Oxford Fresco
A new CMS platform for the University’s websites.
Oxford Fresco is the new CMS platform being developed for the University’s websites. It will offer a stable, secure, and flexible content management system, enabling content owners to create and manage websites without needing to write any code.
Fresco represents an opportunity to future-proof the University’s web infrastructure by replacing the Mosaic platform, which will be reaching end-of-life on 31 October 2026. After that point, it will not be possible to operate Mosaic websites, and as a result, the initial focus for migration will be on websites currently built on Mosaic.
In the longer term, all units — including those not currently using Mosaic — will be encouraged to adopt Fresco. The platform will provide an updated, unified solution for departments, colleges, and other University units, offering improved design consistency, governance, and accessibility to deliver a high-quality user experience. It will be hosted centrally by IT Services, so local units won’t need to manage their own infrastructure.
Fresco vs. Oxweb: What’s the difference?
Details about where content should be located can be found in the Content Strategy, but as a general rule central University-wide content will move to Oxweb. Other sites (including those owned by departments, research groups, and some colleges) will move to Fresco. Learn more about how the platforms will operate together on the main programme webpage.
Fresco: Look and feel
Fresco is designed to make Oxford websites easier to use and navigate, while still giving each site its own identity. It’s built on a flexible design system that provides shared layouts, fonts, and components across the University. Think of it as a uniform, not a straitjacket — giving visitors a familiar experience wherever they go, while allowing your site to reflect its own character. This consistency will help staff, students, and visitors find and share information more easily.
While training resources are still in development, you can watch one of our walkthrough videos that showcase the designs and features, and help to get you familiar with the platform: Watch the Fresco demo recordings from May and June 2025.
The development approach
The WebCMS team is building Oxford Fresco using an agile, iterative approach, with development structured into fortnightly sprints. These sprints are grouped into larger release waves, each introducing new or enhanced platform capabilities.
Development priorities are shaped by feedback from content owners, editors, and technical teams across the University. This collaborative and user-centred process ensures that the platform continues to improve in ways that reflect real-world requirements and use cases.
Testing Fresco in the real world
From March to June 2024, we ran a pilot of Oxford Fresco with a diverse group of University units. This allowed us to evaluate our proposed technical solution, better understand the scale and nature of the change, and identify what it will mean for colleagues across Oxford.
Pilot participants included:
- Bodleian Library – Gardens Libraries and Museums
- Primary Care Health Sciences, Medical Sciences
- History Faculty, Humanities
- Department for Continuing Education
- Kellogg College
- Research Support Team, IT Services, UAS
- CMS Platform Team, IT Services, UAS
The pilot was a success, confirming the viability of our approach and generating valuable user insights that have shaped our build priorities and feature roadmap.
The roadmap: What’s coming and when?
The Fresco roadmap outlines the planned development and release waves. The first wave has just been released (June 2025), focussing on core functionality such as content creation, editing, and publishing. Future waves will expand on this foundation, delivering more advanced features in response to evolving University needs.
The roadmap is a live document, and will continue to evolve in response to feedback, emerging needs, and technical development. It’s a working plan, not a fixed schedule — and we’re actively engaging with stakeholders to shape priorities.
View the latest edition of the roadmap to understand what features are currently available, and what’s coming next.
When your site can migrate
When your site will be able to move to Fresco depends largely on which features you need to operate effectively. Sites with simpler requirements may migrate earlier, while others will wait until more advanced functionality is released.
What you can be doing now
If you're not part of an early adopter group, there's no immediate action needed — the migration team will contact you when it's time to begin your move to Fresco.
In the meantime, you can read more about the Migration Project and get your sites into good shape for migration down the line using our Pre-Migration Checklist.
Funding
There will be no charge to departments for the new CMS during the 2025/26 migration phase and the charging model for 2026/27 onwards is under consultation. It will either follow a similar approach to Mosaic (where sites are charged based on size), or adopt a service charge model, allowing sites to be free at the point of use. The latter would align with the ambition for Fresco to become the default platform across the University.
Project Governance and Control
The project falls under the governance for the Transforming Oxford’s Digital Communications Programme. For more information please see the Programme Governance page.
Fresco is developed and run as a product in line with the University’s Digital Delivery model, which you can learn about through this video: Transforming how we deliver digital services at Oxford.
Further Information
If you have any further questions, please check our recently updated Frequently Asked Questions or, if you are unable to find what you need there, please email us at transforming digitalcommsprogramme@it.ox.ac.uk
