Your offer and contract

The University Terms and Conditions explain how your contract with the University works and what it contains, including key terms and your responsibilities.

We particularly draw your attention to the ‘Changes to Courses’ provisions of the Terms and Conditions, which explain the University’s right to make changes to delivery and services (including the right to move teaching, assessment and other services online) in certain circumstances including during a pandemic.

Please read the University’s Terms & Condition that corresponds to your year of entry:

2026-27 entry: Access via Applicant Self-Service

Previous years: Terms and Conditions

If Applicant Self-Service is unavailable or not offered for your course (eg PGCE, most courses offered by the Saïd Business School), you can download the document from our contract page.

The appropriate Course Information Sheet for your course and year of entry, includes key information about the content of and fees for your course, and living costs in Oxford.

Please read the Course Information Sheet that corresponds to your course and year of entry:

2026-27 entry: Access via Applicant Self-Service

Previous years: Course Information Sheets

If Applicant Self-Service is unavailable or not offered for your course (eg PGCE, most courses offered by the Saïd Business School), you can download the document from our Course Information Sheet archive.

The University Student Handbook contains essential information including matters relating to:

• Welfare
• Safety and Security
• the Oxford University Student Union
• Sports
• Clubs and Recreation
• Academic Support
• Residence
• Intellectual Property
• Examinations
• Conduct
• Disciplinary Procedures and
• the University’s Complaints Process.

Please read the University Student Handbook that is appropriate for your year of entry. Students enrolling in 2026-27 should read the handbook for the current academic year (2025-26), and will be notified about any material changes to the content compared to the current version. 

2026-27 entry: Access via Applicant Self-Service

Previous years: University Student Handbooks

If Applicant Self-Service is unavailable or not offered for your course (eg PGCE, most courses offered by the Saïd Business School), you can download the document from our contract page.

Your offer will also indicate that you are entitled to cancel your acceptance of a place at the University within a period of 14 calendar days starting from the day after we receive notification of your acceptance of your departmental offer. You do not have to give any reason for this.

If you have paid a deposit to the department and cancel within this statutory period of 14 calendar days, the University will reimburse your deposit without undue delay. You can simply email your cancellation of your acceptance of an offer to your department, or if you wish, you can use the cancellation form below.

Alternatively, you can simply email your cancellation of your acceptance of an offer to your department.

If you receive an offer from a department, you will then also receive an offer from a college, unless you have received an offer for a non-matriculated course which does not require a college place.

College placement usually takes eight to ten weeks after the departmental offer is made, though in rare cases it can take longer. The college offer will be sent to you by email.

The college offer will also explain how your contract with your college will be formed and may attach a form of college contract.

The college offer will include a Financial Declaration outlining any financial conditions that you will need to meet and the deadline by which you must provide the information required.

When you complete your Financial Declaration, you will be asked to:

• show that you have sufficient funding to cover the University and college fees for Year 1 of your course, by providing financial evidence such as a letter from your scholarship sponsor or your bank;
• give your assurance that you are able and willing to meet all University and college fees beyond Year 1, if the duration of your course is longer than a year (no financial evidence is required); and
• give your assurance that you are able and willing to meet your living costs for the duration of your course (no financial evidence is required).

If you are an offer holder and have been asked to arrange for an electronic final transcript to be provided officially to us directly from your institution or an accredited body, please note that electronic final transcripts must:

• be sent directly from the institution that issued the transcript to the academic department at the University of Oxford from an official email address from that institution. This email address must either be recognisable as being from a department/office which issues transcripts at the institution, or from an academic or administrator who is authorised to issue electronic final transcripts. OR
• be provided via a secure link either to a transcript repository on the institution’s website or via an accredited body, such as Parchment or Digitary, from which the academic department can access the document. 

Current Oxford students do not need to provide a transcript, but should instead let the academic department know when their results are available.

You may not provide an electronic final transcript yourself, even if you received it from the issuing institution via a secure method.

If you satisfy all the conditions set by both the department and the college in their offer, you will be notified of this via email and a Completion of Conditions document will then be available to download via Self-Service.

This letter will include instructions about a form you will need to complete for your University Card if you intend to enrol at the University. You will be asked to complete and submit the University card form via Self-Service as soon as possible as a condition of your enrolment.

Once you have a confirmed place, consult the University's information on arriving as a new student available from the Oxford Students website to assist you in answering any questions you might have before you arrive and in your first few weeks in Oxford. Your department and college will also send you all the information you need regarding their services and timetable ready for your arrival in Oxford.

You will normally be expected to start your course on the date and term indicated in your departmental offer. However, you may apply for a deferral of entry, under exceptional circumstances, if you have met all the departmental and college conditions of your offer, including your Financial Declaration, and either of the following two criteria are met:

1. Unforeseen and unforeseeable circumstances that are outside your control will prevent you from taking up your offer on the start date indicated in your offer. This might include, for example, ill health or bereavement. In some instances, deferrals can also be requested because of visa application issues (see below).
2. You are due to hold the office of Sabbatical Trustee for Oxford SU or equivalent student union position at another UK institution during the timeframe of your course.

If you have received an offer for a research course (eg DPhil), and you meet the criteria given above, you can apply to defer for a maximum of either one, two or three terms (ie a full academic year). If you have received an offer for a taught course (eg MSc, MSt or MPhil), and you meet the criteria given above, you may only apply to defer for a full academic year.

Requests for deferral should be submitted to the relevant department before the start date of the course. They will be considered at the discretion of departments, and must be approved by the department that has made you an offer, as well as the college that has accepted you. Deferrals are not granted for more than a maximum of one year.

If you have been granted a deferral or been given permission to start your course in a term later than the one published, please note that the University cannot guarantee the following for your resultant term/year of entry:

• that there will be availability of supervision
• that the programme will remain open
• that the programme will not be amended

If supervision were to become unavailable or the course were to close subsequent to the granting of a deferral to you, the department would inform you that it has become necessary for them to withdraw its offer of a place.

If your request for a delayed start is approved for a particular course, you may not make a new application to the course to which you currently hold a place without giving up that place. If you wish to apply again to this course, you must withdraw from the place you currently hold. Applicants who have been granted permission to delay their start and who have not withdrawn, but do reapply for the same course will be contacted to confirm whether they wish to keep their deferred place or proceed with their re-application.

If your request for a delayed start is approved, you will not be considered again for Oxford funding and scholarship opportunities. If you have already been offered an Oxford scholarship, you should consult the office which awarded it (eg Student Fees and Funding, the college or the department) to find out whether or not your scholarship can also be deferred or be aligned to the delayed start.

If your request for a delayed start is approved and will mean starting at the University within the same academic year as that you originally applied for, your contract with the University will be based on the contractual documents available through the link provided in this offer.

Your college will also require you to complete a new Financial Declaration form.

If your request for a delayed start is approved and will mean starting at the University in a subsequent academic year, you will be sent a letter in that academic year containing a link to a new set of contractual documents (including the Terms and Conditions, Course Information Sheet and Student Handbook) and your contract with the University will be amended to be based on those documents. The contractual documents accompanying that letter may differ from those available through the link provided with this letter. You will be entitled to withdraw from the course if the new contractual documents contain a material change which you consider will have an adverse impact on you.

Your college will also require you to complete a new Financial Declaration form.

Any deposit you have paid will be held until you take up your place.

If you wish to request a deferral of your date of entry to a later term/year, you must submit your request in writing to your department before you register with the University. The deadline for registration which applies to you will be set out in your offer. In your request, please outline your grounds for deferral and how you meet the criteria outlined above. You will get a written response from your department letting you know if your deferral has been granted.

If you are not eligible to apply for a deferral, or if you want to defer more than a year, you can always submit a completely new application (and you will need to pay the application fee) for the year in which you wish to start.

If you have received an offer for a research course (eg DPhil) and have had your visa application delayed or rejected you may be granted a deferral for one term at a time, up to a maximum of three terms.

If you have received an offer for a taught course (eg MSc, MSt or MPhil) you cannot request to defer on these grounds, and will need to re-apply for the year in which you wish to start.