How to apply
At Christ Church we welcome candidates from all backgrounds. If you have the academic ability and potential to study at Oxford, we welcome you to apply. Read on to find out how.
This page explains the application process for undergraduate study. If you're interested in applying for one of our graduate courses, see our graduate study pages.
The application process at the University of Oxford is the same whether you're applying to Christ Church or any other Oxford college. Your application must be made through UCAS (the Universities’ and Colleges’ Admissions Service), even if you already hold an undergraduate degree.
The next round of applications will be for entry in October 2026. To apply you must submit your UCAS application by 6pm on 15 October 2025.
Here are the main elements that our tutors consider when reviewing your application.
- Your grades. This includes your previous qualifications such as your GCSE results (if available and in context), as well as your predicted or actual A-Level grades (or equivalent qualifications). We also get a sense of your academic record from your teacher’s reference.
- Your personal statement. This is your opportunity to tell us about your academic interests and the reading that you’ve done around your subject and beyond your school curriculum.
- Your written work and admissions test score. After you’ve put in your UCAS application by the October deadline, for some subjects you’ll also need to submit an example of your written work and sit an admissions test
- Your interview at Oxford. This is the final stage of the application process. Interviews will be online and typically take place in early December. See our interviews page for learn more about the interview process at Oxford and to read our top tips.
- Applications are reviewed as a whole and in context
Personal statement, interviews and tests
The personal statement is an opportunity to tell us about yourself and why you want to study your chosen course. It’s also a good way of checking you actually do want to study a particular subject – if you can’t think of anything to say about it, you might need to rethink your choice!
At Oxford the personal statement is sometimes used as a starting point for discussion at interviews, like talking about a book you’ve mentioned, so it’s a chance to highlight your interests within the subject.
We realise that this is probably the first time you have written something like this and that many applicants find it tricky, so make sure you read this helpful advice from UCAS.
Shortlisted candidates are invited to interview at Christ Church. Scroll down to learn more about the interview process.
-
Things to remember
- It’s your personal statement. Use it to showcase what makes you such a great candidate for your chosen course!
- Avoid clichés and vague statements. Be specific about exactly what makes you so interested in your subject, and why.
- Add depth to your reasoning by talking about specific things you’ve studied that have helped build your passion and interest in your subject, such as a project or aspect of your course. Is this similar to something covered in your degree course of choice?
- Show how your interests support your studies. Don’t just say that you like learning about topic X or agree with the points in book Y, tell us how it has enhanced your understanding, or linked together things you’ve studied and thought about.
- Use programmes you’ve participated in at Oxford or elsewhere as a good way of showing super-curricular engagement. What did you gain from them, and how does that connect to what you have already studied, and what you may wish to take further?
- Don’t worry too much about extra-curricular activities that don’t directly relate to the course you’re applying for. It’s great to pursue your interests, but Oxford is less interested in hearing about them than the things that most closely relate to your subject area. Of course, they remain important for other universities who might not get the chance to meet you during the applications process, so don’t neglect to mention them altogether! 20% of your personal statement is plenty for this.
-
FAQs
How important is work experience?
Don’t worry about specific kinds of super-curricular activity; there is no hierarchy of them. We understand that not everybody will have had the same opportunities to access work experience, so the focus is not so much on what you have done, but how you have engaged with that activity and what you have learnt from it. This is regardless of whether the activity is reading a book, listening to a podcast, attending an academic taster, work experience, or something else entirely! Reflect on your experiences, draw connections, and you’ll end up with a great personal statement regardless of the nature of the super-curriculars.
What if I’m applying for different courses at different universities?
Try to think about the intersections of the different courses, so the personal statement can be as relevant as possible to all your course choices. Universities are aware that you are sending the same personal statement to all five choices, so there is some element of flexibility there as long as you are demonstrating relevant interest and critical engagement.
How do I write an application for joint degrees?
Each of Oxford’s joint courses is designed to combine complementary elements of each of the subjects studied. When writing your personal statement, we recommend that you think carefully about how and why these subjects complement each other. What might be the ways in which History and Politics overlap as academic disciplines? Where do Philosophy, Politics, and Economics intersect?
Can I use quotations?
Remember first and foremost the advice to make the statement personal and avoid clichés. We’d recommend only using one if it’s really meaningful to you and keeping it short – by definition, a quotation is something someone else has thought about. In your personal statement we want to hear about your thoughts!
Will I be asked about my personal statement in the interviews?
Your personal statement will definitely be read by admitting tutors and can be used in interviews. If that happens, it does not mean that tutors are trying to catch you out: it just means that they would like to talk to you about something you have said interests you. It may, however, be that you are not asked about your personal statement at all and you the interviewers go straight into discussing a particular problem, text, etc. You can learn more about interviews by watching the videos on our website.
Our applicants often have various qualifications from all over the world, so the admissions test gives tutors a common set of data to compare all applicants. You can check whether a test is required for your choice of course on the University website.
The test helps tutors to decide whether to shortlist you for interview (alongside the information on your UCAS form and any written work you've submitted). Here are some important points to remember:
- Register for the test by the deadline: registration isn't automatic.
- Check past/specimen papers, and the syllabus if available, found on the page for the particular test on the University website.
- Practice is the best preparation, including practising under timed conditions.
Pick up some tips for your interview at Christ Church
A distinctive feature of the Oxford application process is the interview. That is because a lot of our teaching at Oxford takes place in small classes and tutorials, so your interviewers – who may become your future tutors – will be looking to see whether you would be suitable for this kind of learning and thinking, and for your chosen course.
Tutors will be looking to find out about your academic ability and potential, and your background or appearance will not matter.
While it’s perfectly natural to feel nervous, we’d like to encourage you to try to think of the interview as a mock tutorial, and – as much as possible – to be yourself.