Rail confusion??

The cheapest you'll get an adult fare from Oxford to Crewe appears to be £22 one way. But it's all about the time of travel and booking in advance, and can treble in cost at peak times. Can he adjust working pattern to fit the cheaper trains?

Road wise, Friday is typically the busiest day of the week. Could he stay down there Mon to Thu instead of Tue to Fri?

Fairly sure National Express run from Oxford to Stoke. That would save money, although probably not time.

Using a combination of Anytime Tickets will allow your partner to do the outward early morning journey as follows:

Alsager to Stafford £9.90 Anytime Single
Stafford to Leamington Spa £19.10 Anytime Single
Leamington Spa to Oxford £17.00 Anytime Single
TOTAL Alsager to Oxford = £46.00

The return journey can be done cheaper because off-peak tickets will be valid, including the very useful West Midland Day Ranger, as follows:

Oxford to Banbury £5.90 Off-Peak Single
Banbury to Leamington Spa £8.10 Off-Peak Single
West Midland Day Ranger £23.80 (which covers from Leamington Spa to Alsager)
TOTAL Oxford to Alsager = £37.80

Remember, when split ticketing you don't have to keep getting on and off the train at the above stations, you just need to make sure that your train stops at the stations where you split ticket.

In the case of Alsager to Oxford it will be a case of taking a train from Alsager to Stoke-on-Trent and then catching a Cross Country Service from Stoke-on-Trent to Oxford (these services all stop at Stafford & Leamington Spa en route, so that's no problem).

Similarly, the return journey will be by Cross Country from Oxford to Stoke-on-Trent (these services all stop at Banbury & Leamington Spa en route, so again that's no problem) and then catching a train from Stoke-on-Trent to Alsager.

As someone else has mentioned there are £22 Advance Singles available on Fridays, from Oxford to Crewe, if you book early enough, but then your partner would have to stick to the booked trains.

Hope all that's clear.