Undergraduate MBiol

All applications to UK undergraduate courses need to go through UCAS (Universities and College Admissions System). This is a shared system used across the UK, which makes it easier if you are looking to apply to more than one university. You only have to write one application, which goes to all universities that you choose to apply to. You can apply to up to five courses/universities. You can find a step-by-step guide to UCAS on their website, and some useful information about applying to Oxford via UCAS, including when you can start working on your application and the deadline, here.

See section 7 'submit by the deadline' below for further information.

Choosing your course is the most important thing you can do – the course provides your core teaching (particularly for a subject like Biology). You can read about all the undergraduate courses available at Oxford here, or you can hear a talk given about the Biology course here (or on the 'Admissions' tab). Make sure you have a look at our Biology brochure too, which you can find on the ‘About the Course’ tab.

Oxford is one of a small number of UK universities with a college system, which can be confusing if you are not familiar with it. Our talk about the course mentions colleges, but the summary is that the college you choose doesn’t matter too much for biologists – your core teaching will be the same, with college teaching being through tutorials (small group teaching) in your first year. After your first year, tutorials can be with a range of people, and they don’t have to be from the same college as you.

Colleges are where you live, and they provide a social community both with other people doing your degree and many others doing different degrees. This helps you meet more people.

You don't have to pick a specific college on your application and even if you do, you may not end up at the one you choose. There is a system in the Biology course, where shortlisted candidates are spread across colleges, so no one will be at either an advantage or disadvantage based on where they have applied.

Course entry requirements are detailed on the University Biology admissions page (see the Admissions Requirements tab).

Your application will not be competitive without evidence of your academic ability, so it is really important you tell us about what you have achieved so far at school or college. All your formal exam results should be listed, along with any formal predicted grades.

Find out more information about how applying to Oxford with international qualifications works here, and general information about Oxford and admissions for international students here.

There are a lot of applications for a limited number of places on our course, so the personal statement is a really important part of the application. Your personal statement is a chance to stand out, to tell us about yourself and what makes you want to study biology. Our talk about our course mentions personal statements, but the key points are:

• Show your passion for the subject – don’t just tell us you like biology, show us evidence. Have you read any books, watched any documentaries, gone on any walks or trips, or done any volunteering? Explain what about biology you are interested in and anything that inspires you.
• Be honest – you might be asked about your statement in an interview, so make sure you can talk about anything you write! Don’t, for example, say you’ve read a book when you haven’t.

You can find some tips and resources from UCAS on writing a personal statement here.

Your academic referee should know you well enough to write about you and why you are suitable for the course. If you are at school or college, or have recently left, you could ask one of your teachers. If you left school or college a few years ago, you could ask your current or previous employer, or supervisor of voluntary work.

If you are applying from overseas, we will not have access to the same contextual information as we do for home candidates: your school's performance, how you performed relative to other people in your school, how often people from your background go to university. Your referee can help us by providing contextual information in their letter.

Oxford and Cambridge have an earlier UCAS deadline than most UK universities – this is mid-October instead of late January; you can find this year's deadline on the UCAS website. Lots of resources, including an admissions timeline, can be found on the Oxford website.

After the application deadline, submissions will be read by tutors and some candidates will be invited to interview. You will always be invited to do an interview at two different colleges, which means you get two chances. This also means more tutors will get to meet you, to help each other decide on candidates. If you are offered a place, it will come with required minimum exam grades or qualifications that you need to meet in order to secure your place, unless you have already met the conditions of the offer.

After the application deadline, submissions will be read by tutors and some candidates will be invited to interview.

We shortlist applicants for interview based on who displays the greatest potential as biologists in their UCAS form. So, if you have achieved a strong set of GCSE grades (or equivalent), by which we simply mean one of the top sets of grades within your own school, and you display a deep interest in Biology, then we will want to see you at interview. Ask your teacher to include any mitigating circumstances that might have affected your performance in their UCAS reference to help us put your grades in context.

We take account of the full range of information available to us at shortlisting, so if you think you meet our admissions criteria then it is always worth applying. If you've already taken your A-levels (or equivalent), we will usually interview you if you have met our standard offer and also display the deep interest in biology that we always look for.

If shortlisted for interview, you will always be invited to do an interview at two different colleges, which means you get two chances. This also means more tutors will get to meet you, to help each other decide on candidates.

Interviews are held online in December. In the interviews, we want to know more about why you’re interested in biology, and see how you respond to a biological problem that might be completely new to you. You might expect some questions based on your UCAS form, and it is likely that you will be asked to discuss a data figure. A good biologist is someone who is interested in the natural world but who is able to make sense of it through data, so both aspects are important for us to get a feel for whether our course is right for you.

“My first interview was actually quite enjoyable and rewarding as I felt myself understanding my questions bit by bit as more information was revealed. My second was quite different but I would suggest to not let a small setback early in the interview changing the way you act throughout the rest of it.”

- Madeleine, student

After the college interviews, all College Tutors meet to discuss the gathered field of interviewees to decide which applicants will be made offers. Any college admitting Biology students can make an offer, so if you have applied to a particular college you might receive an offer from a different college.

If you are offered a place, it will come with required minimum exam grades or qualifications that you need to meet in order to secure your place, unless you have already met the conditions of the offer.

In some cases, the college that an offer holder joins will not be determined until A-level or equivalent exam results are published in the summer.

Offers are usually made for admission in October of the next academic year, but you may also submit a deferred application to start a year later.