I have recently been contacted by a few prospective students in my capacity of Student Representative with questions about my general Oxford experience as well as my master’s degree in Digital Publishing at Oxford Brookes University.
How is life in Oxford? To put it simple, moving to Oxford was the best decision I had ever made, and the thing I am the proudest of in 22 years. Oxford is such a vibrant and exciting place, there is enough to do without it being completely overwhelming like a big city.
How difficult is it finding an apartment/navigating the city? As a full-time student at Oxford Brookes you are entitled to stay in halls, which is especially convenient for an international student as you won't have to worry about finding a place. I am myself staying in halls, and everything is taken care of for me – all bills are included. My residence is a 10/15 minutes’ walk from the university, and a 2 minutes’ walk from one of the liveliest streets of Oxford (Cowley Road) where I can find everything that I need from grocery stores to pubs. Oxford Brookes has 2 bus routes (U1 and U5) running every day, even at the weekends/holidays, which allow you to go from halls to university, but also to the city centre. If you're in halls, you are entitled to a free bus pass, a Brookes Key, so you end up saving a lot of money.
Is it affordable? To be 100% honest with you, Oxford is not the cheapest city to live in. However, you are investing in a brilliant master’s degree and you'll be here for about a year, so I would say that it is totally worth it.
Are there many internship opportunities in the city? Yes, many. Oxford is one of the UK's major hubs for publishing. As you will soon understand, networking is a key part of the publishing industry so the more you talk to people, the more chances you have to get an internship or work experience.
Did you do any internships? I joined the Society of Young Publishers as a Student Liaison Officer in November 2019 and still hold the position now. It certainly provided me with great industry contacts. I then got a 12 week internship with Bodleian Library Publishing during my second semester at Brookes. This was a very valuable experience! Alongside this, during my second semester I got a part time production/typesetting internship with Untold Publishing.
Did the faculty support you through the process or is it more of an individual process? I was made aware of all these positions through our master's newsletter which brings us job offers/internships and publishing industry news on a weekly basis. Many local publishers get in touch with our lecturers regularly to advertise their latest offers. I believe that finding experience during your year at Brookes is possible if you read your newsletters, and use some initiative and determination.
How is transport to London? In a normal context, you have many options to travel to London. From the university you will be able to hop on the "Oxford Tube" a bus which will take you to London under 2h (approximately and depending on traffic/rush hour), this runs 24/7. You also have the train, from the city centre, or frequent airport shuttles to Heathrow and Gatwick.
Are any of you from outside the UK/EU? Yes! More than 50% of students on my course are international students. We have people from the US, Canada, all around Europe, China, Indonesia, India and Malaysia. We have all learnt a lot from each other these last few months, and all made really great and life-long friendships.
Has the university supported you through the visa/immigration process? I have heard great things about the ISAT team at Oxford Brookes. They had organised people to travel from airports to halls on arrival weekend, and regularly schedule affordable trips for international students to explore the UK. More info here.
Is there any funding available for students? I am not 100% sure how everything works in terms of funding and fees for international students. You might want to refer to this website.
I understand there is both lecture style and seminar style modules thoughout the course. How big were the classes for each? Each module has a module leader and associate lecturers. For lecturers it is a full class, so about 40 of us if everyone was here. Seminars are usually groups of 10/12 people allowing closer interactions with lecturers and classmates.
Did each module link in some way to each other? During your first semester, you will have 3 compulsory modules alongside the dissertation/major project workshops. These gave us students the fundamentals and basics of publishing and were well linked together (cross referenced content for example). Your second semester is specialised and you either go Media or Digital by selecting 3 modules (you can 'sit in' any modules if you which to). We were all able to dive into specific areas of publishing depending on people's interests (or skills). The modules are obviously less linked to each other as covering different sides of the industry but are all nonetheless very timely as they address the current state of publishing.
What optional courses have you selected? The publishing course is first of all divided into 2 separate ones: Digital Publishing and Publishing Media. They are really similar, and you will attend the exact same classes during your first semester. The 3 core and mandatory modules are Editorial and Content Management, Design and Production and Sales and Marketing in addition to the Dissertation one. You will be asked to select your options for your second semester very early in the academic year; but don't worry as lecturers present and pitch their modules during the first few weeks to give you an idea of the content you will find. For my second semester, as I am a Digital Publishing student, I had to take Digital Publishing Strategy and Multi-Platform and selected Children's Publishing as my third module. If you opt for Publishing Media, then you can choose any 3 modules. As a very curious person, I wanted to do all of them, so the decision-making process was quite stressful. However, lecturers allow you to sit in the classes you are not taking, which is a very valuable opportunity to consider. I am presently sitting in on the Craft of Storytelling module, and even without being assessed I have learnt many interesting things.
Did you ever use Adobe InDesign? InDesign is a major publishing tool, so you will spend all of the 'Design and Production' module getting to understand and make use of it. I had proficiency of the software before starting the course which was helpful, if you can have a look around before too, it will be helpful (YouTube tutorials are great). You have 24h and 7/7 access to this room whilst on the course, so you can practice regularly.
What are some of your favourite modules? That is a very hard question. First semester modules are all very important as they give you all the basic knowledge you require to perform well in the industry. Then, in the second semester you are able to specialise in areas you like more. I really loved the Sales and Marketing module as we had regular guest speakers from various backgrounds joining us to present their role and responsibilities. Many of them opened my perspectives to new publishing departments I did not know about. We had people from Penguin Random House and Hachette for example.
How helpful/involved is the teaching staff? I might be biased as I very much love this course, but the staff is genuinely exceptional. This MA program is part of the OICP (Oxford International Centre for Publishing) just as the BA (Media, Journalism and Publishing) and another MA in Journalism. Everyone is so friendly and approachable, and we all have a shared interest: books! More info here.
How prepared do you feel to enter the industry? Very well equipped. I have learnt a lot though the modules, but also through dedicated lecturers. I have also done a lot of things on my own initiative to multiply my chances to get into publishing; as I mentioned earlier, I joined the SYP Oxford as a student liaison. I would also recommend you to be curious and proactive during your MA year, as much as possible, whilst taking care of yourself of course. This can take several forms: reading about the industry regularly (subscribe to the Bookseller's emails!), networking (LinkedIn and Twitter), attending live or online events, interning in a publishing company (think independent publishers too) or taking a part time job in an area you're interested in. These options are really accessible, and your lecturers are a great way to find these resources.
Has the program helped you shape your career goals? Totally, and thankfully, in a way. I started the course without realising the extent of what the publishing industry had to offer, and I now have many paths I am considering for an entry-level job.