Education (Comparative and International Education) (Taught)

The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2025). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas.

The MSc Education (Comparative and International Education) will help you develop a critical understanding of the multidisciplinary field of comparative and international education.

Throughout the course you will engage with diverse perspectives around theoretical and conceptual approaches, research methods, policies and practices in comparative and international education. The course also encourages a holistic view of researching issues of educational importance through an engagement with scholarship that encourages diverse perspectives.

The course focuses on developing a broad and critical understanding of the field researching issues related with education in a global world. In this way it will prepare you to understand and locate your research interests in the field of comparative and international education, and develop your ability to apply a critical approach to understanding issues of educational importance.

Course Structure
In the first term you will take three core modules and in the second term you will take two further core modules. You will also choose one assessed option paper from a selection offered by academic staff across the department.

The MSc Education (Comparative and International Education) offers seminar style sessions which are highly interactive, student led, and student-centred with a balanced orientation towards theory and practice. One of the pedagogic objectives of the programme is to develop independent thinking skills and to proactively take responsibility for learning. The seminar structures will vary depending on the requirements of the sessions and tutor approaches.

The papers offered for the programme generally benefit from the international, educational, scholarly and lived experiences of the cohort. You will be encouraged to engage with the academic community at the departmental level.

There is a comparative and international education research group which organises regular online seminars that are open to public.