Mst v MPhil with PhD as the end goal

Hello!

I am from Australia and am current writing an Honours thesis in German historiography. I'll be eligible to write a PhD in Australia come November. However, I'd love to write my PhD at Oxford. I feel like I am still too young to start it just yet and would love to do a research based masters before I start so I was looking into the Mst in History. What is the difference between Mst and MPhil at Oxford? Which one is the more direct (or better) route to a PhD? Can I apply straight to a PhD from a Mst?

Thank you for your help!!

Hi, the MSt is a one-year taught Masters, normally with a dissertation in the third and final term. For my subject (French) it was 12000 words.

The MPhil is a two-year Masters, with the first year focused on taking classes (except in the final term, where you start thinking about your dissertation). The second year is dedicated entirely to your research project (which I believe is around 20/25,000 words)

Neither is necessarily a better way to get to a PhD - it depends on how sure you are about your area of specialisation.

The deadline for PhD application funding is in January, so if you start an MSt in October you need to hit the ground running with thinking about your PhD application. This can lead to extra pressure to sort out your MSt thesis topic earlier than you might normally do (as your MSt thesis will usually, though not always, be linked in some way to your eventual PhD topic).

The MPhil, being a 2-year course, gives you more time to develop your interests if you are unsure. By the time you apply for a PhD you will have done three terms of classes and will already have a good idea of where your MPhil thesis is going.