Why part time?
Oak Hill is delighted to offer most of its programmes for part time as well as full time study. Part time study allows you to remain more rooted in your current church, communities, or jobs, and also enables many students to help fund their studies by continuing to work. For churches, it means they can enable men and women to access training while continuing to benefit from their ministry and mentoring them within the church.
For many this will be their first experience of theological training but it is also possible to take many of our postgraduate programmes part time, enabling you to continue your theological education and deepen your grasp of key theological and pastoral issues while continuing to serve in ministry.
Please note that our approved training pathways for Church of England ordinands are full time only.
Part time student views
“I actually think studying part time is the best way to do it. You get to put what you learn in the lectures into practice right away. You get an extra depth as you take the things you've heard into the rest of the week, seeing what difference they make to real ministry with real people, and being able to discuss them with Christian brothers and sisters outside the Oak Hill context.”
Polly Boyles studied part time alongside being the Children's and Youth Worker at Holy Trinity Frogmore.
"Studying at Oak Hill part time alongside working in a church the rest of the week is, for me, the best of both worlds! Starting out, my hope was that my College and church roles would each inform the other to create a holistic experience of both studying and applying theology. Happily, I have found this to be the case. In my experience, the College has been both understanding and supportive of me when faced with the pressures that come from part time study and has gone the extra mile to ensure I am able to engage with the college programme and culture as far as is possible. I would recommend part time study to anyone."
Adam Goddard studies part time at Oak Hill alongside serving at Duke Street Church, Richmond
Practicalities and support
Oak Hill offers dedicated academic, administrative, and pastoral support to help you thrive during your studies.
Each year the College will ensure that the required compulsory modules for the relevant half of the CertHE and DipHE programme are offered on a Monday or Tuesday, along with sufficient option modules for you to complete your programme. At BA (Hons) level, the days of the week that students need to come into College will be determined by their module choices. The College will endeavour to offer the required compulsory modules on a Monday or Tuesday during each year; however, this will not always be possible because of timetabling constraints. BA (Hons) level students will need to come into College on other days of the week in order to take their option modules. For postgraduate students, we endeavour to run the compulsory module all on one day of the week, but this may not always be possible due to timetable constraints. Their choice of option modules will determine when they need to be in College.
Many part time students will find they need time for writing and reading that goes beyond the two days of lectures. The amount of time will vary during the rhythm of each semester and academic year, as well as being specific to each student’s own situation.
Next Steps
If part time study might be for you, don’t hesitate to be in touch with a member of our Admissions Team. You can also see the relevant programme pages for practical details involved in part time study.