Outcomes of your application

If you have submitted a complete application in time for the deadline the relevant department or faculty will assess your application.

You may be called for interview. Your department may want to conduct this with you by phone or in person. The department will contact you directly to arrange this if it is necessary.

Your department will send you a letter via e-mail and/or post letting you know the outcome of your application. Please contact the department directly if you require details of their notification arrangements.

If you have been successful, the letter will make you an offer and these sometimes have academic conditions attached. The department will ask whether you wish to accept the conditional or unconditional offer they have made to you and they will give you a deadline for your response.

If your application is unsuccessful you will also receive a letter informing you of this.

In some cases the department may feel you have met the criteria for acceptance but they are unable to make any more offers as part of the application deadline in which you have applied. In this instance they will either consider your application as part of the next deadline (and you will receive a letter telling you your application will be re-evaluated), or if no additional deadlines are available they will put you on a waiting list (and you will receive a letter letting you know you the situation) in case any additional places do become available.

If you are successful, you will then receive an offer from a college or hall - unless you have received an offer for non-matriculated programme of study, which does not require a college place. The college offer will include financial conditions that you will need to meet and will ask for evidence of how you will fund your studies.

Timetable for Admissions Decisions

Application Deadline	1	2	3
Date	Friday 16 November 2012	Friday 4 January 2013 or Friday 18 January 2013	Friday 8 March 2013
Notification of application outcome from department	Late January onwards	Late March onwards	Mid-May onwards
Expected notification of college placement*	Approx. 8-10 weeks following departmental decision

*For successful applicants only. Timescale is for guidance only; in some cases, placement may take longer.

All decisions are communicated in writing, by e-mail and/or post, from the department; please note that the Graduate Admissions Office is not permitted to disclose the outcome of your application.

Occasionally applicants may hear from the department or college before the times given above. Please contact the department directly if you require details of their notification arrangements.

Once you have met all your conditions, you will be sent a confirmed offer letter and you will be required to sign and return the University Student Contract. For more information on the legal process, please see our page on Legal information.

Your department and college will also send you all the information you need ready for your arrival in Oxford. For further information regarding this stage of the admissions process, please see our page on Accepting your offer.

Other resources

If you are awaiting the outcome of your application, or if you receive an offer from the University, you may wish to use the prospectus to explore the facilities and services the University, its departments and colleges have to offer.

Our About the University section is a good starting point for prospective students and includes information about accommodation options, the University's libraries and academic resources, and the many student groups and activities available including music, sport and drama.

How will my application be assessed?

The department or faculty responsible for your chosen programme will assess the academic quality and suitability of your application. Departments receive many more excellent applications than they have places available and so it is important that you take care over your application and select supporting materials that best illustrate your academic achievement and future potential.

All applications are academically assessed firstly against the admissions criteria for that programme and then relatively in terms of the quality of previous academic excellence and future potential in comparison with the applications received from other candidates for that programme.

Oxford seeks to admit the very best candidates who apply for the programmes of study that we offer and hence meeting the admissions criteria alone is not sufficient to guarantee a place – competition for places is very strong.

Information on the number of applications received and number of places available for each department are available via the Course Guide, along with links to departmental selection criteria.

Who can I speak to about my application?

If you have specific questions about a programme of study or subject area, please contact the relevant department. Contact details are available in the subject entries via the Course Guide.

If you have a query about a particular college, please use the contact details on college pages via the College Guide.

For most other queries you can contact Graduate Admissions and Funding by telephone, online or in writing:

Please note that the Graduate Admissions Office cannot disclose departmental decisions

Graduate Admissions Office
University Offices,
Wellington Square,
Oxford OX1 2JD

Tel. + 44 (0) 1865 270059

Online: Submit your query via Any Questions?

The University also has an Admissions Information Centre on Little Clarendon Street in Oxford where you can speak to a member of Graduate Admissions and Funding staff on a drop-in basis, 9am to 5am from Monday to Friday.