The Science Education
System in Oxford and the UK

David Andrews
1Outline of this talk• High school education (brief)• Undergraduate education– Oxford Physics– Other sciences at Oxford– Other universities• Postgraduate education– Masters– PhD
2I shall mostly talkabout England +Wales + Northern
Ireland.
Scotland has aslightly different
education system.

3

Brief outline of school
education in UK• Age ~5: start formal education• Age ~ 15-16: major national
examinations: General Certificate ofSecondary Education (GCSE)– Core subjects: English, Mathematics, Science(may be split into 1-3 sciences)– Languages (e.g. French, German)– Technology– Computing– Humanities (History, Geography, ReligiousStudies…)– Many other possibilities4• GCSE: The best students may take 10-12subjects.
• Some students leave school after GCSEs.
• Academically-able ones stay on to study
for 2 more years.
• Age ~ 16-17: major national
examinations: AS Levels. Students may
take 3-5 specialist subjects.
• Age ~ 17-18: major national
examinations: A Levels. Student typicallyfocus on 3-4 of their AS subjects, ingreater depth.
• [Alternative: vocational qualifications.]5University requirements for
Undergraduate study• Most universities require passes in3 subjects at A Level.
• If the student wishes to study ascience subject at University, they
will usually need to have A Levels inrelevant science subjects:– e.g. for a University Physics course,
A Levels in Physics and Mathematics +one other science or other subject.
6University Terms• Most UK Universities have 3 terms,
8-10 weeks long:– Autumn Term (in October-December)– Spring Term (in January-March)– Summer Term (in April-June)• There is a ‘Long Vacation’ between
July and September.
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Oxford University Requirements• Usually, 3 top (“A”) grades at A Level.
(Other major universities, e.g. Cambridge,London, have similar requirements.)

Oxford University Terms are only 8
weeks long, so are highly intensive.
Students are expected to do revisionand preparation during the vacations.
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Oxford Physics Department

About 180-190 Physics undergraduates each year
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Physics Undergraduate Degree
Courses at Oxford University• There are two undergraduate
degrees:– 4-year MPhys (Master of Physics):
mainly for those who wish to continue inPhysics, technology, science teaching,etc, after graduating.
– 3-year BA (Bachelors degree): mainly
for those who wish to move into adifferent area after graduating.

• The courses are identical for the first2½ years.
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The main structure of theOxford Physics course
Four main teachingelements:
1. Lectures:~ 10-12 perweek.
For presenting
the basic subject
material to all
180 students inthe year group.
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2.

Laboratory Practicals: 6 hours per week.
Students work in pairs and in each of the labs:– General Physics (Mechanics)– Optics– Electronics– Computing–

In later years, more specialised labs as well:• Condensed Matter, Astrophysics, Nuclear
Physics, Atmospheric Physics, etc.
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3.

Tutorials (in small groups: 2-3 students taught
by a senior academic, or postdoctoralresearcher): 2 per week. Students do
assignments each week, which are marked by,and discussed with, the tutor. (This system isunique to Oxford and Cambridge.)

4.

Classes: 6-8 students with a tutor, mainly forrevision of material learned earlier, or for
specialist instruction in advanced subjects.
13A typical First-Year student’s week
9 a.m.

10 a.m.

11 a.m.

VectorCalculus

ElectromagnetismVectorsandMatrices

VectorCalculus

Electromagnetism

Waves

Wednesday

Waves

VectorCalculus

ComputingThursday

VectorCalculus

MondayTuesday

Friday12 noon

Afternoon

Tutorials

Tutorials

Practical laboratory work

ClassicalMechanics

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Year-by-year progression
Year 1: Foundation• Basic Physics and Mathematics
principles:– Classical Mechanics, Special Relativity,
Electromagnetism, Optics, Waves,Calculus, Vectors, Differential
Equations, etc.

• 4 examination papers at the end ofthe year.
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Year 2: Core material• Topics common to many areas of Physics:– More advanced Mathematics, Quantum
Mechanics, Thermal Physics, Further Optics,
Further Electromagnetism, etc.

• A choice of short options in a variety ofspecialist subjects• 3 examination papers
16Year 3: More advanced topics• Atomic, Nuclear and Particle Physics• Condensed Matter Physics• Astrophysics and Atmospheric Physics[includes Climate Physics and Fluid Dynamics]• Short options• 3 examination papers• For 3-year students: a short research
project or essay instead of 1 paper.
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Year 4: Advanced options• Students choose two advanced subjects(e.g. Particle Physics,Atmospheric/Oceanic Physics,Astrophysics, …) and attend lectures andclasses.
• 2 examination papers.
• Students spend about 8-10 weeks working
on a research project with one of theDepartment’s research groups, and writinga report on it.
18MPhys and BA Degree
Classifications• First Class: obtained by top ~ 35% of students• Upper Second Class: obtained by ~ 50% ofstudents• Lower Second Class: obtained by ~ 12% ofstudents• Third Class: obtained by ~ 3% of students(The examinations are partly assessed by an
external examiner from another university.)
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Other Science Subjects at Oxford• Laboratory-based subjects (e.g. Chemistry,Engineering, Biochemistry) are similar toPhysics in structure, with small variations:– E.g. the 4th year in Chemistry is entirely
devoted to a research project.

• Some subjects (e.g. Earth Sciences,Biological Sciences) may also have asubstantial Fieldwork element.
• Mathematics has no laboratory work....

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Joint Subjects• A few students take a combination ofsubjects, e.g.
– Physics and Philosophy– Mathematics and Philosophy– Engineering, Economics andManagement.

• These are usually very difficult!

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Other UK UniversitiesCambridge[I was a studentthere]

Reading[Has a famousMeteorologyDepartment]

Others withAtmospheric, Oceanic orPlanetary Sciences:• Imperial CollegeLondon• East Anglia• Leeds• Edinburgh• Open University• Southampton• Exeter• …

About 100 universities in total
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Other UK Universities• Science courses are broadly similar instructure to those at Oxford, but– No (or very few) small-group tutorials, exceptat Cambridge– Courses are often more varied, with a larger
choice of options and less ‘core’ material.
– Often the courses have a more ‘applied’emphasis• The 3-year/4-year Physics degree
structure is similar at most otheruniversities.
• Scotland: some courses are 1 year longer.
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Post-Graduate degrees
Some standard UK models:• Taught 1-year Masters degree• Or 2-year Masters, partly taught andpartly research• 3-4 year PhD degree, mostly research
There is a wide variety, according tosubject and university.
24Post-graduate degrees in
Oxford Physics• Currently has only a DPhil (= PhD) degree,mostly devoted to research (but withsome taught material in the first year).
• UK funding agencies currently provide
student grants (for UK students only) for 3,
3½ or 4 years (confusing!)• But probably moving towards 4 years.

25Supervision of PhD students• Every student has a main supervisor,
based in Oxford: a senior academic
Faculty member.
• May also have a second supervisor fromoutside Oxford, if working on a joint
project.
• Will also have a postdoctoral ‘advisor’from within the research group.
• Will usually have a lot of informal support
from other students and postdocs in theresearch group.
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A typical time line for a PhDstudent• Year 1: probationary status– Takes some taught courses, and does
examinations– Starts on research project, e.g. writes
literature review, project outline, maybe
obtains some preliminary results– Writes a 20 to 30 page report– Has a review with 2 academic staff at the endof the year.
– If all is going well, is allowed to continue tosecond year.
27• Year 2:– Mostly spent on full-time research.
– Probably attends some national
conferences/workshops, to presentresults.
– May start writing papers with supervisor.
– Writes a 30-50 page report.
– Again is reviewed by 2 academic staff at
the end of the year.
28• Years 3 - 4:
– Heavily engaged in research– May write papers– Writes thesis– Attends conferences• Most students submit their theses
after about 3 – 3½ years.
• Maximum thesis length: 250 pages.

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PhD examination• This is an oral exam: two examiners(1 from the department, 1 from anotheruniversity) read the thesis, and then havea private discussion with the student todiscuss the thesis work.
• This discussion usually lasts 2-3 hours.
• The examiners write a report, and make arecommendation.
• Possible outcomes:– Only minor revisions to thesis (⇒ pass)– Major revisions (⇒ new exam)– Award of lower degree (MSc)– Failure (very rare)30

Application process for Oxford
DPhil (= PhD)
• See

www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/postgraduate_courses/apply/index.html• For Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics:
www.atm.ox.ac.uk/main/Graduates/index.html(or ask me!)• But there are very few Oxford funding sources foroverseas students – usually have to find their ownfunding.
• AOPP has about 25 DPhil students at any time, ofwhich about 8 are from overseas.
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Other Subjects and other UKUniversities• Until recently the PhD system has
been very similar in most subjects
and at most universities• But…

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A new concept:
Doctoral Training Centres• The funding agencies have recently started
setting these up in different universities, in areasof particular scientific interest and importance,e.g.
– Physical Sciences students moving into Life Sciences– Energy Science– Complexity Science– Neuroscience– Chemical Biology• Funding is provided for perhaps 12-20 students
and for additional teaching faculty.
• Students do 1 year of intensive course work andprojects.
• They then do a 3-year PhD.
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Master’s Courses• There is a huge variety in the UK.
• Many are for training students tomove into a specialised area:– E.g. training Physics and Mathematics
students in Atmospheric Sciences(Reading University has MSc courses ofthis type.)• These equip students for moving on
to a PhD, or for working inGovernment laboratories, etc.
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The Bologna Process• There are plans to coordinate
undergraduate and graduate education
across Europe:– To allow easier comparison of qualifications.
– To make it easier for students and staff totransfer between countries.

• Proposed progression:
3 years for BA/BSc⇒ 2 years Masters degree⇒ 3 years PhD

The UK system in most sciences does not
currently fit this model.
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The End36