How many days to spend in Birmingham, Liverpool, Oxford?

Is this 9 days after travel time?
What is your starting point? Heathrow or Manchester airports? Or somewhere else?

We fly from Cork, Ireland to Liverpool, then have 9 full days (these including time to travel to each city) and on the 10th day we go to London.

I'd definitely spend at least two days in Oxford.

Give yourself about half a day for each journey, whether you go by train or drive.

If you like Chocolate, you may want to stop by Cadburyworld in Birmingham. There is a silly tour and you can get souvenirs and chocolates in the gift shop. Sometimes they even have bags of "mistakes" that are very cheap. English Cadbury chocolate is much tastier, lighter and creamier than American Cadbury which is made by Hersheys.

Emily, if you're a Beatle fan you'll want to spend at least 2-3 days in Liverpool. It is not the dreary town of yesteryear. The Albert Dock area was totally revamped and is gorgeous with some great restaurants and a pub or two. The Beatle exhibit at the Beatle Story is a very good representation of the times (my husband gave it a double thumbs-up and he's a musician). There is also an exhibit at the northern end of the dock where Cynthia and Julian Lennon shared some of their memories, called White Feather, of a husband and Dad that they loved and lost. Taking the Magical Mystery Tour Bus from Grover Street bus stop gives you a good look at the outlying area surrounding the city center. We only stayed 2 and a half and wished we had added another day.
Also, there's an excellent Indian restaurant called Spice City at 18 Stanley street that we wish RS would add to his guidebook. The restaurant is near Matthew Street where all the Beatle stuff and the Cavern Club is at. Trains out of Lime Street Station are easy.
Enjoy!

Don't shortchange your time in Liverpool. There is so much to see and do, and the people (Scousers) are the friendliest you will ever meet. You can also take a day trip to Chester from Liverpool which is a charming city and well worth the time. I didn't particularly enjoy Oxford, but other people certainly do.

It very much depends on what you want to do and what interests you.

Oxford is beautiful and in the university holidays you can stay in the college rooms.

Birmingham is very big, formerly industrial. The jewellry quarter and chinatown are worth a visit. Travelodge or Paragon hotel are the cheapest places to stay I have found, there is also a wetherspoons lodge. The canal area around Brindley place is nice. Sparkbrook has some interesting Indian (albeit ran by Bangladeshis..) restaurants and shops. The new selfridges building is worth a look. I would only plan on two days and a night there. Maybe check out the theatre or Jongleurs comedy club.
Close by is Stratford, brilliant theatre and very pleasant small town. If you don't like Shakespeare - and if you saw it, you would- Shrewsbury or Ludlow are options for pretty small towns fairly close to Birmingham.

Liverpool is surely worth a couple of days, with the gents toilets in the Philamonic. If you really want villages, I would suggest the cotswolds or Shropshire and hire a car - public transport to villages is of the "There's a bus on Tuesday" variety.