Undergraduate Admissions
Graffiti at Aphrodisias: text of Christian goldworker and portraits of two champion athletes, 5th-6th cent. AD
Why Study Classics at Oxford?
Oxford offers unparalleled teaching, library and museum resources and a range of extracurricular activities, including performances of Greek plays and various societies.
The Stelios Ioannou Centre for Research in Classical and Byzantine Studies was officially opened in 2007 and its award-winning architecture offers an excellent base for the Faculty. It includes a lecture theatre, an outreach and exhibition room, research centres and a common room.
The Ashmolean Museum is just next door to the Ioannou Classics Centre. It is the world’s oldest public museum and the most important museum of art and archaeology in this country outside London. Following a major redevelopment it now offers 39 new galleries, a purpose-built Education Centre, a magnificent cast gallery and three new study centres with hands-on access to reserve collections.
Students also have access to libraries such as the Art, Archaeology & Ancient World, Taylorian and Bodleian. The AA&AW and Taylorian offer subject-specific collections covering Classics (all areas) and modern languages. The Bodleian is one of the greatest reference libraries in the world and contains all the books you could want to use, as well as an exceptional collection of manuscripts and rare books.
Outside of study opportunities, Oxford is rich in Classics related extracurricular opportunities. Several colleges have active Classics societies, while the Corpus Christi Centre for the Study of Greek and Roman Antiquity provides a hub for international Classics. A triennial Greek play is produced under the auspices of the Oxford University Classical Drama Society, and there are frequent productions of ancient plays.
