Students are offered a great deal of choice in the course of their three years, and whether their interests are in the medieval period, the Renaissance, or the later periods, intellectually fruitful combinations are always possible. The course structure at Oxford is intended to enable students to relate literary and historical ideas as effectively as possible in the investigation of their chosen historical periods, topics, or authors, while recognising that some students will wish to opt for variety rather than close congruity between their historical and literary papers. Oxford possesses unmatched library provision for both subjects, in the Bodleian Library, the Modern History Faculty and English Faculty libraries, and the college libraries. Generous computing facilties are offered by the colleges and the university. Most students have one to two tutorials a week and are often, but not always, working on two papers simultaneously.
Most students attend three to four lecture courses a week.
Students will be expected to produce between eight and twelve pieces of written work in a term. The third year extended essays are written over three weeks of term. Successful candidates will generally read widely, will enjoy writing and talking about history, literature, and language, and will be interested in pursuing a comparative approach to historical and literary texts. There is no written test. Candidates will usually be given at least two interviews, one with the Modern History tutor or tutors in the college, and one with the English tutor or tutors.