Oxford Interviews Explained | university of oxford (2023)

FAQs

What are Oxford interviews really like? ›

Interviews are similar to Oxford's teaching tutorials and you may well find you actually learn a lot. Don't worry if you don't know an answer immediately - see if you can work your way through it aloud. This lets tutors see how you think and means that your final answer is only part of what they find out.

Normally you will be interviewed by two tutors, occasionally more. If you are applying for a joint course, with two or more subjects, you should expect to be interviewed by tutors representing each of the subjects. For some joint courses you may be interviewed separately for each subject area.

Your chances of obtaining an offer from Oxford or Cambridge (before you have confirmed your course and college choice, sat your potential admissions test, and been invited up for interview) are roughly 17%, a figure that comes from around 46,000 applicants chasing 8,000 places at the two universities (for 2021 entry, ...

When you're up at interview at Oxford and you are sent to other colleges after you've been interviewed by the first college. This is called pooling. You'll have an initial interview (or two) at your first college and then be asked to interview at a different college.

Oxbridge interviews are designed to test your response to things you don't already know about, and this makes them intrinsically difficult to prepare for. Nevertheless, there are a few things you can do to help boost your confidence and feel prepared.

Cambridge take into account UMS scores and A-Level grades during their shortlisting process to decide which applicants should be interviewed. Oxford, on the other hand, focus more on admissions test scores and GCSEs. Cambridge also tend to interview 75% of their applicants, a higher proportion than Oxford.

Most candidates will have at least two interviews, depending on their chosen subject of study, and will stay in Oxford's colleges for the duration of their subject interviews, at no cost.

To prepare for this, look again at the job description, your application, your CV and supporting statement and think about the key points you want to make. It is fine to take notes to the interview with you.

Economics and management is the most difficult course to be accepted into at Oxbridge, but the rest of the top ten toughest courses may surprise you. Getting into Oxford or Cambridge University is an achievement in itself, but cracking your way into economics and management is another feat entirely.

What is the hardest college to get into at Oxford? ›

All Souls College

All Souls is the most elusive Oxford College and it takes no undergraduate students. In order to get in, graduate and postgraduate students apply for examination fellowships through “the hardest exam in the world”.

Who Gets Invited? Each year, Oxford receives around 22,000 applications for 3,300 places. Oxford then shortlists around 10,000 candidates for Interviews, which is generally 40-45% of applicants every year. Cambridge, on the other hand, Interview a higher percentage of applicants, around 70%.

Check whether applicants to your course are usually interviewed in the entry requirements on your course page, under 'Performance at interview'. You will usually find out by email whether your application is successful from your academic department about 8 to 10 weeks after the application deadline.

It has been described in the past as "the hardest exam in the world". Two papers (the 'specialist papers') are on a single subject of the candidate's choice; the options are classics, English literature, economics, history, law, philosophy, and politics.

While Cambridge interviews around 80% of its applicants, Oxford admissions tutors interview far fewer candidates (between 20 to 40%). That's because Oxford filters out many of its applicants when they take an admissions test like the TSA or PAT. Cambridge doesn't tend to give these tests.

Oxford University has a fair acceptance rate of 17% in comparison to Harvard where only 5% of all the applications received are accepted. You may gain a chance to get admission at Oxford if you have exceptional academic performance and skills.

It is, therefore, expected that the University of Oxford is a highly selective institution with an astonishing average acceptance rate of 17.5%. The acceptance rate for international students is even lower, estimated at 9%. More than a fifth of the candidates applying to Oxford University annually face rejection.

World University Rankings

Overall Ranking: 1st Oxford, 3rd Cambridge. Teaching: 5th Oxford, 7th Cambridge.

Is Oxford easier to get into than Harvard? ›

Oxford University has an acceptance rate of around 17% which is considered relatively good in comparison to Harvard University's low 5% acceptance rate, which makes Oxford easier to get into.

An Oxford shirt will show you understand the company's more laid back approach to dressing, just make sure it's pressed well and tucked into your trousers neatly. A tie is optional, depending on the company – you could always take one just in case you feel underdressed when you get to reception.

In general, shortlist letters (interview invitation/rejections) are sent out between mid November and early December. Usually the middle two weeks of November are when the Interview Yes/No decisions are made. Do they tell you if they're not offering you an interview? Yes they do tell you if you have been rejected too.

Most successful applicants to Oxford do have a high amount of A and A* grades, or 7,9 and 9 grades, but Oxford looks at the whole GCSE performance of the school or college where you studied to put your grades into context, and you may well be able to make a competitive application to Oxford with lower GCSE grades than ...

While an impressive 31.7% of all Cambridge graduates left university with a first, this figure is triumphantly beaten by their bitter rivals at Oxford, where 33.2% of all graduates successfully swotted their way to a first.

Whenever you apply for a job, it's only natural to have some competition. The average number of people who tend to apply for a single job is 118, while only 20% of them get invited to an interview. So, next time you're wondering how many applicants get interviews, know that it's roughly only 1 in 5.

Last year Oxford offered 3,771 undergraduate spots, and then enrolled 3,270. So 401 students out of the 3,771 (10.6%) did not or could not take up their offer (that figure includes students who failed to make the required A-level offer).

It's acceptable to bring notes with you to an interview if the notes contain the questions you plan to ask your interviewer. You might also include questions about the company that you were unable to answer through your research.

If you are invited to interview, you will have at least two interviews with academic tutors, lasting about 30-40 minutes.

Sandals, flip-flops and other open-toed shoes may be more appropriate for casual situations than a job interview. Instead, you may want to consider a classic dress shoe, such as a pair of oxfords. Since many of them are leather and scuff easily, look over your shoes before getting ready for your interview.

What is the lowest GPA Oxford has accepted? ›

If your graduate course at Oxford requires a 'first class undergraduate degree with honours' in the UK system, you will usually need an overall GPA of at least 3.7 out of 4.0/4.3 or 4.5 out of 5.0.

The most popular subjects at Oxford are medicine, chemistry, philosophy, politics, and economics – students pursuing a degree in these subjects make up 20% of the Oxford undergraduate population. Medicine is far and away the most popular subject at Oxford.

The minimum GPA requirement for US students applying to Oxford University is 3.7. A higher GPA is expected for applicants who like to enroll in more competitive courses.

Is Oxford University an Ivy League School? Although Oxford University is one of the oldest and most prestigious institutions in the world, it is not an Ivy League school. The Ivy League is a sports conference of universities from the northeastern United States.

1. Merton College. Merton College is one of the most popular Oxford colleges and sits at the top of Oxford's Norrington Table with a score of 82.9%.

They have consistently ranked among the top 10 institutes in the global rankings. According to the world university rank 2023, Oxford University ranked top and Harvard University ranked second in the list, whilst in the QS world university list Oxford University ranked fourth and Harvard University ranked fifth.

There are four academic divisions within Oxford University: Humanities, Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences; Medical Sciences; and Social Sciences. The university's particular strength is the sciences, and it is ranked number one in the world for medicine.

You stand just as much a chance as anyone else. The acceptance rate at Oxford is about 17.5% which is far higher compared to Harvard, Stanford, MIT and other Ivy League Universities.

GPA Range: 3.4 - 4.0. Average MCAT Score: 514. MCAT Range: 499 - 522.

With so many more applications than places, it just isn't possible to interview everyone. Tutors shortlist the candidates they feel have the strongest potential and meet their selection criteria best. Only those shortlisted are invited to interview.

How do Oxford mark interviews? ›

An evaluation of all the information available on the candidate, including UCAS form, test and all interviews. Numerical grades: 9: exceptional accept, 8: accept, 7: borderline, 6: below borderline, 5: probably reject, 4: reject, <4: clear reject.

They will send you a letter or an email which will give you the answer to this question. However, if you've just had your interview, then the best thing to do, if you really want to know, is to talk to someone who has a lot of experience of Oxford and tell them how it went.

*These stats are for Oxford only. Cambridge doesn't give out any information on who gets an interview but in general, the interview percentage is much higher for all subjects. At Oxford, 25% to 45% of interviewees for the vast majority of subjects are offered places.

At Oxford just over half of all applicants will be interviewed, compared with 75% at Cambridge. Students are encouraged to regard the interview as a short conversation tutorial about their subject.

International A-levels

Specifically, grade requirements differ for each course at Oxford. For example, AAA (at A-levels or equivalent) is needed for courses such as Classical Archaeology and Ancient History, Classics and European and Middle Eastern Languages.

Five of the most competitive programs, Economics and management; medicine; philosophy, politics and Economics; mathematics; and law. The least competitive programs are classics; chemistry; modern languages; biology; geography. >> How many students from Russia takes Oxford in the first University?

However Oxford usually only has around 3,300 places each year so even excellent grades will not guarantee you an offer. Offers for Oxford places are between A*A*A and AAA at A-level, depending on the course. (See course pages.) See a list of Oxford courses with conditional offers including at least one A*.

We invite the majority of applicants to attend an interview. In previous years, this has been around 75% of Home applicants. Not everyone interviewed will be offered a place but everyone who is made an offer will have been interviewed.

If you are invited to interview, you will have at least two interviews with academic tutors, lasting about 30-40 minutes.

Cambridge interviews around 75% of undergraduate applicants. At Oxford, where applications are around six per place, around half of all applicants are shortlisted for interview. For the most competitive degrees, the applicants who most closely meet the selection criteria may have multiple interviews.

How many Oxford applicants get interviews? ›

Who Gets Invited? Each year, Oxford receives around 22,000 applications for 3,300 places. Oxford then shortlists around 10,000 candidates for Interviews, which is generally 40-45% of applicants every year. Cambridge, on the other hand, Interview a higher percentage of applicants, around 70%.

Cornell is considered the "easiest" Ivy League to get into because it has the highest Ivy League acceptance rate.

The University of Cambridge made nearly 2,953 offers to four home counties, and 2,619 offers to the whole of the north of England. Whereas Oxford made 2,812 offers to applicants in five home counties and 2,619 to students in the whole of northern England.