How to apply

Use the relevant Department/Faculty website to learn more about your course: look at lecture timetables, reading lists, academic profiles etc.

Explore your subject beyond the school curriculum. This may include: reading articles, going to exhibitions, entering essay competitions, listening to podcasts, watching lectures, or anything else which adds to your understanding of the subject.

The personal statement is your chance to tell us why you want to study the course you have chosen: what interests you about it; what motivates you to study it; and how you have deepened your engagement with it – especially on your own initiative. Use the ways you’ve explored your subject (examples above) to demonstrate this.

The Personal Statement is split into the following questions, to help you structure your thoughts:

Question 1: Why do you want to study this course or subject?

Question 2: How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject?

Question 3: What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful?

We only select on academic criteria, so we will only be interested in your extra-curricular activities and work experience insofar as they are directly relevant to the course you are applying to. Your other university choices may well have different selection criteria, so you should make sure to include something about extra-curricular interests – but keep it to a minimum. We would recommend an overall 80% focus on academic interests and 20% focus on extra-curricular interests.

It’s important to remember that the same personal statement will be seen by all the universities you apply to and should therefore focus on the course you want to study, not the universities themselves.

Some tips:

• Discuss, don’t list your interests and activities.
• Depth rather than breadth – if you try to cover too much ground you won’t be able to provide sufficient detail.
• Read everything you claim to have read.
• Be critical and analytical rather than descriptive.
• No errors – proof-read.

Here’s some more advice on writing your personal statement.

Some courses require you to take an admissions test before you are invited to interview – you have to register for this, and book a test slot, with the test provider UAT UK separately to your UCAS application, so make arrangements in good time.

Download sample/past papers and mark schemes from UAT UK to familiarise yourself with the test format and question style. Completing past papers under timed conditions is good preparation.

These tests are designed to show us how you think: how you analyse and solve difficult questions. You won’t be expected to know things that aren’t taught at A-level; but you will be asked to apply that knowledge to texts or problems you won’t have encountered before.

Some courses require you to send in examples of your written work as part of your application. The written work deadline is usually 10th November, and you will be contacted by the college you apply to about how to submit your work.

Your submitted work should have been completed during the usual course of your school studies, rather than written specifically for the purpose of your Oxford application. It needs to have been marked by a teacher and each piece needs a cover sheet that has been verified by your school.  Don’t leave it to the last minute to arrange this!

You should submit each piece of work with the cover sheet attached, i.e., one document per piece of work, containing both the essay and the cover sheet.

Interviews are a crucial part of our selection process, and are entirely academic in nature. They are an academic discussion about your subject – like a mini tutorial – where the tutors are looking to see you demonstrate your ability in and commitment to your subject, as well as the flexibility of mind that the tutorial system requires.

Interviews take place on Microsoft Teams. Each interview includes at least two interviewers (Oxford tutors), plus you. Most candidates have at least two interviews, but this can vary widely.

Some tips:

• Talk through your thought process.
• Take a breath before you answer each question.
• Ask for clarification if needed.
• Listen carefully to the tutor’s responses.
• Remember that tutors are human!

For more guidance, sample questions and demonstration videos, see the Oxford website.