is available from the University and may also be available from your college. You may also choose to engage in further fieldwork as part of your final-year dissertation, while other opportunities may exist for work-based learning in the University’s own museums.

A typical week

Your timetable will be divided into lectures, tutorials and practical classes (on topics such as dating, isotope analysis, and the analysis of plant, animal and human remains, as well as artefacts). In the first year you will spend around six hours a week in lectures, which focus on the course’s core papers. In Years 2 and 3, lectures for core and optional papers take up around ten hours a week. Throughout the course, there are one or two tutorials a week, normally taught in a pair (typically a total of twelve in each term).

Tutorials are usually two students and a tutor, but may include up to three students depending on circumstances. Lectures will include the whole year group of around 25 students, although they are sometimes shared with Human Sciences students and are therefore larger. Lecture sizes for optional courses are normally smaller and could be as low as 3-6 students.

Most tutorials, classes, and lectures are delivered by staff who are tutors in their subject. Many are world-leading experts with years of experience in teaching and research. Some teaching may also be delivered by postgraduate students who are usually studying at doctorate level.

To find out more about how our teaching year is structured, visit our Academic Year page.

Course structure

YEAR 1
COURSES Four core courses are taken: Introduction to world archaeology Introduction to anthropological theory Perspectives on human evolution The nature of archaeological and anthropological enquiry Practical classes Fieldwork	ASSESSMENTFirst University examinations: four written papers
YEARS 2 AND 3
COURSES Four core courses are taken: Social analysis and interpretation Cultural representations, beliefs and practices Landscape and ecology Urbanism and society Options (three from a broad range of anthropological and archaeological courses, one normally taken in Year 2, two taken in Year 3) Practical classes Dissertation A full list of current options is available on the Archaeology website.	ASSESSMENTFinal university examinations: Year 2 – the option taken in this year is examined by a 5000-word-long essay. The Fieldwork and Methods paper is examined by a 5000-word-long report on the fieldwork completed at the end of Year 1, plus three 1000-word-long reports written in respect of the practical classes Year 3 – six written papers in respect of the remaining core courses and options, plus a 15,000 word dissertation, which is doub

Academic requirements

A-levels:	AAA
Advanced Highers:	AA/AAB
IB:	38 (including core points) with 666 at HL
Or any other equivalent (see other UK qualifications, and international qualifications)

Wherever possible, your grades are considered in the context in which they have been achieved. (See further information on how we use contextual data.)

Subject requirements

Helpful:

A background of studying both arts and science subjects can be helpful to students in completing the course, although there are no specific subject requirements for admission.

If a practical component forms part of any of your science A‐levels used to meet your offer, we expect you to pass it.

If English is not your first language you may also need to meet our English language requirements.

Applying

All candidates must follow the application procedure as shown in applying to Oxford. The information below gives specific details for students applying for this course.

Admissions test

You do not need to take a written test as part of an application for this course.

Written work

Description:

As part of your application all candidates are required to submit the following:

Two recently-marked essays, each written as part of a school or college course within a two-week period or less and preferably in different subjects. You have the option of submitting an additional piece of work composed over a longer period of time if you so wish.
A short essay of no more than 500 words in response to the following question: What can we learn about people, EITHER past OR present, from their material culture?

Submission deadline:

10 November

For further guidance and to download a cover sheet see our page on the submission of written work.

What are tutors looking for?

Tutors are primarily looking for an interest in, and enthusiasm for, the study of humans and their material culture, combined with an ability to digest and assimilate significant quantities of data and to construct evidence-based arguments. While you don’t need to have prior experience of studying archaeology or anthropology, fieldwork experience and evidence of supplementary reading would be seen as one possible demonstration of your interest and commitment. Tutors will be looking for the following qualities at interview:

an ability to think independently
potential and motivation for studying archaeology and anthropology
enthusiasm and interest in the combined disciplines
commitment to the requirements of the course.

Careers

Archaeology and Anthropology opens up a wide range of career opportunities, in part because the degree offers a unique perspective on how human societies operate and develop and on how people interact with each other. This is also due to the intellectually demanding requirements of an Oxford degree, and to the combination of independent study and tutorial teaching. Graduates of this course have found opportunities in heritage management, international development, education, the law, the media and the Civil Service among other careers.

We don’t want anyone who has the academic ability to get a place to study here to be held back by their financial circumstances. To meet that aim, Oxford offers one of the most generous financial support packages available for UK students and this may be supplemented by support from your college.

Fees

These annual fees are for full-time students who begin this undergraduate course here.

Fee status	Annual Course fees
Home	£9,250
Overseas	£35,080

Further details about fee status eligibility can be found on the fee status webpage.

For more information please refer to our course fees page. Fees will usually increase annually. For details, please see our guidance on likely increases to fees and charges.

Living costs

Living costs at Oxford might be less than you’d expect, as our world-class resources and college provision can help keep costs down.

Living costs for the academic year starting are estimated to be between £1,290 and £1,840 for each month you are in Oxford. Our academic year is made up of three eight-week terms, so you would not usually need to be in Oxford for much more than six months of the year but may wish to budget over a nine-month period to ensure you also have sufficient funds during the holidays to meet essential costs. For further details please visit our living costs webpage.

Financial support

Home

A tuition fee loan is available from the UK government to cover course fees in full for Home (UK, Irish nationals and other eligible students with UK citizens’ rights – see below*) students undertaking their first undergraduate degree**, so you don’t need to pay your course fees up front.In Oxford is offering one of the most generous bursary packages of any UK university to Home students with a family income of around £42,875 or less, with additional opportunities available to UK students from households with incomes of £27,500 or less. The UK government also provides living costs support to Home students from the UK and those with settled status who meet the residence requirements.

*For courses starting on or after 1 August , the UK government has confirmed that EU, other EEA, and Swiss Nationals will be eligible for student finance from the UK government if they have UK citizens’ rights (i.e. if they have pre-settled or settled status, or if they are an Irish citizen covered by the Common Travel Area arrangement). The support you can access from the government will depend on your residency status.

See further details.

Islands
(Channel Islands and Isle of Man)

Islands students are entitled to different support to that of students from the rest of the UK.Please refer the links below for information on the support to you available from your funding agency:

States of Jersey
States of Guernsey
Isle of Man

Overseas

Please refer to the “Other Scholarships” section of our Oxford Bursaries and Scholarships page.

**If you have studied at undergraduate level before and completed your course, you will be classed as an Equivalent or Lower Qualification student (ELQ) and won’t be eligible to receive government or Oxford funding

FEES, FUNDING AND SCHOLARSHIP SEARCH

Additional Fees and Charges Information for Archaeology and Anthropology

Students must complete at least four weeks of approved fieldwork by the end of the second year. The cost of this will depend on the location. Funding is available from the University and potentially from your college to help towards costs.

Contextual information

Course data from Discover Uni provides applicants with statistics about undergraduate life at Oxford. But there is so much more to an Oxford degree that the numbers can’t convey.

The Oxford tutorial

College tutorials are central to teaching at Oxford. Typically, they take place in your college and are led by your academic tutor(s) who teach as well as do their own research. Students will also receive teaching in a variety of other ways, depending on the course. This will include lectures and classes, and may include laboratory work and fieldwork. However, tutorials offer a level of personalised attention from academic experts unavailable at most universities.

During tutorials (normally lasting an hour), college subject tutors will give you and one or two tutorial partners feedback on prepared work and cover a topic in depth. The other student(s) in your college tutorials will be from your year group, doing the same course as you and will normally be at your college. Such regular and rigorous academic discussion develops and facilitates learning in a way that isn’t possible through lectures alone. Tutorials also allow for close progress monitoring so tutors can quickly provide additional support if necessary.

College life

Our colleges are at the heart of Oxford’s reputation as one of the best universities in the world.