University Offices
Wellington Square
Oxford OX1 2JD

Tel 01865 288 000

undergraduate.admissions@admin.ox.ac.uk

www.ox.ac.uk

Sunday Times ranking 2 (2)

Teaching excellence 85.7%

Student satisfaction 82.5%

Head teacher ranking 2 (2)

Peer ranking 1 (1)

Research quality 89.1%

A/AS-level/Highers points 508

A-levels for entry 90%

Unemployment 5.2%

Firsts and 2:1s 90%

Student/staff ratio 11.9:1

Dropout rate 1% (4%)

World ranking 3

Undergraduates 11,638 (4,012)

Postgraduates 6,063 (1,909)

Teaching staff 1,404

Applications/places 13,275/3,253; 4.1:1 (+7.7%)

Clearing entry 0%

Bursaries 22%: £100-£4,000

Scholarships None

EU/overseas 4.8%/9.7%

Mature 3.7%

State school 54%

Lowest social classes 11%

Low-participation areas 5%

Live in 87% (100%) £104-£167

One of the oldest and most famous universities in the world, Oxford stands shoulder to shoulder with Cambridge in national and international league tables. Even as the rules of engagement change, the two universities remain a step ahead of everyone else. Oxford’s participation for the first time in the national student survey revealed high levels of satisfaction, boosting its position in much the same way as happened with our incorporation of peer assessment (academics rating fellow academics) last year. For the second successive year, Oxford is ranked the top university in the UK by academics.

There is every reason for students to be happy here (making the reluctance to take part in the first two national surveys all the harder to fathom). They often find themselves being taught by the academics who write the set texts, most of them world leaders in their field, dedicated to challenging their undergraduate charges. If anything defines the Oxford (indeed the Oxbridge) culture, it is this: across all subjects, students are encouraged to think for themselves; to have the confidence to believe they can have original perspectives on their chosen specialism; and to voice them while sitting across the study from a world expert on the subject during one of Oxford’s famous tutorials.

The tutorial system, whereby tutors meet usually on a one-to-one basis with their charges, also helps set Oxford apart from most other institutions, while the collegiate structure ensures there is no single Oxford type. For sure, the students are all clever – without the realistic prospect of gaining straight As at A-level or at least AAB, there is little point applying. Many freshers arrive weighted down by an even greater tonnage of A-grades than this, only to be surrounded by thousands of people who have achieved just the same feat.

However, the 39 colleges are all very different. They have different subject profiles, they vary greatly in size (from 76 to 457 undergraduates), age, tradition and accommodation. Many can offer rooms and food for every year of your degree, others may require you to live out.

Applications for Oxford must be submitted by October 15. Those selected for interview will spend a night (or three) at the university in early December undergoing interviews, and often tests, and meeting professors and students.

The teaching and research record here is among the finest in the world. There is little tinkering with the portfolio of degree subjects offered and the subject range is traditional.

The university takes seriously the need to broaden its recruitment base and is proud of its claim to hold at least one access activity for every day of the year, even if its intake from state schools remain resolutely around the 53%-54% mark and the number of students with working-class backgrounds hovers close to 10%.

The blame for this lies not with Oxford’s excellent selection process but rather with its applications profile. For instance, an application-support programme provides the opportunity for sixth-formers’ achievements to be placed in an educational or personal context.

There is even an interview training day held for candidates every November. However, that Oxford is well wide of all its targets is due mostly to the fact that there are not enough state-school educated applicants from areas with poor higher-education recruitment records.

Oxford Opportunity Bursaries dangle a £10,000 financial carrot in front of those with the lowest residual family incomes (of less than £17,910 this year). Few qualify for this, and just 22% gain any bursary support.

When terms are just eight weeks long, a lot has to be crammed in. But the students thrive on it, many combining successfully their academic work with serious sport (Oxford achieved its highest inter-university Busa ranking ever, fourth, in 2006), as well as drama, media, music, debating, volunteering, politicking and drinking.

Open days Contact the colleges and departments.

Student view Martin McCluskey, students’ union president:

USP Student access to leading academics in their fields.

Worst feature Can sometimes feel like a bubble.

Location One of the few untouched historic cities in the UK.

Social scene Small events or large-scale club nights.

Rated excellent (27) Agriculture, forestry and agricultural sciences; anthropology; applied social work; archeology; art and design (fine art); chemistry; classics and ancient history; computer science; east and south Asian studies; economics; English; general engineering; geography; geology (earth sciences); history; law; materials technology; maths, statistics and operational research; Middle Eastern and African studies; molecular biosciences (biochemistry); organismal biosciences; philosophy; physics and astronomy; politics; psychology; teacher training; theology and religious studies.

Degree of student satisfaction: 82.5%

Performing Arts 87.2; Mathematical Sciences 86.2; English-based studies 84.7; European Languages and Area studies 83.2; Philosophy, Theology and Religious studies 83.1; Biology and related Sciences 83.0; Physical Geography and Environmental Science 81.7; Human and Social Geography 81.7; Economics 81.1; Physical Science 81.0; Politics 80.7; Management 80.7; Psychology 80.7; Mechanically-based Engineering 80.4; Sociology, Social Policy and Anthropology 80.4; Other Languages and Area studies 79.8; Medical Science and Pharmacy 69.8

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