The course

The PPE degree offers students the opportunity to study philosophical, political, and economic theories in order to better understand the world around us. Students study all three subjects in their first year to gain an introductory understanding of each subject’s key issues, culminating in an exam at the end of the year. In their second and third year, most students then choose to concentrate on two of the branches of PPE, pursuing a combination of core and optional modules. PPE is thus a highly flexible degree and allows students to study a range of subjects—from the narrowly empirical to the highly abstract—within a coherent overall structure.

Why study PPE at Lincoln

PPE is one of the largest subject-groups within Lincoln College with an intake of 9 students each year. Being part of a robust cohort within Lincoln’s intimate college setting allows students to experience the best Oxford has to offer—the benefits of a smaller college community, matched with the vibrancy of a dynamic, supportive, and diverse group of PPE students. Unique within Oxford, we have a dedicated Director of Studies for PPE whose role it is to organise PPE-wide events and to oversee the academic welfare of students on the course. This means that even within this complex and multi-disciplinary subject, PPE’ists at Lincoln always have a central point of contact and appropriate support in their pursuit of academic excellence.

Lincoln’s PPE tutors are experts in their respective fields, and in tutorials we help students to acquire the necessary theoretical and methodological tools to succeed in each relevant discipline. At the same time, we are committed to helping students engage with these subjects beyond the classroom and across individual disciplines. This starts from your first week at Lincoln, when we organise a ‘policy challenge’ for Freshers to explore the links between subjects and their application to the real world. We also organise visiting speakers whose experience spans across these disciplines; for example, we have a regular alumni event that brings alumni back to Lincoln to discuss how PPE has shaped their career. On the social side, we hold a termly PPE meet-up that brings students and tutors together for some lighter discussion.

Admissions

PPE at Lincoln has no special requirements aside from those set centrally. We are looking for people with analytical minds and the ability to back up arguments with evidence - people, that is, who like to think rigorously and are prepared to look for explanations that are adequate to the complexity of social reality. We take students from all kinds of backgrounds and believe that the diversity of the PPE student body at Lincoln is an important source of its strength. We welcome applications from international students as well as those from schools that historically have not sent students to Oxford.

We require grades AAA at A-level, or equivalent, from those candidates to whom we offer places. There is no particular combination of subjects that we require of students as a pre-requisite for studying PPE; in particular, it is not necessary to have studied any of the three subjects in school. A background in Mathematics is not formally required for admission, although it can be helpful to have studied Mathematics to AS-level. Applicants must register for the TSA test in addition to their written application.

Find out how to apply here.