Introduction to Oral History

People attending an oral history training course led by Alison Chand, a British Library/Oral History Society accredited trainer.
Nourish Scotland oral history training led by Alison Chand, 2024.

This course takes place in person and online

This training course provides an informal and practical introduction to oral history interviewing. The training programme is accredited by National Life Stories at the British Library and the Oral History Society.

Training sessions include the opportunity discuss some of the issues around oral history, life stories and memory. You will also learn about recording equipment and how to document oral history recordings.

Each course is led by one of the BL/OHS-accredited trainers. Places are limited to 10 per online course and 12 per in-person course. No previous experience of oral history is required.

In-person courses take place around the UK. 2025 locations were London, Manchester, Leeds and Worcester.

Are you looking for group training? See our Tailored Training page instead.

“Fantastic inspiring day. Brilliant trainer.”
Course evaluation feedback
“The whole day was fascinating from both a practical and theoretical point of view”
Course evaluation feedback
“Great, well structured, loads of background info, would highly recommend!”
Course evaluation feedback
“Thoroughly enjoyed the course. An excellent introduction to Oral History and how you undertake a project.”
Course evaluation feedback
“Very impressed with the course. I gained so much in a short space of time. I would recommend without hesitation and look forward to further training with the Oral History Society”
Course evaluation feedback

Course programme

This training course covers the following areas:

  • What is oral history? Understanding memory
  • Getting started: aims and objectives, who to interview, question approaches
  • An introduction to choosing your recording equipment
  • The interview: dos and don’ts
  • Practice interview session and evaluation
  • Documentation: summarising, transcription, copyright, archiving

To view the course schedule with timings please click on one of the available training dates at the bottom of this page.

Questions about training opportunities with the OHS?
For all questions relating to training (including further clarification of course content and reduced rate eligibility) please contact our Training Coordinator

In-person courses

In-person courses are delivered at the British Library in London and at partner venues across the UK. The training takes place over a full-day session with breaks throughout the day. Course timings vary depending on the venue.

If you would like to propose a new partner venue please contact the Training Coordinator.

Online courses

Online courses are delivered over Zoom video call. Each course is run over two consecutive sessions, with morning and evening options.

Online morning courses: 9.30am – 1.15pm each day

Online evening courses: 4.30pm – 8.15pm each day

Course prices

Introduction to Oral History courses in 2026
Full attendance fee: £154.00
OHS member fee: £113.00

OHS membership starts at £39 per year for an individual. For more information and to sign up follow this link to the memberships page.

Please note:

  • There will be no refunds for cancelled places.
  • Due to high demand and in order to ensure that each course has attendees with a variety of interests and backgrounds, a maximum of two people from any one institution may book to attend each date.

The following OHS training dates are available:

September 2026
October 2026
November 2026
No event found!

Please contact the Training Coordinator if you would like to be notified of any future dates.

You may also be interested in…

A new training course: Life story interviewing near the end of life

This course has some crossover with the Introduction to Oral History course, with a focus on issues specific to interviewing people who may be living with a life-limiting illness. The training covers the interview process, question techniques, sensitive and distressing interviewing, ethical and legal issues, equipment and archiving. There is also discussion of issues around working with oral history, life story and memory with people approaching end of life.

We are now taking bookings for an online course on the mornings of 9 & 10 November 2026. Booking form available here.

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