History

The department building in Wellington Square

The Department of Social Policy and Intervention at the University of Oxford has existed in its present form only since 1999.  However its origins date back to the formation of Barnett House in 1914 which was set up as a  centre for the study of contemporary social and economic problems, and for education and training  in social work or social research, with the aim of linking the university more closely with the study of social conditions and their alleviation.  Barnett House was formally incorporated into the university in 1962 as the Department of Social and Administrative Studies.