What are the Differences Between Combination Courses at Oxford and Cambridge?

What are the Differences Between Combination Courses at Oxford and Cambridge?

Can you choose just one subject? Some students are champing at the bit to narrow their courses of study to just on subject that they feel passionate about. However, others find that they are eager to explore more than one interest to a degree level, and find it more natural to approach their studies from multiple perspectives. Whilst neither attitude is right or wrong, if you find yourself in the second of these two camps then you’ll be pleased to know that both Oxford and Cambridge universities have systems in place that allow students to study more than one subject. Indeed, there are even subjects that can only be studies in conjunction with another.

All good so far, but here’s when it gets complicated. Combination courses look quite different at Oxford and Cambridge, suiting different interests and requiring different application styles. In this post we’re going to take a look through how combination degrees at each university work, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of both, to hopefully make your decision a little easier!

Oxford

Oxford has the more clear-cut way of studying more than one subject; joint honours degrees. Through joint honours, certain subjects can be studied in several different combinations: for example, History can be combined with English, Economics, Modern Languages, or Politics, whilst Philosophy can be studied alongside Modern Languages, Politics and Economics (PPE), Theology, Psychology, Psychology and Linguistics (PPL), Physics, Maths, or Computer Sciences. Notably, at Oxford you cannot study Philosophy on its own. Many languages can also be studied in conjunction with another (including Classics and some Oriental Studies).

How does the application work?
When you apply to a joint honours course, your application will be assessed and your interviews conducted by admissions tutors in both of the subjects/departments that you have applied to. This may take the form of separate interviews or of multiple tutors from different subjects within one interview, depending on the course and the specific college. It’s therefore important that your structured questions (formerly the Personal Statement) and application overall demonstrates aptitude and passion for all subjects within your chosen course equally, even if you feel like you prefer one over the other.

Is a joint honours degree harder?
As a general rule of thumb, there is a greater workload attached to a join honours degree compared to single honours, but it won’t be double the work! Whilst your tutors will belong to only one of your faculties and therefore won’t know exactly what commitments you have on the other side of your degree, they will be aware that you’ve got other assignments on and won’t be able to put in the same amount of time and effort as their single honours students. At the start of your degree, you will split your time fairly evenly between the two subjects, and as you get towards the final years of your course you will get the chance (should you wish) to focus more on certain areas within one subject or the other. It is also worth noting that there may be less flexibility when it comes to picking modules as part of a joint honours degree, as a lot of your time will be take up with mandatory core courses from both of your chosen subjects, so do bear this in mind if you’re thinking of branching out into the more niche areas of either degree course.