UK theses

Finding theses

SOLO

The Bodleian Library has purchased copies of some UK theses. These can be found on SOLO (the University’s online library catalogue) and may be ordered for delivery to a reading room. 

Theses from other universities held in Oxford are not all catalogued in a uniform way. Adding the word 'thesis' as a keyword in SOLO may help, but this is unlikely to find all theses, and may find published works based upon theses as well as unpublished theses.

Card catalogue  

Some early theses accepted for higher degrees and published before 1973 are held in the Bodleian Library but are not yet catalogued on SOLO. These holdings can be found in the Foreign Dissertations Catalogue card index. This catalogue is not currently available to readers.

To request access to material in the catalogue, speak to library staff at the Main Enquiry Desk in the Lower Reading Room of the Old Bodleian Library, or contact us by email or phone (01865 277162). 

Other finding aids

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses

You can use ProQuest Dissertations & Theses: UK & Ireland to locate theses accepted for higher degrees at universities in the UK and Ireland since 1716. The service also provides abstracts of these theses.

Library Hub Discover

You can use Library Hub Discover to search the online catalogues of some of the UK’s largest university research libraries to see if a thesis is held by another UK library.

EThOS

EThOS is the UK’s national thesis service, managed by the British Library. It aims to provide a national aggregated record of all doctoral theses awarded by UK higher education institutions, with free access to the full text of many theses. It has around 500,000 records for theses awarded by over 120 institutions.

UTREES - University Theses in Russian, Soviet, and East European Studies 1907–

UTREES is a bibliographical database of research in the British Isles. The database has been continuously extended from the printed volume, most recently with 202 recent theses added in 2021. The database lists details of over 6,000 doctoral and selected masters’ theses from British and Irish universities. It covers research relating to Eastern and Central Europe, Russia and the area of the former USSR, including Central Asia, the Caucasus and Siberia.

White Rose ETheses Online

White Rose ETheses Online is an online repository of doctoral theses from the Universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York. It is part of a national and international network of open access online databases which promote access to research outputs. Many theses have been digitised by the British Library as part of the EThOS. However there have been instances where theses are available via WhiteRose eTheses Online before they reach EThOS.

Individual universities

You can also go to individual UK universities' sites for their online theses repositories.

Ordering theses

Many theses from other UK universities are available to be downloaded for free from the British Library's EThOS service. 

You can also request theses from other UK universities as an inter-library request.

Please note that it may not be possible to obtain some theses due to restrictions on lending placed by the author of the thesis or the institution at which it is held.

Current members of Oxford University pay a standard subsidised fee for inter-library loans of UK theses. Readers who are not current members of Oxford University will be charged differently. We recommend that such readers use the facilities provided by their own institution or their local public library.

Cambridge theses

You can purchase copies of Cambridge University theses through the Cambridge University Library's online order form. There is a standard charge of £75 (plus VAT and postage).

Copies of theses

Some full-text theses can be downloaded for free from EThOS. 

It may be possible to copy small sections from a paper thesis obtained via interlibrary loan. Enquiry and reserve desk staff may be able to advise, but you can send enquiries to the Inter-Library Loans team.