Criteria for Admissions to Engineering, Economics & Management Course
All colleges work together to admit candidates for Engineering. Using the criteria below, each application is assessed by the candidate's college of preference and by one other college. All applications are then reviewed collectively to determine who should be invited to Oxford for interview.
We expect to interview a much larger number of candidates than there are places to be offered. (Candidates not resident in Europe are not called to Oxford, but interviews are conducted at centres in the Far East and North America.) Each candidate called to Oxford is interviewed by two colleges. To complete the selection of candidates, information is again pooled for consideration by all the colleges together.
Our aim is to make offers to the highest ranked candidates, regardless of their college of preference, or the college to which they were assigned in the open application scheme.
Qualities sought in the written application
The candidate's application should give evidence of the following qualities:
- High and sustained academic ability and performance, particularly in mathematics and physical sciences, as evidenced by:
- Actual achievement in recognised national and international public examinations already taken during the course of schooling (eg, GCSE, AS-levels, etc)
- Predicted or actual achievement in recognised national and international public exams taken at the end of a candidate's school or college career (eg, A-levels, IB, etc).
- Academic references from independent and objective referees familiar with the candidate's recent work.
- An active and sustained interest in and enthusiasm for the engineered world, interpreted broadly.
Examples
As examples of 1a and b above, candidates invited for interview are likely to have the following profiles:
To have a substantial score of grades A and A* at GCSE (or their equivalents); and
either, if applying before taking final school examinations, to have predictions of A grades at A-level in Mathematics and Physics, and a good predicted grade in at least one other subject, or 7,6,6 at Higher Level in the IB (again to include Mathematics and Physics)
or, if applying after taking final school examinations, already to possess grades A in Mathematics and Physics at A level (or 7 in HL maths and physics in the IB), and a high grade in at least one other subject.
Qualities sought during interview
Candidates invited for interview (whether in Oxford, or at an Overseas Centre) should expect an academic or technical interview. They should be able to demonstrate:
- Fluency in expressing core knowledge and ideas in physics and mathematics
- Ability to apply existing knowledge methodically to new situations
- Ability to assimilate and apply new concepts
- Rapidity in thinking and reasoning
and to be able to discuss their:
- Commitment to intense and sustained learning
- Interest in and enthusiasm for the engineered world.