Applying to Oxford and Cambridge

What makes Oxford and Cambridge different

• An earlier deadline. Applications close on 15 October 2026 for almost every applicant, three months before the main UCAS deadline.
• Admissions tests for many courses, sat in October and booked separately from UCAS, with an earlier booking deadline.
• Written work for some courses, sent in early November.
• Interviews for shortlisted applicants, in December.
• Colleges. Both universities are collegiate: you belong to a college as well as the university.
• An extra form at Cambridge. Most Cambridge applicants also complete My Cambridge Application after submitting through UCAS.

You can apply to one of the two universities in a given year, not both, apart from a few narrow exceptions such as organ awards. Choosing between them is covered in Oxford vs Cambridge.

The process in outline

1. 1.Choose a course, and check its entry requirements, admissions test and any written work. See entry requirements and admissions tests.
2. 2.Book your admissions test, if your course needs one, before booking closes on 28 September 2026.
3. 3.Choose a college, or make an open application.
4. 4.Submit your UCAS application by 15 October 2026.
5. 5.Cambridge only: complete My Cambridge Application by 22 October 2026.
6. 6.Sit your test in the October window (12 to 16 October 2026).
7. 7.Send any written work your course asks for, in early November.
8. 8.If shortlisted, attend interviews in December.
9. 9.Receive a decision: Oxford on 12 January 2027, Cambridge on 27 January 2027.

Each university's process is explained step by step in how to apply to Oxford and how to apply to Cambridge. Every date is gathered in the Oxbridge application timeline.

Colleges, briefly

At both universities your college is where you live, eat and receive much of your small-group teaching, while lectures, exams and degrees are run by the university's departments. You can name a college on your application or make an open application, in which case one is chosen for you.

Both universities run systems that let colleges consider applicants who applied elsewhere: Oxford reallocates applicants between colleges during shortlisting and interviews, and Cambridge runs a Winter Pool in January. They exist so that a strong applicant isn't turned away because of which college they named.

What the universities select for

Both universities say that their decisions are academic: they look for ability and potential in the subject you have applied for, judged from your grades, your admissions test if there is one, your written application, any written work and your interviews. Both publish admissions criteria and statistics course by course, and both take context into account when reading your achievements.

Teaching explains why. Undergraduates are taught in very small groups, in tutorials at Oxford and supervisions at Cambridge, often by the academics who read the applications. Their decision is about whether you would thrive in that kind of teaching in your subject.

Where these guides stop

These pages explain how the process works and what each university asks for, taken from the universities' own information. They deliberately don't cover preparation in depth, such as how to approach written work or interviews. That is what our paid guide, The Oxbridge Blueprint, is for.