Computer Science at Oxford
How to apply
From Computer Science at Oxford
an application - tutors give tips
(not Computer Science specific)
First, choose which of the three undergraduate Computer Science courses you wish to apply for. Compare your (predicted) results and qualifications against our standard conditional offer guidance. Applying to Oxford means applying to one of the colleges that offer
your subject. So the next step in submitting an application is
to choose a college.
Next, you will need to fill in your UCAS form, and we give some hints about the process of preparing your application. (Applications for 2012 have now closed, but key dates are given to give an indication of the timeline for students considering applying for 2013. For 2012 entry, 1 September 2011 was the first day for submitting UCAS applications. The closing date was 15 October 2011.)
In late October or early November, you will sit an Aptitude Test for Computer Science. (The date of the 2011 test was the morning of Wednesday 2 November 2011.) More details are given later on this page.
Contrary to previous instructions, Philosophy and Computer Science prospective students are NOT required to submit written work. (Computer Science and Maths & Computer Science applicants are not required to submit written work either.)
Based on the information given during the application process, and the results of the Aptitude Test for Computer Science we invite most applicants to come for an interview. Included here is a guide to what you can expect when you come for an interview at Oxford. Interviews happen in early December.
Finally, there is a page where provide answers to some of the questions that are often asked.
A quick overview of the process is given in the University's admissions video on YouTube. Detailed instructions for the applications procedure are contained in the University's Undergraduate Prospectus, and you should refer to that when competing the forms. The information given here is intended to supplement the official information given there. Tutors operate to formal admissions criteria in making decisions about applicants.
Statistical information (PDF) is available on the most recent round of applications for Computer Science undergraduate courses.
Contents |
Choosing a college
(not Computer Science specific)
The University Prospectus has some general information that will help you choose which college to apply to, but there are a few points that apply specifically to Computer Science.
Some subjects, such as Mathematics or Physics, admit a large number of students across the University, and you can be sure that these subjects will be well represented in every college. Other subjects, such as Music or Oriental Studies, are very small; in these subjects, you are likely to find that there are only one or two others studying the same subject in your college. In these subjects, the University department forms a more natural focus for students than their college.
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Computer Science is somewhere in the middle. It is still relatively small in the University for a science subject, and it is not offered by every college.
You can find out the number of Computer Science students in each college from the University's Undergraduate Prospectus. First, look at the table near the back that gives the number of students studying each subject in each college. Add up the figures for Computer Science and for Mathematics and Computer Science, since many colleges treat these together for admissions purposes. Dividing by three gives you approximately the number of students in each year. Obviously, colleges with more places are going to offer you more chances of getting in; but then again, they do tend to receive more applications for each place, for one reason or another.
In addition, you can look at the pages for each college in the printed prospectus or on the web to find out who is the Computer Science tutor there. This page shows the colleges that regularly admit candidates for Computer Science, together with the tutors who teach for them. A list of colleges who will be accepting Computer Science and Philosophy candidates is also given.
If you do not wish to choose a college for yourself, you can make an open application where you do not specify a college, and the Admissions Office chooses a college for you. The process they use is randomized, but tends to favour colleges that have a relatively low number of applications for your subject this year. The benefit to you is that your application will go to a college that will be on the lookout for good applicants. The college that receives your application will not know that you made an open application, and you will not be asked about it at the interview.
We encourage you to attend an Open Day to visit a college or two, and find out more about the department and courses.
Preparing your application
Applying to Oxford is very slightly different from applying to most other universities, in that we ask you to send your UCAS application off by a relatively early date in mid-October. This allows us to process all the applications in time for the interviewing period in December. (The special Oxford application form that was required in previous years is no longer used.)
No written work is required from applicants for Computer Science or Mathematics and Computer Science or Computer Science and Philosophy,
Other pages give some suggestions about what you should think about as you complete the UCAS form, and some phrases you should think carefully before using.
For 2012 entry, 1 September 2011 is the first day for submitting a UCAS application. The closing date is 15 October 2011.
Aptitude Test for Computer Science
Applicants for Computer Science, for Mathematics and Computer Science and Computer Science and Philosophy are asked to sit a written test, shared with candidates for Mathematics and other joint degrees.
The test is administered in schools, and takes place in early November each year, on the same date as the tests for various other Oxford degrees.
The test is designed to assess mathematical ability. (It is sometimes called the Maths Test or MAT.) In particular, there are some questions assessing the particular mathematical skills that are most important for Computer Science. Note that candidates applying for different degrees should answer different questions on the test: this is explained in the rubric of the test paper.
Further details of the test, and specimen papers, are given on another page. (The date of the test for 2012 entry, will be the morning of Wednesday 2 November 2011.)
Written Work
Contrary to previous information, students applying for the Computer Science and Philosophy degree are NOT required to submit essays as part of the application procedure.
Interviews at Oxford
The Oxford admissions office publish an excellent booklet that explains in general terms what happens when you come for interview at Oxford. Most of that booklet applies just as well to Computer Science as it does to other subjects, so I'll just concentrate on the specifics here.
Each candidate will have at least three interviews – two in the college they have chosen, and another in a second college. These multiple interviews are intended to give you several chances to show what you can do. We are quite used to the fact that candidates are nervous when they come for interview, and we are willing to discount one or more interviews if we see that your nerves got the better of you.
We don't use "general" interviews about non-technical books you have read or current affairs, because we don't find that such interviews tell us much that is useful. Instead we use interviews that are like a mini-tutorial. Either you will have been given a problem to think about in advance, or a question will be asked at the start of the interview. What follows should be a dialogue between you and the interviewer where you explore together different aspects of the problem, and hopefully reach a solution that you both understand. The sample dialogue shows the kind of discussion we hope to have with you during the interview.
In case you want to practice thinking about similar problems, I've made a short list of problems that I've used in the past – and will never again use in the future!
