Applying to Oxford or Cambridge: what do you need to know?

The universities of Oxford and Cambridge are among the oldest and most prestigious in the world. Alumni include such illustrious figures as J. R. R. Tolkien, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Emma Thompson, Alan Turing and Stephen Hawking.

Cambridge and Oxford share many traditions, which is why they are often referred to as Oxbridge.They are also the two most selective universities in the UK. To have a chance of admission, you need to pass your A-levels with distinction and have an excellent level of English. What’s more, when you apply you’ll have to choose between Oxford and Cambridge, and can’t apply to both.

Oxford and Cambridge students are housed in student residences and living quarters, better known as collegeets. each with its own character and spread around the city. Colleges offer students a place to live, to eat with other students, to relax and, of course, to study.

At Bachelor’s level, the courses on offer are extremely varied.They range from scientific courses such as medicine, natural sciences, physics, chemistry, computer science and mathematics, to programs in the social sciences, law, philosophy, literature and languages.

Most Bachelor’s degree courses last three or four years.Each year at Oxford and Cambridge is made up of three terms, each lasting just eight weeks. These periods are therefore very intense from an academic point of view, with weekly reports requiring a great deal of personal work.

What is tutoring?

In addition to courses, the universities of Oxford and Cambridge offer a original teaching method : tutoring (tutorials at Oxford, supervisions at Cambridge), very small classes (usually between one and five people) led by university lecturers. Oxford and Cambridge are the only British universities to offer this system, which enables students to explore certain questions in greater depth each week, and to discuss them one-to-one with an expert on the subject being studied. However, this can also be a source of pressure for students, as it requires them to arrive at the tutorial perfectly prepared to exchange ideas and answer the professor’s questions.

What is the profile of students at Oxford or Cambridge?

Given the highly selective nature of these universities, we recommend that you only apply if you can demonstrate excellent academic results, and are confident of obtaining a “mention très bien” in your baccalauréat. You should also be able to demonstrate a genuine passion for the subject you plan to study, which goes far beyond the academic sphere.

What’s more, as the selection process involves interviews, you’ll need to demonstrate an excellent command of the English language to be able to defend your ideas in English.

If you’re convinced you’re the right person for the job, ask yourself whether the workload and tutoring system would suit you, or whether you’re looking for more autonomy in your work.

Choosing between Oxford and Cambridge

Choosing between Oxford and Cambridge is more a matter of personal preference: Oxford is larger, Cambridge smaller. What’s more, although many courses are common to both universities, some programs are only offered at one of them: philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) et economics and managementin Oxford or human, social and political sciences, land economy, natural sciences and architecture at Cambridge, for example.

Cambridge student Lorcan explains why he chose Cambridge over Oxford: « I was quickly attracted to Cambridge’s bachelor’s degree in history because it offers great flexibility and the possibility of choosing the vast majority of our courses. What’s more, Cambridge is slightly smaller – Oxford is more like a city, Cambridge more like a village. Having grown up in London, I really wanted to get away from the city. When I go for a jog in Cambridge in the morning, I can be out in the fields in 10 minutes. Although some people prefer Oxford, in history at Cambridge there is only one compulsory course called “Historical Argument and Practice”. This theoretical course focuses on how history has been written in the past and how it will be written in the future. Apart from this compulsory course, you can choose and take any course that interests you. »

How do I apply to Oxford or Cambridge?

The Oxbridge application process consists of several key stages:

  • choose a college and apply on UCAS before October 15 ;
  • register for the required test before October 15 and take it at the end of October or beginning of November ;
  • if eligible, travel to Oxford or Cambridge in December for an interview;
  • receive a conditional offer of admission in January.

Choose a college and submit an applicationon UCAS before October 15

You must first submit your application to UCAS by October 15 of your final year. To do this, you’ll first need to choose between Oxford and Cambridge, then your college within the chosen university. There are 39 colleges in Oxford and 31 in Cambridge, all different in size, style and location. Choosing your college is an important decision, as it will form the basis of your daily life and your social and academic activities.

To choose your college, you can consider a number of criteria, such as its size, its location within the city, its proximity to your faculty, its architectural style, the possibility of residing in the college for the entire duration of your course of study, and the research subjects of the professors attached to it. It’s also possible to make an open application (in which you don’t specify a particular college), although it’s often better to choose.

Lorcan, a student at Selwyn College, Cambridge, tells us how he chose his course. college in Cambridge : « When I visited Cambridge on Open Day, I really enjoyed the atmosphere at Selwyn College. I felt I could project myself into the place and feel comfortable. Other people are more likely to look at history teachers in their college and choose accordingly, or simply ask themselves whether they see themselves studying there.Some chemistry students chose Selwyn because the head of the Cambridge chemistry department was based there.

Some also choose their school strategically, but to be perfectly honest, the statistics change from year to year. The year I applied, Selwyn was accepting one in five history applicants, but it varies a lot from year to year. There are no hard and fast rules, and I’d rather avoid statistics. Some people I know who have chosen their college based on statistics were not accepted. However, it is true that some colleges like Trinity and Saint John’s often choose applicants with a particular profile. For example, Saint John’s welcomes many students from private high schools such as Eton or Winchester. However, this is the exception rather than the rule, and admission is based more on academic ability. The only exception to this rule is Trinity’s mathematics course, which is the most sought-after and selective of the entire university. As far as Selwyn is concerned, some candidates applied directly, while others went through the pooling (transfer). In fact, around 20% of Cambridge applicants end up in the pooled(transferred) to another school than they had originally applied for.Unlike Oxford, where the pooling takes place on the same day as the interview in the college he Cambridge students who are pooled must either return for another interview a few weeks later, or are transferred and accepted into another college without having to return: a friend of mine, for example, applied to Saint John’s and was accepted to Selwyn without having to attend another interview. What’s more, the vast majority of colleges Oxford and Cambridge guarantee you accommodation for the duration of your undergraduate degree (or at least two years out of three).»Arnault, an Oxford graduate, states: « Each college has its own personality. For example, some colleges (such as Saint Peter’s College) accept more international students.Some colleges also have a political orientation.For example, Christ Church is reputed to be rather conservative, while Wadham is considered more liberal. Nevertheless, the differences are not fundamental, and most colleges partagent un mode de fonctionnement assez similaire. »

Register and take an admission test for Oxbridge

Once you’ve submitted your application, you’ll also need to register and take an admissions test specific to your course of study. For the majority of programs at Oxford, you will be asked to take a test specific to the subject you wish to study, such as the TSA (thinking skills assessment) for social sciences and experimental psychology, the MAT (mathematics admissions test), the LNAT (law national admissions test) for law, the HAT (history aptitude test) for history, and many others.

In Cambridge, for courses in chemical engineering, computer science, economics, engineering, English, land economy, medicine, natural sciences and veterinary medicine, you will also have to take a pre-interview assessment around November 4 of your final year at an approved center.

In addition, for archaeology, architecture, classics, history and modern languages, history of art, law, linguistics, modern and medieval languages (MML), philosophy and theology, religion, orphilosophy of religion and in some colleges for courses such as geography,history,history and politics,human,social and political sciences,mathematics,music or psychological and behavioural sciences, you will also be asked to take an at-interview assessment before your interview in December.

For all the Oxford and Cambridge tests you’ll need to take before your interview, the registration deadline is October 15 of your final year. There are several approved test centers in France.

.For more information on the exams to be taken, and to view sample tests, please visit the dedicated pages on the Oxford or Cambridge websites.

Selection interviews

If, following the assessment of your and your application ,If you qualify for Oxford or Cambridge, you may be selected for an interview in December. These interviews require an excellent command of English, and are designed to assess your academic potential and interest in the proposed course of study, through a series of questions and exercises.

The jury will be interested both in your way of thinking and in making sure that you will be a pleasant student during tutorials, thanks to your reasoning skills and curiosity. The interview can also be used to go back over certain points in your personal statement and to assess your ability to respond to new questions or ideas. These interviews are very demanding and require particularly thorough preparation and training. There are many resources and sample questions to help you online.

Tip 3 – Look at the format required for the letter

Each university and country has its own specific requirements for letters of recommendation. So before you approach your referees, it’s important to spend some time studying the format required by your target universities.

Typically, this one-page document is drafted in four stages:

  • 1st stage : a letter of recommendation must first specify the role the teacher has played with the student, and possibly mention the number of years he or she has been the student’s teacher;
  • 2nd stage : Motivated, dynamic, serious, rigorous, conscientious, willing… This letter should list the student’s real skills and qualities to support his or her application to the jury. The vocabulary used should be precise and best describe the candidate’s profile, without exaggerating or minimizing his or her abilities;
  • 3rd stage : explain how the student represents added value for the university and invite the jury to accept his/her application;
  • 4th stage : the teacher suggests that the jury contact him/her if they wish to obtain further information about the student, and signs the document.

Arnault describes his interviews for a history course at Oxford University: “I had to take two sets of interviews: two at University College and then two more at Saint Peter’s College. One of the interviews was on the analysis of historical texts, and more generally on history as a discipline, as well as on the methods of historical analysis.

Because of my nationality, I also had questions about French history and politics. The teachers also asked me several questions about the origins of the Cold War, in connection with the essay I had sent in with my application.

The International Baccalaureate program had already prepared me well for the interviews.

I had also been coached by my bilingual school and regularly read the British magazine The Economist to keep abreast of the latest news. To prepare for an interview Oxbridge in the social sciences, we strongly recommend that you read The Economist toutes les semaines !

I think there’s always a luck factor. The success of the interview depends not only on the level of preparation, but also often on the type of questions asked and the way you get on with your interviewer.

The interviews were difficult. Most of the questions focused on the history course I had taken in high school. Interviews are often also a way for teachers to get a glimpse of a candidate’s personality. For Oxford and Cambridge, they are a decisive factor in the admissions process. I did better in both interviews at Saint Peter’s College, where I was finally admitted. I tend to progress quickly with practice and after the first two interviews at University College, I was better prepared. I felt more confident going into the Saint Peter’s interviews. These interviews can be difficult for a shy person. There were two or three members of each panel at the interviews. During the first interview, a professor from Saint Peter’s College had already spotted me. »

Conditional offer of admission

Finally, if you pass the final interview stage, you will receive a conditional offer of admission to Oxford or Cambridge in January. This means that you will be definitively admitted if you obtain the required results in the baccalauréat (usually 16/20 and a mention très bien in the French baccalauréat) and a standardized English exam (7.5 in the IELTS, for example).

When should you start preparing?

To maximize your chances of success, we strongly advise you to start preparing for Oxbridge as early as the end of seconde or the beginning of première. Don’t hesitate to start reading and thinking in English as early as possible about the subjects that interest you, and to prepare for the various tests so that you’re ready before October 15 of your final year. Make yourself help with your applications !

Is it possible to visit the Oxford and Cambridge campuses?

Oxford’s open days are usually held around July 3-4 and September 20, and Cambridge’s around July 4-5.

Please visit the websites of both universities to check the dates of the open days and register.

Would you like to study in Oxford or Cambridge after your A-levels? Don’t hesitate to contact us to discuss your project!