Gaining a place at the University of Oxford is one of the most competitive academic challenges. Each year, over 20,000 students apply for fewer than 3,500 undergraduate places – meaning only around 15% of applicants receive an offer.
Interviews are the last stage of the application process. All interview invitations are sent in mid to late November, after admissions tests have been completed and all applications received. The interviews then take place during the first three weeks of December.
The interview stage, often seen as the most decisive part of Oxford admissions, assesses how applicants think, reason, and respond to new ideas – much like Oxford’s renowned tutorial teaching style. Performing well in these interviews gives admissions tutors confidence that a candidate can thrive in the University’s rigorous academic environment. For those unfamiliar with the tutorial system, it centres on one-to-one or small-group discussions where students engage with tutors and peers, developing their ability to express ideas clearly and think critically under pressure.
When looking at general admissions data, we usually see the total number of applicants, offers, and acceptances. However, information about how many applicants are invited to interview is much harder to find. In this guide, we explore Oxford’s interview rates to better understand the numbers of applicants who reach and succeed in the interview stage. We analyse collective data from 2022–2024 to provide a clearer picture of what applicants can expect.
It’s also worth noting that while this data provides useful insights into Oxford’s interview success rates, it has some limitations. Factors such as gap-year deferrals, reapplications, and small applicant numbers for certain courses can slightly affect the percentages, but overall the data still gives a helpful picture of what applicants can expect.
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Oxford Interview Rates – Overall
What Percentage of Oxford Applicants Get An Interview?
For 2022-2024, the University of Oxford received 70,091 applications, but only 28,884 of those were interviewed. That gives us an overall interview rate of approximately 41.2% for all courses at the University.
Interview rate= Applicants Interviewed/Total Applicants
As you can see, less than half of all applicants make it to the interview stage. That’s reasonable given that the interview is the final stage of the process — applicants who perform less strongly in earlier stages, such as their personal statement or admissions test, are typically filtered out before this point.
What Percentage of Oxford Applicants Get An Offer?
Of the 28,884 interviewed applicants, 11,059 received an offer – that gives us an offer rate of roughly 38.3%.
Offer Rate= Offers/Applicants Interviewed
This highlights how decisive the interview stage is: fewer than four in ten applicants who reach the interview ultimately receive an offer.
What Percentage of Oxford Applicants Get Admitted?
Finally, of the offers made, 9,735 were accepted, giving an acceptance rate of 88%.
Acceptance Rate= Accepted Applicants/Offers
It’s important to note that at Oxbridge, all offers and acceptances come from the pool of interviewed applicants anyway. What matters most in this data is arguably the interview rate and offer rate for interviewed candidates, which together underscore just how competitive the interview stage is.
Oxford Interview Rates (2022-2024)
Total Applicants: 70,091
Applicants Interviewed: 28,884
Acceptances: 9,735
Offers Made: 11,059
Interview Rate: 41.2%
Offer Rate: 38.3%
Acceptance Rate: 33.7%
Only 16% of Oxford applicants were offered a place. We got 59% of our students into Oxbridge.
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Oxford Interview Rates – Five Most Popular Subjects
Between 2022 and 2024, five courses at the University of Oxford stand out as the most popular based on the number of applications they received. These are:
Mathematics: 5,649 applicants
PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics): 5,635 applicants
Law: 5,536 applicants
Medicine: 5,076 applicants
Economics and Management: 4,783 applicants
Now let’s look at the interview data for these courses.
Oxford Mathematics Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 5,649
Applicants Interviewed: 1,751
Offers: 585
Acceptances: 539
Interview Rate: 31%
Offer Rate: 33.4%
Acceptance Rate: 30.8%
PPE Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 5,635
Applicants Interviewed: 2,141
Offers: 803
Acceptances: 692
Interview Rate: 38%
Offer Rate: 37.5%
Acceptance Rate: 32.3%
Law Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 5,536
Applicants Interviewed: 1,716
Offers: 638
Acceptances: 565
Interview Rate: 31%
Offer Rate: 37.2%
Acceptance Rate: 32.9%
Medicine Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 5,076
Applicants Interviewed: 1,269
Offers: 493
Acceptances: 457
Interview Rate: 25%
Offer Rate: 38.8%
Acceptance Rate: 36%
Economics & Management Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 4,783
Applicants Interviewed: 861
Offers: 278
Acceptances: 250
Interview Rate: 18%
Offer Rate: 32.3%
Acceptance Rate: 29%
Key Takeaways
As you can see, the interview rates for the five most popular Oxford courses are all lower than the average Oxford interview rate of 41.2%, ranging from 18% (Economics and Management) to 38% (PPE). That means that fewer applicants are invited to interview for these courses than others, though someone applying for PPE is about 110% more likely to be interviewed than one applying for Economics and Management.
Economics and Management, and Medicine have the lowest interview rates (18% and 25% respectively), reflecting how heavily Oxford filters candidates before the interview stage – due to UCAT and TSA results and other academic criteria.
Offer rates are consistent across all five courses, sitting in a narrow range of 32–39%, which aligns closely with Oxford’s overall average. This suggests that once applicants reach the interview stage, their chances of receiving an offer are relatively similar across subjects.
Interestingly, along with the lowest interview rate, Economics and Management also shows the lowest acceptance rate post-interview (29%). This indicates that not only is it difficult to secure an interview, but even those who do, face challenges before ultimately securing a place – possibly due to unmet conditions or applicants choosing other offers.
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Oxford Interview Rates – A-Z
There are over 40 more courses to cover, so let’s go through them from A – Z:
Ancient & Modern History Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 313
Applicants Interviewed: 225
Offers: 79
Acceptances: 73
Interview Rate: 72%
Offer Rate: 35.1%
Acceptance Rate: 32.4%
Archaeology & Anthropology Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 380
Applicants Interviewed: 217
Offers: 80
Acceptances: 64
Interview Rate: 57%
Offer Rate: 36.9%
Acceptance Rate: 29.5%
Asian & Middle Eastern Studies Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 344
Applicants Interviewed: 299
Offers: 142
Acceptances: 111
Interview Rate: 87%
Offer Rate: 47.4%
Acceptance Rate: 37.1%
Biochemistry Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 2,568
Applicants Interviewed: 1,053
Offers: 343
Acceptances: 301
Interview Rate: 41%
Offer Rate: 32.6%
Acceptance Rate: 28.6%
Biology Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 2,157
Applicants Interviewed: 992
Offers: 382
Acceptances: 328
Interview Rate: 46%
Offer Rate: 38.5%
Acceptance Rate: 33.1%
Biomedical Science Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 1,508
Applicants Interviewed: 362
Offers: 141
Acceptances: 129
Interview Rate: 24%
Offer Rate: 39%
Acceptance Rate: 35.6%
Chemistry Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 2,981
Applicants Interviewed: 1,967
Offers: 624
Acceptances: 542
Interview Rate: 66%
Offer Rate: 31.7%
Acceptance Rate: 27.5%
Classical Archaeology & Ancient History Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 455
Applicants Interviewed: 405
Offers: 96
Acceptances: 71
Interview Rate: 89%
Offer Rate: 23.7%
Acceptance Rate: 17.5%
Classics Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 869
Applicants Interviewed: 834
Offers: 354
Acceptances: 305
Interview Rate: 96%
Offer Rate: 42.4%
Acceptance Rate: 36.6%
Classics and English Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 165
Applicants Interviewed: 147
Offers: 49
Acceptances: 42
Interview Rate: 89%
Offer Rate: 33.4%
Acceptance Rate: 28.6%
Classics and Modern Languages Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 80
Applicants Interviewed: 76
Offers: 36
Acceptances: 33
Interview Rate: 95%
Offer Rate: 47.4%
Acceptance Rate: 43.4%
Computer Science Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 2,622
Applicants Interviewed: 498
Offers: 178
Acceptances: 152
Interview Rate: 19%
Offer Rate: 35.7%
Acceptance Rate: 30.5%
Computer Science and Philosophy Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 385
Applicants Interviewed: 123
Offers: 46
Acceptances: 39
Interview Rate: 32%
Offer Rate: 37.3%
Acceptance Rate: 31.7%
Earth Science Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 472
Applicants Interviewed: 411
Offers: 125
Acceptances: 103
Interview Rate: 87%
Offer Rate: 30.4%
Acceptance Rate: 25.1%
Economics and Management Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 4,783
Applicants Interviewed: 861
Offers: 278
Acceptances: 250
Interview Rate: 18%
Offer Rate: 32.3%
Acceptance Rate: 29%
Engineering Science Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 3,278
Applicants Interviewed: 1,246
Offers: 599
Acceptances: 517
Interview Rate: 38%
Offer Rate: 48.1%
Acceptance Rate: 41.5%
English and Modern Languages Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 306
Applicants Interviewed: 257
Offers: 92
Acceptances: 87
Interview Rate: 84%
Offer Rate: 35.8%
Acceptance Rate: 33.8%
English Language and Literature Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 2,765
Applicants Interviewed: 1,853
Offers: 717
Acceptances: 636
Interview Rate: 67%
Offer Rate: 38.7%
Acceptance Rate: 34.3%
European & Middle Eastern Languages Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 107
Applicants Interviewed: 97
Offers: 45
Acceptances: 40
Interview Rate: 91%
Offer Rate: 46.2%
Acceptance Rate: 41.1%
Experimental Psychology Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 1,186
Applicants Interviewed: 427
Offers: 185
Acceptances: 149
Interview Rate: 36%
Offer Rate: 43.3%
Acceptance Rate: 34.9%
Fine Art Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 745
Applicants Interviewed: 171
Offers: 95
Acceptances: 83
Interview Rate: 23%
Offer Rate: 55.4%
Acceptance Rate: 48.4%
Geography Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 962
Applicants Interviewed: 741
Offers: 273
Acceptances: 223
Interview Rate: 77%
Offer Rate: 36.9%
Acceptance Rate: 30.1%
History Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 2,803
Applicants Interviewed: 2,046
Offers: 745
Acceptances: 641
Interview Rate: 73%
Offer Rate: 36.4%
Acceptance Rate: 31.3%
History & Economics Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 437
Applicants Interviewed: 179
Offers: 54
Acceptances: 46
Interview Rate: 41%
Offer Rate: 30.1%
Acceptance Rate: 25.7%
History & English Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 314
Applicants Interviewed: 163
Offers: 50
Acceptances: 44
Interview Rate: 52%
Offer Rate: 30.6%
Acceptance Rate: 26.9%
History & Modern Languages Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 235
Applicants Interviewed: 195
Offers: 63
Acceptances: 58
Interview Rate: 83%
Offer Rate: 32.3%
Acceptance Rate: 29.7%
History & Politics Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 1,141
Applicants Interviewed: 434
Offers: 156
Acceptances: 133
Interview Rate: 38%
Offer Rate: 36%
Acceptance Rate: 30.7%
History of Art Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 327
Applicants Interviewed: 147
Offers: 51
Acceptances: 43
Interview Rate: 45%
Offer Rate: 34.7%
Acceptance Rate: 29.2%
Human Sciences Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 572
Applicants Interviewed: 297
Offers: 100
Acceptances: 87
Interview Rate: 52%
Offer Rate: 33.6%
Acceptance Rate: 29.2%
Law Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 5,536
Applicants Interviewed: 1,716
Offers: 638
Acceptances: 565
Interview Rate: 31%
Offer Rate: 37.2%
Acceptance Rate: 32.9%
Material Science Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 504
Applicants Interviewed: 348
Offers: 136
Acceptances: 121
Interview Rate: 69%
Offer Rate: 39.1%
Acceptance Rate: 34.8%
Mathematics Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 5,649
Applicants Interviewed: 1,751
Offers: 585
Acceptances: 539
Interview Rate: 31%
Offer Rate: 33.4%
Acceptance Rate: 30.8%
Mathematics & Computer Science Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 1,836
Applicants Interviewed: 477
Offers: 193
Acceptances: 154
Interview Rate: 26%
Offer Rate: 40.4%
Acceptance Rate: 32.3%
Mathematics & Philosophy Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 487
Applicants Interviewed: 166
Offers: 56
Acceptances: 48
Interview Rate: 34%
Offer Rate: 33.8%
Acceptance Rate: 29%
Mathematics & Statistics Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 350
Applicants Interviewed: 109
Offers: 13
Acceptances: 8
Interview Rate: 31%
Offer Rate: 12%
Acceptance Rate: 7.4%
Medicine Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 5,076
Applicants Interviewed: 1,269
Offers: 493
Acceptances: 457
Interview Rate: 25%
Offer Rate: 38.8%
Acceptance Rate: 36%
Modern Languages Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 1,029
Applicants Interviewed: 967
Offers: 402
Acceptances: 431
Interview Rate: 94%
Offer Rate: 41.6%
Acceptance Rate: 44.6%
Modern Languages and Linguistics Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 268
Applicants Interviewed: 257
Offers: 122
Acceptances: 107
Interview Rate: 96%
Offer Rate: 47.4%
Acceptance Rate: 41.6%
Music Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 565
Applicants Interviewed: 516
Offers: 275
Acceptances: 229
Interview Rate: 93%
Offer Rate: 53.3%
Acceptance Rate: 44.4%
Philosophy and Modern Languages Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 180
Applicants Interviewed: 151
Offers: 69
Acceptances: 64
Interview Rate: 84%
Offer Rate: 45.6%
Acceptance Rate: 42.3%
Philosophy and Theology Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 462
Applicants Interviewed: 189
Offers: 90
Acceptances: 79
Interview Rate: 41%
Offer Rate: 47.5%
Acceptance Rate: 41.7%
Physics Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 4,617
Applicants Interviewed: 1,431
Offers: 578
Acceptances: 536
Interview Rate: 31%
Offer Rate: 40.4%
Acceptance Rate: 37.4%
Physics and Philosophy Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 473
Applicants Interviewed: 109
Offers: 44
Acceptances: 39
Interview Rate: 23%
Offer Rate: 40.4%
Acceptance Rate: 35.8%
PPE Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 5,635
Applicants Interviewed: 2,141
Offers: 803
Acceptances: 692
Interview Rate: 38%
Offer Rate: 37.5%
Acceptance Rate: 32.3%
PPL Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 794
Applicants Interviewed: 302
Offers: 135
Acceptances: 113
Interview Rate: 38%
Offer Rate: 44.7%
Acceptance Rate: 37.5%
RAMES Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 25
Applicants Interviewed: 11
Offers: 7
Acceptances: 5
Interview Rate: 44%
Offer Rate: 63.6%
Acceptance Rate: 45.5%
RAMES stands for Religion & Asian & Middle Eastern Studies and was by far the least popular course at Oxford between 2022 and 2024 with only 25 applications and only five admitted students.
Theology and Religion Interview Rates
2022-2024
Total Applicants: 361
Applicants Interviewed: 249
Offers: 146
Acceptances: 130
Interview Rate: 69%
Offer Rate: 58.6%
Acceptance Rate: 52.2%
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Oxford Interview Rates - Key Takeaways
Now let’s see if we can derive any useful insights from the data.
Hardest & Easiest Oxford Courses to Land an Interview
By looking at the interview rate, we can get an idea of how likely it is for students to land interviews for different undergraduate courses at the University of Oxford, or whether most of them are filtered out during previous stages of the application process, such as admissions tests.
Hardest Oxford Courses To Land An Interview
Firstly, let’s look at the courses with lowest intevriew rates:
Lowest Interview Rates at Oxford 2022-2024
| Course | Applicants | % of Applicants Interviewed |
|---|---|---|
| Economics & Management | 4,783 | 18% |
| Computer Science | 2,622 | 19% |
| Fine Art | 745 | 23% |
| Physics and Philosophy | 473 | 23% |
| Biomedical Science | 1,508 | 24% |
- Economics and Management (E&M) is the most competitive at the interview stage, with fewer than one in five applicants securing an interview – reflecting extremely high pre-interview selection standards based on TSA performance and academic profile.
- Computer Science follows closely at 19%, suggesting a similar emphasis on rigorous pre-interview assessments (MAT scores and academic background).
- Fine Art and Physics & Philosophy both have 23%, though for Fine Art this may be influenced by portfolio screening, while Physics & Philosophy likely filters via MAT performance.
- Biomedical Science (24%) rounds out the top 5, another course where early filtering (e.g., BMSAT, predicted grades) plays a big role.
Easiest Oxford Courses To Land An Interview
Highest Interview Rates at Oxford 2022-2024
| Course | Applicants | % of Applicants Interviewed |
|---|---|---|
| Classics | 859 | 96% |
| Modern Languages and Linguistics | 268 | 96% |
| Classics and Modern Languages | 80 | 95% |
| Modern Languages | 1,029 | 94% |
| Music | 555 | 93% |
- These subjects – particularly Classics and Modern Languages – show very high interview rates (above 90%), meaning nearly every applicant is interviewed. This reflects Oxford’s holistic admissions approach for these courses, where academic potential and interview performance are heavily weighted and written assessments or portfolios play a supportive (not eliminative) role.
- Music, Modern Languages, and Classics-related courses often have smaller applicant pools and rely on portfolio or audition-based evaluation, where the interview is seen as an essential (and achievable) part of the selection process.
- Compared to the average Oxford interview rate of 41.2%, these courses give applicants more than double the likelihood of being interviewed.
Most & Least Competitive Courses to Land an Offer
Let’s start by looking at the courses with the lowest and highest offer rates for interviews.
Hardest Oxford Courses To Land An Offer
Lowest Offer Rates for Interviewed Applicants at Oxford 2022-2024
| Course | Applicants | Applicants Interviewed | Offer Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics & Statistics | 350 | 109 | 12% |
| Classical Archaeology & Ancient History | 455 | 405 | 23.7% |
| History & Economics | 437 | 179 | 30.1% |
| History & English | 314 | 163 | 30.6% |
| Chemistry | 2,981 | 1,967 | 31.7% |
- Mathematics & Statistics (12%) is by far the toughest at the interview stage – only about 1 in 8 candidates secures an offer, showing exceptionally high post-interview selectivity.
- Classical Archaeology & Ancient History (23.7%) remains highly competitive – suggesting high interview standards.
- Joint History courses (History & Economics and History & English) both hover around 30%, reflecting how these interdisciplinary programs demand strength in two separate academic areas.
- Chemistry, with nearly 2,000 interviewees, shows how large-scale courses can be highly competitive – many make it to interview, but relatively few earn offers.
- Across the board, these courses reflect Oxford’s toughest selection environments, where a moderately strong interview performance doesn’t guarantee success.
Highest Offer Rates for Interviewed Applicants at Oxford 2022-2024
Highest Acceptance Rates At Oxford 2024
| Course | Applicants | Applicants Interviewed | Offer Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| RAMES | 25 | 11 | 63.6% |
| Theology and Religion | 361 | 249 | 58.6% |
| Fine Art | 745 | 171 | 55.4% |
| Music | 555 | 516 | 53.3% |
| Engineering and Science | 3,278 | 1,246 | 48.1% |
- As you can see, smaller cohorts have high offer rates post interview.
- Engineering is the only course with a relatively large cohort that has an elevated offer rate.
- Theology and Religion, and Music are the courses that offer large interview rates and offer rates, suggesting that they are the easiest to get into.
Conclusion
We’ve covered a lot in this guide, but by analysing the data presented, you now have a more comprehensive picture of Oxford’s acceptance rates. This insight can help you make more informed decisions as you plan and prepare for your own application.
While admissions data can be extremely useful when preparing for Oxbridge, it’s equally important not to lose sight of your true interests and academic passions. It’s always better to put your effort into a course that genuinely excites you rather than choosing one purely for its promising admission statistics.
If you’d like expert guidance with your application, UniAdmissions’ Full-Blue Programmes are designed to triple your chances of success through tailored one-to-one tuition and access to numerous subject-specific resources. Either way, we wish you the best of luck with your Oxford application!
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