Interviews

Once you have submitted your application and any written work, this will be carefully assessed by the tutors in your subject. In seeking to decide whether or not to invite you for interview, they will take into account the following information:

  • your exam results so far: GCSE, AS, A2, or equivalents
  • your predicted final grades
  • your school’s report
  • your personal statement
  • your written work (if applicable)
  • your performance in a pre-interview test (if applicable)

If you are invited for interview, we will write to you at least one week before the interview date to confirm this. Interviews take place early in December. The dates set by the University must be kept free, as time-tables are fixed and cannot be adjusted to suit individual preferences. Candidates in some subjects may be called for interview a day or two earlier than the dates on the University’s website.

Candidates resident in the UK or the rest of Europe must come for interview if shortlisted, if they wish their application to be considered further. Overseas candidates resident outside Europe will be invited to interview if shortlisted but if they cannot attend their applications are assessed on the basis of their UCAS form, and, if applicable, written work and performance in the tests. The College may choose to arrange an interview by telephone or Skype in some cases.

If you are invited for interview, you may be asked to stay at Univ for one or more nights. Accommodation and meals are provided by the College free of charge during your stay. Current undergraduates will be here to look after you, to help with any queries, and to organize various social events.

In some subjects, all candidates are automatically interviewed at two different colleges. In other subjects, some candidates are interviewed only at Univ, and others at Univ and at a second college. If you are offered an interview at another college, this does not necessarily mean that you’ve been unsuccessful at Univ. Decisions on places are only finalized after all the interviews have taken place and our aim is to give everyone as fair a chance as possible of a place at Oxford.

Although the interview process may, at first, sound quite daunting, it is not intended to be intimidating or to ‘catch you out’. The tutors are simply interested in your passion for the subject and your potential to do well at Oxford. If you would like more detailed information about the interview process, you can download the booklet ‘Interviews at Oxford’.

Once all candidates for a particular subject have been interviewed, the tutors from all colleges across the university meet to decide whom to offer places. We try to inform everyone of our decision before Christmas.