More about us

We share the University’s uncompromising standards, defining qualities, and belief in the transformative power of education to inspire progress and realise human potential.

Our values

With more than 6,000 employees and a presence in more than 50 countries, we sell our books, materials and services in over 200 countries.

We are dedicated to working in accordance with our fundamental values and principles of excellence, rigour, honesty, respect and resilience.

A short history of OUP

Letras de imprenta
  • 1478 - First book printed in Oxford
     
  • 1586 - Decree of Star Chamber grants the University one printer and printing press
     
  • 1611 - The University is granted the right to print the King James Authorized Version of the Bible. This Bible Privilege formed the basis of OUP's publishing activities throughout the next two centuries. 
     
  • 1633 - Delegates appointed to oversee the University’s printing process
     
  • 1884 - First edition of the Oxford English Dictionary begins publication (in instalments)
     
  • 1896 - First overseas branch opens in New York

Página de un diccionario
  • Early 1900s - Publishing expands to include music scores, children’s books, and journals
     
  • 1926 - Overseas Education Department (later English Language Teaching) begins
     
  • 1928 - Last volume of OED first edition published
     
  • 1945 - A.S. Hornby’s Advanced Learner’s Dictionary published
     
  • 1985 - Oxford Reading Tree first published
     
  • 2000 - OED launched online

OUP Spain

1991 - Oxford University Press Spain is founded.

1993 - The first ELT titles adapted to the Spanish market are published, leading us to become the no.1 publisher in English.

1994 - The Oxford Pocket is launched, a dictionary with important new features, such as the use of two inks, and the use of several examples per entry. It’s still the best-selling dictionary.

1998 - Oxford Educación is created. The educational community responded positively to the innovative solutions proposed, placing us among the top publishing houses in Secondary.

 

2000 - Oxford Français is born, a label under which we publish books and text materials for studying French as a foreign language. Our catalogue has positioned us as one of the leading publishers in this market segment.

 

2009 -  Our online English course, My Oxford English, is launched taking the teaching of English to the digital domain. Our Teacher Training service was created by our authors and leading specialists in 2009 too.

2010 - Our first CLIL books are published. We also publish El Árbol de la Lectura, our first collection of children’s and young people’s literature, in 2010.

2012 - Our digital resources platform, Oxford Premium, is launched, providing anytime, anywhere online access to our materials.

2017 -  Our official exam, the Oxford Test of English, is launched in Spain. It certifies levels A2, B1 and B2.

2019 - We launch the first Skill for learning English on Amazon’s virtual voice assistant, Alexa, in Spain.