How To Apply For Oxford University

An Insider's Guide to Applying to Oxford and Cambridge

Helen Charlesworth works in the Undergraduate Admissions and Outreach Office at the University of Oxford. Below she provides a guide for those preparing their Oxford or Cambridge applications, and some Top Tips for applying to Oxford or Cambridge.

Oxford and Cambridge universities hold a special place in many people’s imagination. With several hundreds of years of history and countless appearances in novels, films and television programmes, the two institutions are very well known across the globe.

This can be a great advantage in attracting applicants as our reputation certainly precedes us. However, there are some disadvantages as well, as our portrayal in the media has led to some popular — but false — stereotypes about what kind of students we admit.
In truth Oxford and Cambridge Universities:

• Seek to attract the best and brightest applicants regardless of background, which they seek out via extensive access programmes across the UK, as well as visits overseas.

• Have highly rigorous and fair application procedures designed to allow the very best candidates to shine; and

• Are diverse and vibrant places to live and study.

What makes Oxford and Cambridge such special universities?

The collegiate system

• Both Oxford and Cambridge universities are made up of individual colleges, as well as different subject departments. A college will be a student’s home and their central focus of teaching for much of their time at university. Each college will have a diverse range of students — usually including both undergraduate and graduate students — studying across a range of subject areas.

• The college system offers the benefits of belonging to a large internationally renowned institution, and also to a smaller, interdisciplinary academic college community. You will have access to your college’s facilities, such as an extensive library and IT provision, as well as the resources of the wider university.

• Whatever you may have heard, college choice does not matter! Each college offers the same excellent standard of teaching and has the same very high academic standards. Both universities work hard to ensure that the best students are successful in gaining a place, whichever college they’ve applied to. This means that you may be interviewed by more than one college and you may receive an offer from any of them. If you would prefer not to choose a college you can make an open application.

Further details:

• Colleges at the University of Cambridge
• Colleges at the University of Oxford

Teaching

• Teaching methods are very similar at both universities as students will attend lectures, classes and laboratory work as appropriate for their course. Unlike at many other universities, students at Oxford and Cambridge also benefit from highly personalised teaching time with experts in their field. The only difference is in the name: Oxford refers to these sessions as "tutorials" while Cambridge calls them "supervisions". 

• Students are required to prepare an essay or other piece of work in advance for these sessions and then meet with their tutor to discuss the work, perhaps with one or two other students. Tutors are often world experts in their field so this time is extremely valuable to students in developing their understanding of the subject.

Is it for you?

Check the course details

• Oxford and Cambridge universities agree that the most important decision a prospective applicant has to make is the degree they wish to study, not which university they want to apply to. So it is important to read the course details carefully for any subject you are interested in. You will be studying for several years, so it’s important to choose something that you are really passionate about.

• Oxford and Cambridge courses tend to be traditional academic courses, with a strong emphasis on personalised teaching and formal assessment is often 100% based on examinations.

Further details:

• Courses at Cambridge
• Courses at Oxford

Choosing between Oxford and Cambridge

• It is not possible to apply to both Oxford and Cambridge in the same admissions round, so students will have to choose one or the other. Both universities are world renowned in teaching and research in both arts and science subjects, so the decision is largely an individual one.

• Some courses are offered at one of the universities but not the other. Check each institution’s undergraduate prospectus/website for details of courses on offer. However, it is important to be aware that courses with a similar title at the two universities may be different in content. It is therefore important for students to check the course details to see which one will suit them best.
• Cambridge usually comes above Oxford in the Complete University Guide rankings but this is in part because of subject mix. It is down to individual choice and course content.

Entry requirements

• Make sure you expect to achieve the required A-levels, International Baccalaureate (IB) grades or other equivalent qualifications. There may be specific subject requirements for particular courses, especially in the sciences.

• Conditional offers for Oxford range between A*A*A and AAA (depending on the subject) at A-level or 38–40 in the IB, including core points. Certain grades may be required at Higher Level.

• The standard A-level offer for Cambridge is A*A*A for sciences courses (excluding Psychological and Behavioural Sciences) and A*AA for arts courses or 40–41 in the IB, including core points, with 776 at Higher Level.

How to apply

• All students must apply via UCAS by 6pm, UK time, on 15 October. Cambridge also asks all applicants to complete an online Supplementary Application Questionnaire (SAQ) or Cambridge Online Preliminary Application (COPA) after submission of their UCAS application to ensure consistent information about all applicants. There may be different deadlines for students wishing to be interviewed overseas. Oxford does not require students to complete any extra forms.
• You may also need to take a written test as part of your application, or perhaps submit some written work. If your application is shortlisted, you will be invited to the relevant university for interview.

Further details:

• Applying to Cambridge
• Applying to Oxford

Assessing applications

Contextualisation

• The Extenuating Circumstances Form, which has replaced the Cambridge Special Access Scheme, gives teachers the opportunity to provide contextual information about applicants so they can be fairly assessed. In addition, Cambridge admissions tutors are provided with publicly-available school performance data to help them contextualise educational achievement when considering applications.

• Oxford encourages teachers to include details of any special circumstances or other relevant information in the main UCAS application. Oxford also uses publicly-available information to indicate those applicants who may have experienced educational or socio-economic disadvantages. Where applicants demonstrate the necessary academic aptitude for Oxford, they are likely to be considered for interview and seen in addition to students identified through the normal shortlisting process.

Further details:

• Cambridge – Extenuating Circumstances Form
• Oxford – Admissions, Codes and Procedures

Shortlisting

• Many A-level applicants are predicted to achieve top grades and many also have excellent references. It’s therefore not possible for Oxford or Cambridge to select the best students based on their UCAS applications alone. Each university has a slightly different approach to differentiating between applicants.

• Oxford asks applicants for most of its courses to take a test as part of their application. Tutors then shortlist applicants based on students’ applications and performance in the test. Where applications are around three per place, over 90% of applicants are shortlisted. For the most competitive degrees, this may fall to 30% to allow those who most closely meet the selection criteria to have multiple interviews. AS-level grades and Uniform Mark Scheme (UMS) scores are not a key element in shortlisting.

• Cambridge makes less use of pre-interview tests and interviews around 80% of their undergraduate applicants. AS-level grades and UMS scores are considered, alongside all the other information available to selectors, both in deciding which applicants will be invited to interview and which will be offered a place. Only applicants for medicine and veterinary medicine are required to take a test before interview.

Tests before interview

• All students applying for the standard medicine course (A100) at either university must register to take the BMAT as part of their application, as must candidates for the graduate entry medicine course (A101) at Oxford.

• All students applying for the veterinary medicine course (D100) at Cambridge or biomedical sciences at Oxford (BC98) must also register to take the BMAT as part of their application.

• Oxford requires applicants to take written tests before interview in most other subjects. Please note that separate registration is required in many cases. These tests are usually taken in your school or college.

Tests at interview

• Both universities require some applicants to take tests during the interview period.

Further details:

• Admissions Tests at Cambridge
• Admissions Tests at Oxford

Written work

• Both universities require some applicants to submit samples of written work as part of their application. At Oxford the deadline for the submission of this work is 10 November. Applicants to Cambridge will be advised by their college when it needs to be submitted.

Further details:

• Applying to Cambridge
• Applying to Oxford – Summary of Written Work Requirements

Interviews

• The purpose and structure of these interviews is very similar at both universities. Essentially they are rather like a mini tutorial or supervision, where the tutors will give students a small passage to read or perhaps set a small problem and then ask the student to discuss it.

• Contrary to many popular myths about such interviews, there are no tricks or mind games involved. The interview is for tutors to get a sense of how the student reacts to new situations and how they process the information available. It is not a matter of how quickly — or even whether — the student arrives at the right answer. There may not even be a right answer. The tutors just want to get an insight in to how the student thinks.

Further details:

• Interviews at Cambridge
• Interviews at Oxford

Top tips for applying to Oxford or Cambridge

Do

1. Choose a course you are really passionate about.
2. Read widely around your chosen subject. It’s not enough just to do well at school or college. Tutors have often devoted their life to their subject, so of course they want to teach students who share their enthusiasm.
3. Practice talking about your subject: not just with your teachers and fellow students, but with other friends and family members. Talking to non-experts is an excellent exercise as it gets you thinking in new ways and helps you to find new ways of expressing the concepts and issues involved.

Don’t

1. Stretch the truth on your application form. Tutors may ask you about anything you include in your application, so make sure it’s all correct.
2. Spend time worrying about which college to apply to. There are far more productive ways to spend your time.
3. Lose heart! The application process is very competitive, and sadly there just are not enough places for all the people who apply. However, the only way to guarantee you will not be successful is to not try at all. Why not go for it?

Your UCAS Application

1. Have you selected the right course?

• Seems obvious right? But with over 37,000 courses on offer through the UCAS system, this isn’t always easy. Make sure you’ve done some thorough research, using the CUG Course Chooser as a start.
• Have a look at what modules you’ll be taking and where courses are likely to take you in the long-term. Even if you’re not thinking that far ahead this will show you’ve engaged in the process, giving you something to refer to in your personal statement. Admissions tutors like to see that potential students are truly interested.  
• Be realistic! Have you got the GCSE or equivalent grades for the universities and courses you’ve put down and are you going to be able to achieve the A-Levels they’re asking for?

Check out our guide to choosing a course.

© Odua Images

2. Have you considered who’s reading your personal statement?

• Admissions tutors want to fill their places with good students – interested, sensible and independent individuals. Take a look at your UCAS application and make sure you’ve managed to convey these traits. This may be via extracurricular pursuits or, as mentioned before, showing that you’ve truly engaged in the application process.
• Remember that admissions tutors live and breathe their subjects. Does your personal statement reflect that level of passion? If not, try to make sure it does. If you haven’t done anything practical that displays a level of interest in the subject you’re applying, read up on the content of the degree and relate your interests to it.

James Seymour, Director of UK Recruitment and Outreach at Aston University gives his advice for producing a compelling personal statement.

3. Have you got the basics right?

• Check your spelling and grammar, then do it again, and once more. With so many applications to choose from, admissions tutors may well dismiss yours if it contains misspelt words and basic grammatical errors. They may feel it demonstrates that you won’t be able to perform to university standard in academic work, and if nothing else it’s just lazy.
• Get it proofread! It’s always useful to get a second or even third opinion. This will help iron out any silly mistakes and loved ones will be able to tell whether you’ve described yourself correctly.

And finally

© Ivelin Radkov

Try not to leave it till the last minute... Don’t worry if you’ve still not completed your application – focus on what still needs to be done and get your application off to UCAS as soon as you can. Applications received after the 15 January deadline will still be processed by UCAS, but universities do not have to consider them. They can, if they wish, reject you on the grounds that they have already received enough applications. However, if you are applying for one of the less competitive courses, or are applying from outside the EU, you are likely to find that your application is treated just like those that arrived on time.