Some of your teaching is organised by your faculty or department, such as lectures or seminars which are open to students at all colleges. Drawing on expertise from across the University and beyond, this teaching is often delivered by leading international experts in their field. If you study a science, you’ll also learn in laboratory-based practical work organised by the University.

Most of your teaching, however, is delivered through college-based tutorials and classes. These small-group settings enable you to engage with your fellow students and have high-quality contact time with tutors. Your Hertford tutors will normally teach the core subjects for your course. Where we do not have the relevant expertise, such as when you choose specialist options, academics based in other colleges will teach you.

Tutorials will typically be with one or two other students and last for around an hour. They are often like a conversation, and sometimes there are no clear right or wrong answers! Normally you prepare an essay or sheet of problem questions in advance, working to a reading list drawn up by your tutor.

If you’ve done the reading and thinking in advance, you should expect the tutorial to feel challenging but rewarding: a place where your arguments are developed and refined through being tested in discussion and debate.