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Guide to Oxbridge

Part 1: Preliminaries

Choosing a course

For many, choosing a course at Oxbridge comes easily. Others aren't sure which course to choose - for example, some pupils will be weighing up Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at Oxford against Politics, Psychology, Sociology and International Studies (formerly known as Social & Political Sciences) at Cambridge.

A good first step is to check out the university websites. As well as linking to the course website, they will also tell you about entry requirements, whether you are required to do an admissions test etc.:

Cambridge course list
Oxford course list

It's also worth visiting the departmental/subject open days. These are an opportunity to gain an insight into the structure and content of the course, and to meet students studying the course. See the links below for dates:

Cambridge departmental open day dates
Oxford departmental open day dates

Choosing a college

There are 31 colleges at Cambridge, and 38 at Oxford (which also has six Permanent Private Halls). There are three useful ways to choose your college:

1) Official university and college prospectuses
The universities each produce an official prospectus each year, as do individual colleges. Click below for links:

Cambridge online prospectus or order a paper copy here
Cambridge online college prospectuses
Oxford online prospectus or order a paper copy here (available from 2011)
Oxford online college prospectuses

Oxford and Cambridge also provide advice on choosing a college. Alternatively you can read some unofficial guides to Oxford and Cambridge colleges.

2) Alternative prospectuses
You can also read the alternative prospectuses for each university and many colleges. These are written from the point of view of students.

Cambridge University Alternative Prospectus
Cambridge alternative prospectuses for many colleges
Oxford University Alternative Prospectus
Oxford alternative prospectuses for many colleges

3) Visits
The best way to choose a college is to visit it in the flesh. Each college will have an open day, where you can take in a lot of useful information. You'll be shown around the college, in many cases by a student from that college, and may be able to meet staff, tutors and dons. This is a great opportunity to ask any questions you might have, and to get a feel for the college. Click below for a list of dates for the open days.

Cambridge college open days
Oxford college open days

Cambridge also run a general open day where departments offer talks and tours and there is a chance to look around colleges, and also offer specialist open days for ethnic minority students, FE and mature students and those interested in choral awards and organ scholarships. Click here for a complete list of Cambridge open days. A complete list of Oxford open days is available here.

If you can't make any of the open days, it might be worth contacting the Oxford or Cambridge admissions office to see if you can visit on another day. Most colleges will be happy for you to have a look around outside of open day slots if you explain you are a potential applicant.

Click here to go to the next section of the Oxbridge Interviews' Guide