St Hilda's welcomes Visiting Students
As a Visiting Student, you are sure of a warm welcome at St Hilda’s College, one of the University of Oxford's world-famous Colleges.
You’ll find that we are friendly and inclusive, and as a mid-sized College, we’re small enough that you can make friends easily yet large enough to have a diverse range of students, tutors, and courses.
It’s easy to settle in quickly here, and before you know it, you’ll be calling St Hilda's your home from home.
If you are an international student wishing to spend an academic year at Oxford studying courses related to your current degree, you may apply to St Hilda's for a place as a Visiting Student. This opportunity is generally suited for undergraduates taking a year abroad and requires enrolment at a home institution. We welcome students from across the globe to apply to study at St Hilda’s as a visiting student. As such your home institution is not required to have an arrangement in place with us before you apply. However, you need to have the support of your home institution to study abroad, even if you are taking a leave of absence to do so. You will be issued with a transcript at the end of your studies and you need to consent, at the time of application, for the transcript to be issued to your home institution to form part of your academic record and ideally be transferring courses or credits to your home institution as part of your degree.
As a Visiting Student, you will not matriculate at the University of Oxford, but your name will be listed on the University’s Register as a Visiting Student, you will have full access to the Bodleian Libraries, University clubs, societies, and resources, and you will be a full member of St Hilda’s College while you are here.
Visiting Student fees at St Hilda's College are £56,500 per year. This includes all tuition fees and accommodation from 1 October to 30 June.
Why Choose St Hilda’s College?
St Hilda's is a warm and friendly College and its welcoming environment and picturesque riverside location provide an ideal setting for an enriching and transformative academic experience.
The Visiting Students Programme at St Hilda's College offers an exceptional opportunity for students from universities around the world to experience life and study at the University of Oxford. Participants in this programme become fully integrated members of the college community, accessing the same academic resources, support, and cultural experiences as degree-seeking students.
With a wide array of subjects available, from humanities to sciences (excluding medicine), you will engage in Oxford’s unique tutorial system, which emphasises critical thinking and personalised learning.
Our College Library includes seven reading rooms and opens on to the beautiful Garden Lawn that runs down to the river.
We're the closest Oxford college to the main university sports complex where facilities include a power-lifting gym, rowing tank, Olympic-size swimming pool and running track and because we are located right on the River Cherwell we have our own punts.
Dr Ruth Percy, Director of the Visiting Student Programme
As a Visiting Student, you will be assigned a Personal Tutor, Dr Ruth Percy, who also serves as the Director of the Visiting Student Programme. Dr Percy is dedicated to supporting both your wellbeing and academic success, coordinating your teaching arrangements and helping you adjust to life at the College. You will meet with Dr Percy at the start of each term to prepare for your studies and again at the end of term to review your progress. As your primary pastoral contact, Dr Percy is available to discuss any concerns that may affect your academic engagement and can connect you with additional support resources within the College.
Accommodation
We provide accommodation to all Visiting Students on 40-week contracts, enabling you to keep your accommodation across the full academic year. Some accommodation is ensuite and all include kitchen facilities, wifi and sockets for laptops. You are also able to purchase meals in the College dining hall and to make use of the leisure facilities, including the College gym, punts, and the Junior Common Room (JCR).
Requirements
Visiting Students should normally offer a GPA score (or equivalent) of no less than 3.7. You must be visiting from an undergraduate programme at a college or university. You need to be studying subjects that we offer at St Hilda’s (please note that medicine is not available to Visiting Students and there are a very limited range of course options for business).
Transcripts and grades
At the end of your year here, we will produce a transcript, based on the reports from your tutors and your College examination(s), which we will send to you and your home institution and/or your Study Abroad Provider. Your home institution will allocate and award you academic credit and a final grade for the work that you have done at Oxford.
The University of Oxford is not a credit-based system and Visiting Students must ensure that their home institutions are able to accept their Oxford studies upon their return. For US institutions, students tend to gain around 12 credits each term, one credit for each tutorial hour.
As Visiting Students do not sit formal University examinations, you are not eligible to receive a degree or diploma from the University of Oxford.
Course preferences
Immersion in your chosen field of study is a particular strength of Oxford teaching and learning. As a Visiting Student you are asked to choose up to two complementary courses from this list: https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/course-listing.
Both courses chosen must relate to your current studies at your home institution. Please discuss your intended courses with your home institution before you submit your application. You will then study one specific module (called a 'paper') in each of your two courses each term. You can find further information about modules through the link above (click on the course and then on the link to the relevant department). For each module you may take a combination of tutorials, lectures, classes and seminars, each of which requires significant preparation, including the submission of written work prior to the session. Teaching and study hours may be distributed unevenly, depending on the courses and modules taken. All tutorials, classes and seminars may be eligible for academic credit by your home institution, please discuss this with them.
Applicants should list six modules in order of preference from the (up to) two Oxford courses chosen. If your application is successful, your Personal Tutor will use your preferences as a basis to devise a coherent tutorial programme for your time in Oxford. Module preferences cannot be guaranteed. Once your module choices are approved, you will not usually be able to change them. Your tutorial programme is carefully tailored to you and academic members of faculty commit their time to teaching you individually or as part of a small group. For these reasons please consider your choices carefully and well in advance.
Fees
Fees for Visiting Students for 2025-6 are £56,500. This includes all tuition fees and accommodation from 1 October to 30 June. It does not include food or visa costs. Please be sure you can meet the costs of attending before submitting your application. We cannot offer scholarships to visiting students but many receive support and funding through their home institutions, other funding bodies, or government financial aid. Please speak with your home institution regarding these options.
Visa requirements
If you are planning to travel to the UK to undertake a course at the University and are not a UK national you may need to apply for a visa before travelling. The type of permission/visa you require will depend on the type of course. Please review the University guidance.
Application process
If you would like to apply to be a Visiting Student at St Hilda’s please complete the online application form. In order to do this you will need the following:
- your GPA (or equivalent)
- current college/university transcript
- two letters of reference
- two samples of written work (in English) not exceeding 20 pages in total
- passport photo and copy of your passport personal details page
- English Language Proficiency certificate (if applicable). All teaching at Oxford University is carried out in English (except some language-specific teaching) and all non-native English-speaking applicants must satisfy University of Oxford requirements. We will not make an offer until we have sufficient proof of your English language proficiency and are convinced that you have sufficient fluency in written and spoken English.
- a signed consent form
Please address any queries to: