7. Teaching and Learning

7.1 Tutors

Each student in Mathematics & Philosophy has a College Tutor in Mathematics and a College Tutor in Philosophy who oversees their academic progress in the two sides of the school. The College Tutors arrange College teaching (tutorials and classes), advise on general academic matters such as choice of options, oversee library provision of relevant texts in the College library, arrange College Collections, provide career advice (when requested) and references. 

Anybody to whom you to go for tutorials or College classes counts as one of your tutors. For the Mathematics & Philosophy course you are bound to have at least two of them, and there are likely to be several more over the yeas. Some will be tutorial fellows or lecturers of your own College, some may be of other Colleges, or research fellows, or graduate students. The overall responsibility for giving or arranging your tuition will lie with tutorial fellows or lecturers of your own College, probably one in each of Mathematics and Philosophy.

7.2 The framework of lectures, tutorials and classes

Students are responsible for their own academic progress. You will be expected to attend lectures, or learn the material from recommended or equivalent texts, and are required to attend or watch tutorials, and probably at various stages also classes, in both Mathematics and Philosophy. You will be required to do pre-assigned work (in the form of essays for Philosophy and problem sheets for Mathematics), for most tutorials and classes. The way lectures support your learning varies on the two sides of the School. Broadly, tutorials are the primary medium of instruction in Philosophy whereas lectures for the backbone of Mathematics teaching supported by tutorials and classes, with problem sheets provided by the lecturers available for most courses. A table setting out the recommended patterns of teaching for each year of the coruse is included in Appendix B.

7.2.1 Lectures

Each subject specified for examination in the Examination Regulations or in the Supplements to the Mathematics Course Handbook has, with very few exceptions, lectures which cover the official syllabus specified for that subject. A Lecture list is produced each term for Mathematics and for Philosophy. These list the courses on which lectures are to be given that term, in the form of a timetable. The Mathematics list contains a section for the Mathematics & Philosophy course which lists the lectures both in Mathematics and in Philosophy for subjects that are compulsory or particularly relevant for that examination. Synopses of Mathematics courses, amplifying the syllabuses, are given in the Supplements to the Mathematics Course Handbook. 

The Philosophy Lecture list and Prospectus for each term is available at: https://www.philosophy.ox.ac.uk/lectures and the Mathematics Lecture list is available at: https://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/members/students/lecture-lists

Philosophy

Lectures are vital for some Philosophy subjects, less so for others, and their role depends on individual differences; get advice from your tutors and fellow students. Learn to take notes at lectures; they will be useful to you later, when you can fit them into a wider picture. Although in Oxford's system, lecturers do not necessarily set or mark the University examinations, they are consulted by those who do, and the lecture prospectuses inform examiners as well as students about the content of lecturers. 

Mathematics

You are likely to be advised that you should attend all lectures for the Mathematics courses you are taking. Undergraduates are given a lot of advice at the start of their course on how to get the best out of mathematics lectures and on note taking, and guidance is also given in the Mathematics Course Handbook. 

7.3 Tutorials and classes

For the most part you will find you are sharing tuition in Mathematics with those who are reading Mathematics, and tuition in Philosophy with those who are reading some other subject that involves Philosophy. There are a few subjects that are special to this joint school, principally in the philosophy of mathematics, but usually you are not on your own. It is, however, desirable that your tutorials in Logic in Michaelmas Term of your first year are conducted at a more mathematically sophisticated level that would be the case if you were paired with a student from another joint School. There is a list of tutors willing to give such tutorials, possibly pairing you with a Mathematics & Philosophy student from another College, and your own College tutor should be aware of this. Get to know those who are reading the same subject as you, and talk to them about your work (as well as other things). 

Styles of tutorials differ, depending on how many students are sharing the tutorial, the nature of the topic, and above all the habit and personality of your tutorial. You must not expect uniformity, and will gain most if you adapt to differences. 

If you feel strongly you are not getting on with one of your tutors, and that a change of tutor would be helpful, then say so to the tutor concerned, or approach one of the people in your College designated to help in such circumstances (Senior Tutor, Head of College, or one of those responsible for academic or personal welfare). 

7.3.1 Philosophy

You are expected to bring knowledge of the readings you have been set and almost always an essay in which you address some aspect of the topic covered by the reading, to the tutorial. 

You will learn a lot if you share and discuss ideas with your fellow students, and if you chance your arm in tutorials. Bear in mind that tutorials are not designed as a substitute for lectures, or for accumulating information, but to develop the capacity to think on the spot and to articulate your thinking clearly in response to issues raised about ideas in the essay you or a tutorial partner are presenting. Producing essays for philosophy tutorials gives excellent training in writing, and particularly in writing to a deadline. 

7.3.2 Mathematics

Tutorials (Prelims and Part A)

To support lectures in the first and second years, colleges arrange tutorials and classes for their students. How these are organised vary from college to college. For example, you might have two (one-hour) tutorials each week, with one or two other students. Consequently, it is a highly individual and flexible way of teaching and tutorial groups are usually arranged to include students that work well together, and perhaps, who are progressing academically at the same rate. 

You will be set some work for each tutorial and in the tutorial you will discuss the work and be able to ask about any difficulties you have experienced. In order to get the best out of a tutorial, it is important that you are well prepared and also that you see the tutorial as an opportunity to get resolved all the problems you encountered that week. A tutorial is, after all, an hour with an expert in that area. Your tutor is highly unlikely to give up the answer to your question immediately and may respond with hints or questions of their own, but this is all towards improving your understanding of the material and showing you how you might have made further progress with the problem yourself. 

Classes (Part B)

Each 16-hour lecture unit in Part B will be supported by classes run under the Intercollegiate Class Scheme. Students generally attend four 1.5 hour classes (or equivalent) for each Part B unit. In Michaelmas term 2025-26, all classes will run face-to-face. Each class usually has between five and twelve students (although classes for more popular subjects may contain up to thirty students) from a number of different colleges and is run by a class tutor and a teaching assistant. The course lecturer provides problem sheets, and also specimen solutions for the class tutors and teaching assistants. Students hand in their solutions in advance and these are marked by the teaching assistants; at each class, some of the problems are discussed in detail, and there is an opportunity to ask the class tutor and teaching assistant about any particular difficulties. The class tutors report to colleges through the intercollegiate class database on your performance throughout the term. If you are ill and unable to attend the class, please inform the class tutor in advance of the class. 

Consultation sessions to help with revision are run during Trinity term. 

7.4 Scheduling your work

7.4.1 Prelims

Philosophy

Details on lectures provided in first year can be found in Appendix B. Tutorial and class teaching in philosophy is organised by College and different Colleges may structure your teaching in different ways. 

One standard model is to have tutorials or classes on Introduction to Logic in Michaelmas Term, Philosophical Topics in Logic and Probability, and General Philosophy in Hilary Term, and Frege in Trinity Term. Michaelmas Term is busy on the mathematics side; you can expect to have around 80% of the mathematics workload of a single honours mathematics student in Michaelmas. This goes down to approximately 40% in Hilary. 

Mathematics

Details on lectures and tutorials for Mathematics can be found in Appendix B. The first year course is run as a joint venture with the Statistics Department. 

7.4.1 Part A and Part B

Mathematics

Mathematics courses taken in the second year are examined at the end of that year whereas all examining of second and third year work in Philosophy takes place at the end of the third year. Further information on Mathematics teaching for Part A and Part B can be found in Appendix B. 

Philosophy

You will continue with your study of Philosophy during your second year, though you will not sit University examinations on this until the end of your third year. During second and third year, you study 3 or 4 Philosophy papers (which must include 122 Philosophy of Mathematics and at least one of 101 Early Modern Philosophy or 102 Knowledge and Reality). 

The preparation for the Philosophy subjects is covered by lectures throughout the year. Students will normally cover the material of each subject in eight tutorials, perhaps with later revision. As a general rule, on the more central and popular subjects (including 101 and 102) there will always be at least 16 lectures so undergraduates may choose according to their own interests; and most subjects will have at least 8 lectures. You cannot guarantee that Philosophy tutorials can always be arranged to coincide with lectures in the same subject, and you must be prepared to attend lectures in advance of tutorials or the other way around. 

It is obviously desirable that your work over your second and third years should be, as far as possible, distributed evenly. How best to achieve this will vary from one College to another, depending on the different teaching patterns favoured by a College's tutors, on students' choices of Mathematics options and Philosophy subjects, and on the timing of teaching for B1. 

Illustrative course schedule

For the purposes of illustration, here is one possible pathway, which may be adapted to your individual circumstances: 

  Term Mathematics Philosophy
Second Year MT 2 Part A core courses (A0, A2) 1 core paper (101 or 102)
  HT 1 Part A option 1 optional paper
  TT ASO short options  
       
Third Year MT 2 Part B units (B1.1/2 and another) 1 core paper (122)
  HT 2 Part B units (B1.1/2 and another)

1 optional paper

This is, of course, just one pathway through Part A and Part B. There are many others, which may call for you to distribute your workload differently.

In all cases, it's worth planning ahead and speaking with your College tutors as early as possible when planning your pathway through the degree. In adapting the example above, a useful rule of thumb is that one Philosophy paper is broadly comparable in workload to two 16-lecture Mathematics courses. Bear in mind that teaching arrangements are often made one or more terms in advance. 

7.4.2 Part C

There are no compulsory subjects in Part C, and you may choose to study entirely Mathematics (a minimum of 8 units), entirely Philosophy (3 subjects), or combinations of the two (a minimum of 6 units of Mathematics and one Philosophy subject, or a minimum of 3 units of Mathematics and two Philosophy subjects). You may choose to take additional units in Mathematics as follows:

Philosophy subjects Minimum Mathematics Units Maximum Mathematics Units
0 8 10
1 6 7
2 3 4
3 0 0

Additional units will count towards the final USM, as described in the examination conventions. All primary study of your choice should be completely by the end of Hilary Term, and the last deadline for work submitted for examination is for Philosophy essays of up to 5000 words, the M-level component of the study of a Philosophy subject in Part C, which are due by noon on Friday of 1st week of Trinity Term. It is clearly desirable to organise one's work in Part C so the amount of work in Michaelmas Term is as near as possible equal to the amount in Hilary Term. If you're doing all Mathematics, this means aiming to do four or five subjects in each term. The MI facilitates such equal distribution by scheduling related subjects that are likely to be chosen together in different terms. Depending on when the exams of your chosen subjects are scheduled, you'll then have the first four to six weeks of Trinity Term for revision classes and individual study. 

7.4.3 Study during Vacations

You should expect to spend some time in the vacations consolidating and revising the material covered in the preceding term. You may also have one or two problem sheets to complete during the vacation or some pre-reading or work in preparation for the next term. In some vacations you will need to revise for examinations (which may be college collections or University examinations). 

7.5 Choosing options

Prelims

All subjects in the five papers in Prelims are compulsory. There is an element of choice in the Introduction to Philosophy paper between the two parts of the paper, General Philosophy and Frege's Foundations of Arithmetic, in that you may choose to answer one question from one part and three from the other. 

Part A

Besides the options in Pure Mathematics approved for Part A for Mathematics & Philosophy, you may also, with the support of your Mathematics tutor, apply to the JCMP for approval of one or more other options available for Mathematics Part A and listed in the Mathematics Part A supplement. It is also possible to apply for special permission to take options in Statistics and Computer Science. The application procedure is the same as for options in Mathematics. Details can be found in section 8.10. Such applications tend to be uncommon and require some further work of the undergraduate. 

Parts B and C

It's important to pay attention to prerequisites. In the case of Philosophy options, it is also worth bearing in mind that for two Philosophy subjects, one you study in Part B and the other in Part C, it will be sensible to leave the one that interests you more deeply to Part C. 

The Part C courses in logic and set theory are natural choices for MMathPhil students. Otherwise, prerequisites are a particular issue in Mathematics. It should be noted that you may choose a course even though you have not done the background courses, but the lecturers and examiners will lecture and examine on the hypothesis that you have the background. You should consult one of your College tutors on appropriae background reading. 

There are Options Fairs in the Mathematical Institute in Trinity Term of your second and third years, where representatives from the different subject groups will discuss the individual Mathematics options and be available to answer any questions you may have. 

Similarly to Part A, you may also, with the support of your Mathematics tutor, apply to the JCMP for approval of one or more other options available for Mathematics Part B and C and listed in the Mathematics Part B and C supplement. It is also possible to apply for special permission to take options in Statistics and Computer Science. The application procedure is the same as for options in Mathematics. Details can be found in section 8.10. Such applications tend to be uncommon and require some further work of the undergraduate. 

7.5.1 Registering for Mathematics Courses in Parts B and C

Students taking Part B and Part C will be asked to register online for the departmentally-organised classes on Mathematics courses. Initial course registration is required by the end of week 10 of Trinity Term in the academic year preceeding the examination. Details of the procedure are given in the Mathematics & Philosophy Part B Supplement. You will need to nominate an alternative choice if you register for any course which has a quota. You are not permitted, except in exceptional circumstances, to attend classes for the same Part B course in both your second and your third year.