UniAdmissions: Cracking The Oxbridge Formula

Applying for Oxbridge is an opportunity seldom approached correctly. So how do you enter the top 16% of a strong cohort of applicants that get an offer? Find out how we get two-thirds of our students into Oxbridge each year.

Last Updated: 22nd June 2022

Author: Adi Sen

You are here:

Table of Contents

Applying for Oxbridge is an opportunity seldom approached correctly. So how do you crack the Oxbridge formula?

The official statistics for Oxford and Cambridge paint a clear picture:

To succeed, you must be amongst the top

0 %

of a strong cohort of applicants.

For ultra-competitive courses such as Medicine, Economics, Mathematics and Computer Science, the competition is even stiffer.

So how do we manage to maintain an industry-leading 61% Oxbridge success rate, year on year? How do we succeed where so many other admissions support providers fail?

It begins with our intimate Oxbridge admissions knowledge and our unique, tailored approach for each student, as well as our rigorous selection of expert tutors who truly are experts in their field.

By adopting a systematic approach and building programmes into a structured syllabus that works, we provide a comprehensive approach to your admissions process. Read on to find out how we can support your application to the world’s most competitive universities and courses.

Oxbridge: unattainable standards?

A quick glance at the Oxbridge applicant success rates (figure 1) shows you that overall, you are looking at a 16% chance of gaining a place.

Figure 1. Oxford and Cambridge 2022 Cycle Admissions Statistics (2023 Entry).

However, this is the average amount across all subjects. Naturally, there is some fluctuation and certain subjects are far more competitive than others. Below are the admissions statistics for some of the most competitive subjects taught at Oxbridge for the 2022 admissions cycle (2023 Entry):

Oxbridge Medicine Admissions

Figure 2. 2022 Oxford and Cambridge Medicine Admissions Statistics (2023 Entry)

Oxbridge Economics Admissions

Figure 4. 2022 Oxford and Cambridge Economics Admissions Statistics (2023 Entry)

Oxbridge Law Admissions

Figure 3. 2022 Oxford and Cambridge Law Admissions Statistics (2023 Entry)

Oxbridge Engineering Admissions

Figure 5. 2022 Oxford and Cambridge Engineering Admissions Statistics (2023 Entry)

As shown in Figures 2 – 5, some courses are competitive to the extent of requiring you to sit in the top 6% of applicants – this is no easy feat! However, these subjects are also amongst our most popular. Read on to see our success with these extremely competitive courses. Alternatively, you can learn more about Oxbridge Admissions Statistics in our Oxbridge Application Data Explained Guide.

Need help understanding how to crack the Oxbridge code?

How do I enter the top 16% cohort of Oxbridge applicants? It’s time to increase your chances of success to receive your dream offer.

From Architecture to Medicine, we have the right Programme for you to Perfect your Personal Statement, Maximise your Admissions Test score and help you Interview like a Pro

Discover our Oxbridge Premium Programmes by clicking the button below to enrol and triple your chances of success.

From Architecture to Medicine, we have the right Programme for you to Perfect your Personal Statement, Maximise your Admissions Test score and help you Interview like a Pro

Discover our Oxbridge Premium Programmes by clicking the button below and talking to one of our expert Admissions Consultants. 

Oxbridge: attainable with our approach

Our knowledge of the Oxbridge system extends to these ultra-competitive courses and we only utilise tutors who were in the top 10% in their Admissions Test and have successfully negotiated the Oxbridge admissions marathon.

To properly prepare for the Oxbridge admissions procedures, it is vital that you plan, strategise and practice for a thorough process that will probe your academic prowess and passion like no other.

We ensure you are able to engage with an expert tutor, utilising a collection of expert-written resources to develop as an independent thinker. Furthermore, it is a stressful process; we ensure you are supported by our Programme Managers who are dedicated to helping you gain the most out of your Programme.

This unique approach drives our industry-leading success rates. Below (Figure 6) is a selection of our official statistics:

Figure 6. UniAdmissions Oxbridge Success Rates.

Medicine: the many hurdles

Applications for Oxbridge Medicine are also extremely high quality, leading to an average of just 13% of Oxbridge Medicine applicants with at least one offer. Our comprehensive, tailored approach to the Medicine Programmes is what secures our industry-leading success rates; our 5-year success rate is 48% across all of our Medicine students. This is nearly 4 times the national average

Furthermore, we don’t just specialise in Oxbridge Medicine – in fact, most of our Medicine students also applied to non-Oxbridge Universities. How do we fare when it’s not just an Oxbridge focus? Our non-Oxbridge Medicine success rates are 78% compared to the 12% average Medicine success rate. 

The difficulty students face with Medicine is that it has many hurdles:

The array of application metrics, coupled with the need for a foundation of robust grades and work experience, means anything other than a structured approach will lead to significant weak areas in your application. 

Clearly, relying on passive practice with various online resources may offer a small benefit, but when you compare this disconnected approach to our comprehensive syllabus, you can see your success will triple: a clear benefit to a Programme structure.

In short, we approach Medicine applications as an extension of GCSE and A level revision: the most effective way to succeed is to learn from the experts, engage with the material and ensure no areas are neglected.

The UniAdmissions Formula for success

Our approach to Oxbridge and Medicine applications is what guarantees you a significant competitive boost. The guiding principle in all of our services is to nurture the inner high-achieving student so you can reach your deserved potential. But what makes a competitive student, capable of studying the hardest degrees at the very best universities? Furthermore, how does UniAdmissions nurture you to reach these dizzying heights?

Our expert tutors work with you every step of the way to utilise your academic prowess and channel it in an effective manner. We never “spoon-feed”, because admissions tutors are looking for passion and to push the boundaries of logical reasoning- not how well you can memorise what you’ve read.

With every tuition session, you will get a detailed report enabling constant personalised feedback that offers value far beyond the minimalist approach most students take. In addition, academic discussions with our expert tutors remains one of the most realistic ways to practice for an academic Interview.

Complimentary to any Programme we offer are our regular Enrichment Seminars. These Seminars are delivered online by our tutors on a variety of different topics, vital to improving your wider understanding of a topic. The Enrichment Seminars promote exactly the style of thinking that Oxbridge admissions tutors are looking for in potential candidates.

Our Student Portal is the hub for all of the materials included within our Programmes. Used by both our students and tutors, all of our highly rated resources (including past papers, practice questions and UniAdmissions Workbooks) can easily be accessed in one place, anytime. All timetables can also be viewed on the Portal for our Courses and Enrichment Seminars, along with previous Seminar recordings if you happen to miss a session and you are interested in the topic.

Both parents and students can view the lesson reports from tutors after each tuition session on the Portal, and students can upload their Personal Statements and Admission Test Essays for marking and feedback with a quick turnaround time.

A unique portal is also created for parents, allowing in-depth monitoring of your child’s progress, as well as a specialised portal for faculty for schools that we work with. 

Building a programme for you

As demonstrated, the structure of our programmes drives success and constant improvement. However, it is also the content with which we pack every Programme that ensures you develop as a student and independent thinker.

medicine-interview-tuition

A typical Programme is built around a road plan for your study hours and tuition sessions, aided by a structured syllabus and tutor reports. To supplement this, we provide an array of resources such as:

The value of these resources comes from the link between structure and content: in isolation, these resources will only improve an area of your application by a finite amount. However, by applying them to a structured plan, utilising them in an effective way and with an expert tutor for guidance, you can achieve far superior results.

The mistake many students make is to utilise individual resources that may seem comprehensive at first, but without a solid framework of expert guidance and the structure of a timetable, the benefits are lost. For this reason, our Programmes remain our flagship support and we have seen demand for them increase as this becomes apparent.

Our Closing Notes

We are the Oxbridge and Medicine specialists and our statistics show it: with industry-leading success rates, the highest level of tutor selection and expert resources disseminated to over 150 countries, our impact on admissions success is unparalleled.

Investing in our Programmes is just that: an investment into your future. Research from the Sutton Trust has found Oxbridge graduates gain, on average, an extra £400,000 in lifetime income compared to non-Oxbridge graduates. In addition, the academic opportunities you’ll encounter can be quite literally life-changing, as attested to by every member of our team who has studied at Oxford or Cambridge.

Our unique system ensures you are in 24/7 contact with our success team and have the guidance of tutor reports after each session. We operate with a 14-day “cooling off” period to ensure you’ve built the right programme for you- simply put, let us show you our value and if we don’t reach our usual exceptional standards, we will make it right.

How do I enter the top 16% cohort of Oxbridge applicants? It’s time to increase your chances of success to receive your dream offer.

How do I enter the top 16% cohort of Oxbridge applicants? It’s time to increase your chances of success to receive your dream offer.

We have talked about how we triple the chances of success for hundreds of students each year, it’s now time to show you how we can triple yours.

With our Programmes, you’ll be able to crack the code to the perfect Personal Statementhow to boost your Admissions Test score and how to Interview like a pro.

Discover our Oxbridge Premium Programmes by clicking the button below to and start your Oxbridge journey by talking to our expert team.

We have talked about how we triple the chances of success for hundreds of students each year, it’s now time to show you how we can triple yours.

From Architecture to Medicine, we have the right Programme for you to Perfect your Personal Statement, Maximise your Admissions Test score and help you Interview like a Pro

Discover our Oxbridge Premium Programmes by clicking the button below to enrol and triple your chances of success.

0 +

UniAdmissions students placed at Oxford And Cambridge

0 +
UniAdmissions students placed
at Oxford And Cambridge
uniadmissions-successful-students-collage