Tutorials

Course Load

Over the three terms, students are required to enrol in a minimum of five tutorial courses. Students will be required to take two tutorials in Michaelmas and Hilary terms, and have the choice to take one or two in Trinity term. The maximum number of tutorial courses that a student may enrol in is six.

Towards the middle of Michaelmas and Hilary Terms, each student will meet with the Faculty Director to discuss their progress and to decide the subjects he or she wishes to pursue during the subsequent term(s). Decisions made at this time are binding for the subsequent term; there are no ‘add/drop’ periods at Oxford. Once a student has made a commitment to a particular tutorial course, and the Faculty Director has secured a tutor to teach that course, the student is committed. Students cannot register for a tutorial as “pass/fail”. In unusual circumstances in which students must drop a tutorial, they will be charged a cancellation fee, and will incur a deficiency.

With rare exceptions, the tutorial courses available to Williams students in Oxford are selected from the various papers (courses) that are read (studied) by matriculated Oxford students and offered by the various Oxford faculties (departments). These are listed in the University of Oxford’s Examination Regulations. Brief guides to choosing tutorial courses will be made available to Williams students by the Faculty Director, who will also explain the tutorial system in more detail during Orientation. Please familiarize yourself thoroughly with the handout entitled ‘Thinking about Tutorials and Making Wise Decisions about Tutorial Preferences’, which was given to you at Williams during the first pre-departure meeting.

Tutorials

Generally, tutors provide you with rather large reading lists for the whole term or for each week, and it is up to you to find books and other resources, and decide how to use these sources to write your weekly essay. Often, tutors will give a word count, rather than page estimate, for the length of your essays. Tutors want you to demonstrate an ability to synthesize and analyse ideas from a variety of sources. Your essay needs to make it clear that you’ve done a decent amount of reading and provide ideas which can be discussed in the tutorial meeting. The quality of your work will largely depend on your preparation, which includes the depth of your reading and thinking your ideas through.

Keep in mind that, although a one-on-one tutorial is the norm, you may be meeting with one or two tutorial partners. Some classes will also require you to attend weekly seminars. Your tutors will tell you what they expect; the format of your meetings may vary slightly depending on your subject and your tutor. Be aware that everything organized for the content and structure of your classes/tutorial is at your tutor’s discretion. 

Although tutorials are not regularly scheduled classes in the sense that they do not occur in pre-assigned classrooms at pre-assigned hours, they are not informal or optional meetings. Punctuality is expected: it is a significant breach of etiquette at Oxford to arrive late for a tutorial. Skipping a tutorial meeting without prior notice or without a very good reason is unacceptable; it will almost certainly result in a lower final grade, and may result in more severe consequences. While tutors may occasionally reschedule a tutorial, students should attempt to reschedule a meeting only in instances of illness or genuine emergency. The Faculty Director is happy to contact tutors on your behalf in the event of bed-confining illnesses. Over the years, the Williams-Exeter Programme has had much success in recruiting and retaining good tutors in Oxford. Our success in hiring and retention is due primarily to the hard work, passionate intellectual engagement, diligence, punctuality, and reliability of our students.

On arrival, wait outside the tutor’s office until the specified meeting time, and then knock. Tutorials are often in offices rather than classrooms, so it is considered rude to let yourself in.

Books & Articles

You won’t need to buy all the books on your reading lists. Instead, you’ll be able to read or borrow your books from Oxford’s extensive library system, and the WEPO library here at EWH. If you need a book for a tutorial that isn't available at the Exeter or WEPO library, you can contact Christine, the WEPO librarian, to request it for the WEPO library. We encourage you to do this at the start (or even before) each term, as it can take a week or two for some resources to arrive.

You'll find that tutors will not be provided with reading packets at Oxford University. You are responsible for finding all reading materials yourself from the libraries or online resources. You should plan to do this in advance of the start of term to be prepared for your studies.