Frequently Asked Questions

Oxford is a collegiate university. This means that, although it is a large, world-class university, each student is part of a small, supportive college community.

At the University of Oxford everyone, from professors to students, belongs to a college. There are more than 30 colleges in Oxford that admit undergraduates, each with between about 250 and 450 students studying a range of courses.

Your college is where you live, eat, work, and receive the core of your teaching in regular tutorials.

You also belong to your subject’s department. Here you meet students on your course from other colleges in lectures, classes, or laboratory work; and it is your department which decides on the content of degree courses, and sets and marks the end-of-year examinations.

The colleges, departments, Bodleian libraries and museums make up the University of Oxford.

You can’t choose a college, though you can express a preference by entering a college campus code on your UCAS application.

Your application may be passed to another college to make sure that the spread of good applicants per college is fair.

You don’t have to express a college preference. Instead, you can make an open application. Around 30% of candidates do this each year. You’ll then be allocated to a college.

When applying to the University of Oxford you can state a preference for a college, but if you are unsure what college you’d like to go to, you can make an open application. You'll then be allocated to a college.

Your application is not stronger or weaker by making an open application or by choosing a college.

Deciding which college to make your preference is a personal matter.

Colleges have more in common than they have differences and, whichever college you go to, your course will be the same because the course content is set by the subject department.

When choosing a college, you may like to consider what facilities it has, such as a gym or music practice rooms.

Location may be important for you. For example, would you like to be near the river, near the University Sports Complex, or away from the busy high street?

There is no easy college to get into. As a collegiate university, we all follow the same rules and procedures.

If you state a preference on your UCAS form for a particular college, you may not even be interviewed there.

Not all colleges admit for all courses, but that doesn't mean any one college is a specialist in a given subject.

To find out which colleges admit students for which courses, have a look through the university’s prospectus or college websites.

There are many different courses to study and to choose from.

A good place to start is to think about what you enjoy studying. Remember, you’re going to be studying this subject in depth for three years or more.

All colleges follow the same admissions process and use the same selection criteria and entrance requirements as outlined on the University website.

If you choose a preferred college in your application, other colleges may interview you and any of them may offer you a place. Around one third of successful applicants are offered a place at a college that wasn't the one they applied to.

Departments oversee the application process for their subject(s) to ensure that the best candidates have the best chance of obtaining a place.

This is why your application may be passed to another college.

Mature students can apply to any college or permanent private hall.

One college, Harris Manchester, and one permanent private hall, Wycliffe Hall, take mature students only.

The Oxford University policy on deferred entry is given here. The College is generally happy to consider applications from students who wish to defer entry for a year.

If you apply for deferred entry, you are asking the tutors to compare you with an as-yet-unknown future cohort, and so you will need to be especially competitive.

If you choose to wait and apply for direct entry, make sure that you keep up your academic interests and reading. Once offered a place for a particular year, you cannot change the start year unless you have extenuating circumstances that you will need to discuss with the college.

Please see the Oxford University policy on retakes.

Each course has a quota of places, so once you have received your offer, you cannot change your course.

The University of Oxford does not accept credits or transfer students from other universities.

Yes. Every application to Oxford is treated on its own merits without regard to any previous applications, so there is no inherent disadvantage in having applied before.

If you would like to apply again, you are welcome to do so, and you may choose the same or a different college preference.

We recommend that you ask for feedback from the college that dealt with your previous application and consider the reasons why you were not successful on that occasion.

You will need to complete the full application process again, including sitting any admissions test(s) and submitting any written work required for your chosen course.

For full details of how to apply, please see the university's guide for applicants.

The university does not accept transfer students. If you wish to follow an undergraduate course here, then you would need to start the course from the beginning, although you cannot do so if you are currently enrolled on a Medicine course elsewhere and want to apply to study Medicine at Oxford.

If you are studying at a UK university and thinking of applying to Oxford to start the first year of an undergraduate course, please note that normally we only consider such applications in exceptional circumstances. You should make very clear in your application why you do not wish to continue on your current course.

We are not able to give examples of exceptional circumstances as applications are considered on a case-by-case basis.

If you decide to apply while at another university and you do not have A-level or equivalent qualifications at the grades required for the standard offer for the course you are interested in applying for, you will need to demonstrate how your subsequent study has prepared you for studying at Oxford, including any evidence of your performance on your current course, as well as a reference from your current tutor or equivalent.

You must declare on your UCAS form whether you are currently studying at another university. Failure to do so could result in the university withdrawing any offer made to you.

Please also remember that not only will you incur a year of additional costs but your eligibility for government support or loans may be affected by any study you have already undertaken, whether or not you have completed your course.

Further information on the university policy, which all Oxford colleges work to, is given here.

We consider GCSE grades, but where possible we look at these in the context of your school.

This means that your grades should show whether you have done particularly well when compared to others in your school.

If there’s a reason why you didn’t get top grades (e.g. serious illness, difficult family circumstances or disruption at school) and it has been declared on your application, we will take it into account.

Your teachers should let us know about anything like this via the reference they write for you as part of your UCAS application.

Please see the 'special circumstances' and 'academic reference' guidance for more detail.

Predicted grades or scores are a crucial part of your application, and we cannot consider your application without them.

If you do not have predicted grades available, we advise you to apply once you have received your grades.

An academic reference is an essential part of the application process.