About the University

Undergraduate admissions statistics: School type

Introduction

For 2011 entry, of UK students attending maintained or independent schools or colleges in the UK, 57.7% of places went to applicants from the state (maintained) sector and 42.3% to applicants from the independent sector:

UK domiciled applications and acceptances by maintained (ie state) and independent sector (as percentages):

 Applications 2011Acceptances 2011
Total (%) Total (%)
Maintained sector 64.3 57.7
Independent 35.7 42.3
TOTAL 100.0 100.0

For all candidates, 47.6% of places went to those from the state (maintained) sector, 37.3% to the independent sector, and 15.1% to ‘other’ (e.g. individual applicants and those applying from overseas).

All domiciles
 Applications 2011Acceptances 2011
Total (%) Total (%)
Maintained sector 43.9 47.6
Independent 27.8 37.3
Other 28.3 15.1
TOTAL 100.0 100.0
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Statistics on the national context for Oxford’s application numbers

  • Nationally, although independent schools educate just 7% of the total UK school population, they account for 15% of all A-level entries, 30%  of all A grades, and 33% of all those getting AAA.
    [Source: Harris report]
  • On average over 2007-9, 13.5% of state school students getting AAA or better (excluding General Studies) applied for courses Oxford doesn’t offer.
    [Source: UCAS]
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Additional statistics on Oxford’s acceptance numbers

  • State applicants’ success rate is affected by subject choice: state school students apply disproportionately for the most oversubscribed subjects. On average, 36% of all state school applications between 2009 and 2011 were for the five most oversubscribed subjects at Oxford. This compared to just 32% of independent school applications.(The five most oversubscribed subjects, based on the course with over 70 places with the highest applicant to places ratio between 2009 and 2011, were: Economics & Management, Medicine, PPE, Maths, and Law)
  • State students also apply in disproportionately low numbers for the least oversubscribed subjects: 17% of all independent school applications between 2009 and 2011 were for Oxford’s five least oversubscribed subjects, compared to just 13% of all state school applications.
    (The five least oversubscribed subjects, based on the courses with over 70 places with the lowest applicant to places ratio between 2009 and 2011, were: Classics, Chemistry, Modern Languages, Biological Sciences, and Biochemistry)
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More detailed breakdowns by school type

UK domiciled applications and acceptances by type of school/college in detail, 2011 entry

  Applications 2011Acceptances 2011
Total % Total %
Comprehensive 3,416 28.2 653 24.5
Grammar 2,028 16.8 490 18.4
Sixth-form colleges 1,402 11.6 263 9.9
FE Institutions 1 475 3.9 73 2.7
Other maintained 2 138 1.1 29 1.1
Maintained sector 7,459 61.6 1,508 56.7
Independent 4,141 34.2 1,104 41.5
Other UK Institutions 3 40 0.3 9 0.3
Overseas Schools 42 0.3 6 0.2
Individuals 425 3.5 34 1.3
All other category 507 4.2 49 1.8
TOTAL 12,107 100.0 2,661 100.0

All domiciles: applications and acceptances by type of school/college in detail

  Applications 2011 Acceptances 2011
  Total % Total %
Comprehensive 3,437 19.8 653 20.5
Grammar 2,036 11.7 490 15.4
Sixth-form colleges 1,434 8.3 265 8.3
FE Institutions 1 527 3.0 77 2.4
Other maintained 2 189 1.1 31 1.0
Maintained sector 7,623 44.0 1,516 47.6
Independent 4,818 27.8 1,188 37.3
Other UK Institutions 3 60
 0.3 10 0.3
Overseas Schools 1,737 10.0 191
 6.0
Individuals 3,105 17.9 281 8.8
All other category 4,902 28.3 482 15.1
TOTAL 17,343 100.0 3,186 100.0

Equivalent table from last year, for comparison:

  Applications 2010 Acceptances 2010
  Total % Total %
Comprehensive 3,440 20.1 625 19.8
Grammar 2,069 12.1 472 15.0
Sixth-form colleges 1,467 8.6 273 8.7
FE Institutions 1 645 3.8 83
 2.6
Other maintained 2 123 0.7 22 0.7
Maintained sector 7,744 45.2 1,475 46.8
Independent 5,229 30.5 1,277 40.5
Other UK Institutions 3 101 0.6 13 0.4
Overseas Schools 1,780 10.4 206 6.5
Individuals 2,290 13.4 183 5.8
All other category 4,171 24.3 402 12.7
TOTAL 17,144 100.0 3,154 100.0
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  1. FE Institutions comprise tertiary colleges and all types of further education colleges.
  2. ‘Other maintained’ comprises Other Secondary Schools, Special Schools and City Technology Colleges
  3. ‘Other UK Institutions’ mainly comprises Language Schools and HE Institutions, but also includes a few other UK institutions that are not classified as either maintained or independent
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Table showing success rates (the percentage of all applicants that are accepted) by school type

Success rate by type of school/college: all domiciles

  Success rate 2011 Success rate 2010
All (%) All (%)
Comprehensive 19.0 18.2
Grammar 24.1 22.8
Sixth-form colleges 18.5 18.6
FE Institutions 14.6 12.9
Other maintained 16.4 17.9
Maintained sector 19.9 19.0
Independent 24.7 24.4
Other UK Institutions 16.7 12.9
Overseas Schools 11.0 11.6
Individuals 9.0 8.0
All other category 9.8 9.6
Total 18.4 18.4
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Courses and school type

The table below shows, for each course, applications and acceptances by school type. It also shows success rates by course and by school type.

The figures are given as three-year averages, because numbers vary from year to year, so a single year can give a misleading picture.

The table gives figures for applicants of all domiciles.

Three-year average of applications and acceptances by course and type of school/college, 2009–11: all domiciles

  Maintained Independent Others
App Acc Success rate (%) App Acc Success rate (%) App Acc Success rate (%)
Arts  
Ancient & Modern History 33 8 23.5 34 8 24.3 9 1 15.4
Archaeology and Anthropology 24 6 26.8 31 12 40.2 27 7 25.0
Classical Archaeology & Ancient History 41 11 25.8 36 7 19.4 17 3 17.3
Classics 60 24 39.7 191 84 44.1 34 9 26.5
Classics & English 10 2 22.6 15 3 20.5 6 1 11.1
Classics & Modern Languages 6 2 36.8 19 8 43.9 6 0 5.6
Economics & Management 297 30 10.2 316 41 13.1 529 19 3.6
English 640 113 17.7 408 101 24.7 145 15 10.3
English & Modern Languages 90 12 13.4 39 9 24.1 31 2 5.4
European & Middle Eastern Languages 21 6 29.7 22 8 35.8 10 1 6.7
Fine Art 87 11 12.2 40 6 15.8 41 7 16.4
Geography 160 36 22.8 161 43 26.4 27 4 15.0
History 473 118 24.9 405 99 24.4 84 14 17.1
History & Economics 20 5 23.3 28 7 26.2 29 2 5.7
History & English 48 6 11.9 14 2 17.1 22 1 6.2
History & Modern Languages 57 8 14.7 35 8 21.9 10 0 0.0
History & Politics 148 23 15.7 77 13 17.3 89 10 10.9
History of Art 26 5 19.2 37 8 21.8 27 1 3.7
Law 525 91 17.3 215 53 24.5 417 53 12.7
Law/LSE 141 19 13.4 58 7 12.6 130 4 2.8
Mathematics & Philosophy 46 8 17.4 26 7 26.9 23 4 17.4
Modern Languages 252 79 31.2 275 88 31.9 46 12 25.2
Modern Languages & Linguistics 37 11 30.0 23 6 24.3 12 2 13.9
Music 94 29 30.9 87 35 40.8 19 2 12.1
Oriental Studies 57 16 28.1 46 15 32.8 52 10 19.1
Philosophy & Modern Languages 23 6 27.5 36 6 16.5 21 5 24.2
Philosophy & Theology 43 10 23.4 41 11 25.8 12 2 14.3
PPE 492 100 20.4 408 86 21.1 716 60 8.4
Physics & Philosophy 39 6 15.4 34 6 18.8 37 6 17.3
Theology 46 14 29.7 51 22 42.9 14 4 26.8
Theology & Oriental Studies 1 0 0.0 2 2 100.0 3 1 16.7
TOTAL ARTS 4,037 815 20.2 3,210 812 25.3 2,644 260 9.8
SCIENCES  
Biochemistry 160 53 32.9 86 31 36.4 99 11 11.5
Biological Sciences 181 56 30.9 115 38 33.3 80 12 15.0
Biomedical Sciences $ 92 10 10.9 45 13 28.9 67 8 11.9
Chemistry 287 97 33.7 167 75 44.9 82 16 19.9
Computer Science 77 11 13.9 21 3 15.9 44 6 13.7
Earth Sciences 70 25 35.1 27 8 28.0 15 2 11.1
Engineering Science 246 64 25.9 213 64 30.2 269 20 7.4
Engineering Economics and Management 16 2 10.4 19 5 26.3 97 6 5.8
Experimental Psychology 124 28 22.9 67 17 25.0 58 6 10.9
Human Sciences 45 12 25.9 36 8 22.9 47 8 17.1
Materials Science and MEM 24 10 42.3 34 16 47.1 45 5 10.4
Mathematics 673 97 14.5 247 56 22.8 112 20 18.1
Mathematics & Computer Science 45 10 23.0 15 4 29.5 30 7 22.5
Mathematics & Statistics 58 5 9.2 49 6 12.2 83 13 15.3
Medicine 662 85 12.8 383 63 16.5 372 6 1.6
Physics 522 103 19.7 197 45 22.7 114 21 18.4
Psychology & Philosophy * 58 9 15.5 38 12 30.7 68 7 10.2
TOTAL SCIENCES 3,338 675 20.2 1,759 465 26.4 1,681 174 10.3
TOTAL 7,375 1,491 20.2 4,969 1,277 25.7 4,325 434 10.0

The figures for applications and acceptances are given to the nearest whole number. However, success rates have been calculated using non-rounded figures.

$ New course so data from one year only

* Data from previous years includes Physiology & Psychology and Physiology & Philosophy applicants

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Colleges and school type

The table below shows, for each college,
a) The percentage of applications to that college which came from the maintained (state) sector out of all applications from the maintained and independent sector; and
b) The percentage of acceptances by that college that went to maintained sector out of all offers to the maintained and independent sector.

Three-year averages are also given because proportions vary from year to year, so a single year can give a misleading picture.

The table gives figures for UK-domiciled applicants only.

UK domiciled applications and acceptances by college

  Applications and acceptances for 2011 Three-year average of applications and acceptances 2009–11
  Applications from maintained (%) Acceptances for maintained (%) Applications from maintained (%) Acceptances for maintained (%)
Balliol 70.5 63.3 68.9 62.6
Brasenose 52.5 48.8 52.2 49.8
Christ Church 65.8 52.9 62.4 51.3
Corpus Christi 63.1 53.2 64.3 55.7
Exeter 56.7 57.1 54.9 54.2
Harris Manchester1 93.3 50.0 82.0 50.0
Hertford 71.4 66.7 70.5 61.7
Jesus 72.0 50.0 71.4 56.5
Keble 65.5 50.0 65.7 53.1
Lady Margaret Hall 61.4 49.0 60.4 50.6
Lincoln 61.8 62.0 58.7 53.5
Magdalen 66.4 64.9 65.4 57.8
Mansfield 82.8 82.7 78.0 69.4
Merton 74.9 69.2 70.5 66.2
New 59.6 52.4 56.3 50.2
Oriel 60.8 63.8 58.2 56.4
Pembroke 48.7 45.2 49.3 49.8
Queen's 56.5 48.8 58.6 56.0
Somerville 65.0 67.4 64.0 59.6
St Anne's 64.5 59.3 67.8 58.1
St Catherine's 64.2 53.2 65.8 56.6
St Edmund Hall 55.9 57.7 51.5 51.7
St Hilda's 74.6 62.8 69.7 56.5
St Hugh's 73.3 57.0 69.1 58.9
St John's 71.5 56.8 70.0 54.1
St Peter's 57.5 56.2 55.4 52.5
Trinity 56.5 49.3 53.3 45.1
University 67.3 62.7 60.4 52.3
Wadham 70.5 67.0 72.0 62.5
Worcester 65.1 62.7 58.1 60.9
Average 64.3 57.9 62.7 55.9
  1. For mature students, aged 21 or over

 

> See also: College choice

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