Searchable abstracts of theses & dissertations from around the world are available via ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global - many are available for full text download.
The EThoS service from the British Library contains information about UK doctoral theses and there is increasing availability of full-text downloads, which are available once a library or individual has paid for digitisation.
Oxford University theses are not available in full online format via EThos but some are available in ORA (the Oxford Research Archive) - these will show in your SOLO search results, you do not need to search ORA separately.
When consulting an Oxford thesis or dissertation recognise that the copyright of the thesis rests with the author and that no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without the prior consent of the author.
A thesis or dissertation is an unpublished work therefore no copyright exceptions apply which let you copy. However, for the MSc dissertations held in the Education Library, the authors have agreed to permit limited copying of their thesis by individuals (no more than 5% or one chapter) for personal research use.
Copying from an Oxford thesis, even of a single page, may require the author's written permission. For more information about the copyright of Oxford theses and how to obtain copies of or from an Oxford thesis please follow the links or ask us.
Limited copying is possible (no more than 5% or one chapter) for personal research use. No quotation or information derived from an MSc dissertation may be published without the written consent of the author of the dissertation. The Higher Degrees office may be able to help you wish to contact an author, but usually you can find possible contact details via an internet search.
On SOLO - just add the word thesis to your searches. For instance, if you search for oxford thesis education and then use the Resource Type filter to choose Theses (Oxford), you will get a large selection of theses & dissertations on educational topics. The results will include both Masters dissertations and Doctoral theses and come from various departments including the Department of Education.
If you add "department of education*" then the search will bring back theses & dissertations produced in the Department of Education prior to 2020. The asterisk at the end of 'education*' ensures the results will include older theses dissertations from when the Department was called Educational Studies. NB. More recent dissertations are not tagged with information about the Department
You could try adding particular research methods, but be aware that most older dissertations have not been catalogued with any information about research methods used.
A growing number of Oxford theses & dissertations are available online. These will be included in the results of your SOLO searches once the thesis or dissertation has been deposited into ORA. You can also search ORA directly using course codes, e.g. ALSLA, CIE2021 etc.
On the open shelves in the Education Library you will find older printed copies of MSc Education, ALSLA and ALLT dissertations. Some years we were able to indicate which dissertations which received distinctions by marking these with a red dot on the spine. Please note that very few dissertations are available from 2020 as the restrictions of the Covid-19 pandemic meant the requirement for students to submit a hard copy was waived (and only a few students chose to submit online copies to the library). Since 2021 dissertations are primarily submitted online with optional donation of a hard copy to the library shelves. Submission is voluntary so the library does not have every dissertation submitted each year.
MSc dissertations are shelved on the far wall of the Front Reading Room. These are for consultation in the library only and cannot be borrowed.
MSc dissertations are grouped first by course, e.g. ALSLA, Higher Education, and within each course are arranged alphabetically by author’s surname.
To search for MSc dissertations on SOLO type: "department of education*" thesis M.Sc. using the Oxford Collections search filter. Most of the results will be our dissertations.
You could also include author surnames or keywords in your search.
A list of the titles, authors and supervisors of the more recent Department of Education MSc Education and ALSLA dissertations is available from this page. A printed list is also available within the library.
Older MSc dissertations are stored offsite in the Collections Storage Facility. They can be requested to the Education Library (or any other Bodleian Library) and consulted there (not borrowed).
MSc Learning & Teaching (MLT), MSc Teacher Education (MTed), MSc Educational Assessment (MEA) and MSc Medical Education (MedEd) students are asked to submit an online copy of their dissertation. Exemplar dissertations are chosen to be made available online via ORA - simply type the course code, e.g. MLT
Please note that very few dissertations are available from 2020.
DPhil theses are stored offsite in the Collections Storage Facility. They can be requested to the Weston Library and consulted there (not borrowed).
To search for departmental DPhil theses on SOLO type: "department of education*" thesis D Phil using the Oxford Collections search filter.
Note that it is important to include a space between the 'D' and the 'Phil'. You could also include author surnames or keywords in your search.
In recent years DPhil candidates have been required to deposit an online copy of their thesis with ORA. These can be found via SOLO. Occasionally a thesis may be embargoed so that the full text is not available for a few years.
A list of the titles, authors and supervisors of the more recent Department of Education DPhil theses is available from this page. A printed list is also available within the library.
Supervisors in the Department have also made a short list of ‘recommended theses’ that students can draw on for inspiration about layout, format and more substantive issues. The list includes some DPhil and MSc theses with the reason for recommendation, e.g. substantive, methodological, well written etc.