University Applications 2026 - Support Thread

[Ventress]

DS is applying to start university in Autumn 2026. He's done several open days and has a reasonable idea of where and what he wants to wants to study - History or History & Politics.

He loved UCL and Exeter, liked Warwick, didn't like Bristol. He's also talking about early application but can't decide whether to apply to Oxford or Cambridge. He's also muttering about Durham, which he didn't visit but others in his History class did and loved it.

Anyone join me for a thread to support our DC as they navigate this process? DS is my only child so this is all new to me!

Interesting, @Ventress!

I found this online, but haven’t checked out its sources:

https://www.admissionreport.com/london-school-of-economics/ba-history

Hello! Joining you- my daughter is applying for 2026 entry to study maths. Good luck everyone!

@Ventress It’s not 58 offers in 2024, it’s an intake of 58. So it excludes everyone who declined their offer to go elsewhere, or insured their offer but went to their firm choice, or accepted their offer but missed their grades and wasn’t accepted.

I don't think the UCAS information is that helpful for Oxbridge where the application process is based on more than just UCAS application. Having said that the UCAS data is 26% and Oxford's own webpage says 23% so quite similar, certainly more accurate than LSE.

HistPol is one of the top 10 most applied for courses at Oxford now. It is very competitive. It's the "new PPE" apparently.

DS is working on his PS and super curricular for his early application. He is predicted three A stars, has good GCSE results and is at a state school. Do universities with far larger intake numbers, like Warwick and Exeter for example, look closely at the student's PS? Bristol suggested they only look at PS in the event of a tie.

HisPol is certainly very competitive. It’s also (at least at Oxford) very hard work, with a significantly higher workload than straight history. Not as streamlined a combination as, say, PPE.

Apologies, yes agree it is intake not offers. Thank you for the link, I will read that.

Would many people insure LSE (or UCL)? Wouldn't the lack of guaranteed accommodation be off-putting for any applicant who doesn't have the back up option of living at home?

As you can tell DS and I have been looking at stats this morning for his favourite courses. He wants to apply to Oxbridge (unsure which yet), either UCL or LSE plus Exeter as his probable insurance choice. He's also considering Durham. I think he should also apply for Warwick as it appears that with his PG he would almost certainly get an offer. That would be 5 of which 3 are "aspirational" so I'm not sure his school are going to be very happy with his choices.

@HPFA that does seem strange. Most of those I've looked at have a difference between the grade profiles.

Welcome @bettyjane and @GrowingUpNow

Absolutely agree. This was also confirmed speaking to staff at the open days. As a result, DS has decided not to apply for HistPol at Oxbridge and apply for straight history instead.

He's still considering HistPol (if he can work his PS appropriately) at Warwick. He also liked History, Politics & Economics at UCL but I think this might be a strep too far for his PS to cope with.

I think it can be done quite well @Ventress, I help students with PS's and also applied for History and Politics myself. I had my intro which was about an interest and a quick short bit on politics, then my main History paragraph (about something I researched and how it changed my views on History as a subject and histograpgy) and then my main politics one on voting, elections and a lecture I watched online and my views and thoughts on it. I then had a conclusion focused more on different types of History and histograpgy and how the way History is told has an impact and then a little bit on things I've done, teaching, some boards and work I'd been part of. It doesn't have to be completely balanced but many people work it out and as and also you can link similar themes between them quite well. If he has a real interest in the subject, I wouldn't let the PS be the reason he doesn't go for it, as everyone needs drafts and teacher feedback. Plus I know it's broken down into questions this year, which will likely make it easier to have a more focused response.

Thank you @TheLivelyViper that’s interesting. I will share this with DS. He did a Cambridge webinar on PS which was also very informative.

Askng for opinions. My DD is predicted 3As and should get them. She had a disastrous EPQ with virtually no direction from school and got a B. She wants to study religion at uni in 2026. In your opinion, does the B in EPQ rule out an Oxford application? My thoughts are yes, there isn't any point in applying with a B?

@ellieinfrance their website says ‘Extended Project Qualifications (EPQ)
Where applicants have undertaken the EPQ, this will not be a condition of any offer but the University recognises that the EPQ will provide an applicant with the opportunity to develop research and academic skills relevant for study at Oxford. Candidates are encouraged to draw upon relevant EPQ experience when writing their personal statement.’

So if she can draw some positives and learning points from the situation that she was put in, I would still encourage her to apply.

What A-levels subjects is she doing?. Depending on the course she's likely met entry requirements but with Oxford you often need to exceed them because it's so competitive. So even if entry requirements are AAA the majority of people will have higher than that,so if you only have AAA then depending on the quality of applications you could still be rejected.

Does she want to apply just of philosophy? What topic was her EPQ on as well? If it was linked to degree they may want higher, but even if not they want someone who has the skills of essay writing and an EPQ does show that. However it's Oxford, and it's competitive so it's likely that people who have done a EPQ will get much higher. She should still apply though if her predicted are good. What are her predicted grades? Also if she gets to interview and shoes her passion and knowledge for the subject, then she may impress them enough they ignore it. If they ask I wouldn't get her to respond that she had no guidance so did bad - an EPQ is meant to be independent and sink or swim, it's similar to coursework, as in you are in control of it all (you can either show that's a good thing or not). Oxford and universities in general want someone whose self-sufficient, that doesn't mean not asking for help, but knowing who to ask (going to them not waiting for them to help you) and also using resources (YouTube, online). If your not getting good guidance, find other teachers, bring it up, and problem solve regardless as she'll have to do this at university.

Thanks both. She's looking to do straight religion rather than combined with philosophy. I think straight religion is generally less competitive at most places. EPQ wasn't linked in any way to religion as she's currently studying it and you can't cross over. Her a levels are religion, maths and further maths.

EPQ wasn't linked in any way to religion as she's currently studying it and you can't cross over

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you mean here, but you can do an EPQ that relates a subject you're studying for A-level and many do (including my DS), that's not an issue at all. As for the B she got in it, as long as her predicted grades are high enough for the entry requirements and she's really keen to go, I wouldn't not apply because of the EPQ. Just make sure the other 4 choices include safer bets as it's always a longshot even with top grades across the board.

She may have been misinformed, but was told she couldn't have any cross over with things she was studying. Which ruled out a load of things to do with ethics, as they cross with RE. This may have been duff advice! I think she got Bristol lined up as a back up, as she'd get a contextual offer from them. At the moment she's got a spare application slot so may well give it a go.

OP if your DS receives an offer from Oxford for HisPol or straight history, any other offers he receives are likely to be higher than AAA (with the exception of Exeter). Durham makes contextual offers which only apply if Durham is firmed. Durham, UCL and Warwick are extremely unlikely to budge from their standard offer, especially if they are held as an insurance place.

Thank you @Dodonutty , that's interesting. DS is predicted 3 A stars, but obviously needs offers from his choices, and then has to achieve the offered grades.

Selwyn College Cambridge said that they always offer over the standard offer for History degrees - but other colleges said it was more nuanced and that they may offer the minimum AstarAA, or go higher. Oxford colleges were similarly non-committal.

I didn't think the other universities knew which others a student has applied to. Would they just assume based on the early application? I don't think it's fair that they would offer higher than standard just because a student has made an Oxbridge application. If this is the case, it would suggest he would be better off waiting to include his other four choices until later in Autumn/Winter. By then, he'd also know if he had got an Oxbridge interview. He wouldn't qualify for any contextual offers I don't think; he's at a state school but it's a high performing SS grammar.

DS did his first draft PS yesterday. His thinking currently is that (assuming he gets offers from all five, which he realises is very unlikely) Oxbridge would be firm, followed by either UCL or Durham as firm, followed by Warwick. Depending on the grade offers he would then have either Warwick or Exeter as his insurance choice. He wouldn't look to insure either Durham or UCL. Does this seem reasonable?

Oxford makes exactly the same standard offer to everyone for each course. For PPE, History, HisPol etc it's AAA. It's usually most people's lowest offer.

They have no idea which universities anyone has applied to. Each university only knows about it's own application.

I meant that the standard offers at Warwick, Durham etc will be higher than Oxford's AAA. That makes it quite hard to find an insurance place if Oxford is his firm.

I've just looked at the standard offers for Warwick and UCL. Apologies, I assumed they would all include an A* like Durham. That still doesn't make an insurance choice any easier though if UCL, Oxford & Warwick all have AAA as their standard offer.

Thanks @Dodonutty - I understand what you mean now. Yes Cambridge and Durham have AstarAA as the published grades, UCL and Warwick are AAA and Exeter is AAB. I'm not sure that's a big enough

He's undecided whether to apply for Oxford or Cambridge. Interesting that Oxford only offer AAA whereas Cambridge have Astar AA as the minimum offer.

..not sure that's a big enough difference between firm choice grades and insurance though. (was how that sentence should have finished)

@Ventress did you look at Warwick for History? We haven’t been to an open day but might put it down as one of the options. I’d be interested in what people think of Warwick though as it seems a bit like marmite for some reason

DS and I went to the open day @Fabfabfab I think the campus is very marmite. It's a bit like walking through a theme park - wide open, clean, boulevards, with impressive, modern buildings. The "FAB" is the new Faculty of Arts Building and it is amazing inside. Warwick are investing in humanities in a way that isn't usual in the current climate.

They offer various combined honours history courses (history with English, Politics, MFL etc) as well as pure History. The history talk by the head of History was excellent, as was the taster lecture. It's a fully modular course and there is a big choice as the department is large. They also offer a term in Venice with the History team in year 2. They don't do any exams at all.

All of the accommodation for first year's is in easy distance of the main building hub. After the first year students move to privately rented accommodation in Kenilworth or Coventry. Students can get a parking permit to take a car, and there is a large bus station with buses running to the nearby towns.

The sport offering is really good too, if your DC is into sport. It has teams for lots of sports plus gyms, yoga and dance studios. It's inclusive and offers social sport as well as being involved in BUCS for the elite sports people. The facilities are modern and well kept.

It's only sixty years old so it's very modern by traditional "red brick" university standards.

I sound like a bit of a cheerleader but I can certainly see why people don't like it. It is the campus rather than the course that they would dislike I think.

My daughter hated it on sight, so it is marmite. We managed less than 1 hr at the open day in total.
And now I do see the resemblance to Disney World