Oxbridge applicants 2026??

[Justlurkingmostly]

Is there a thread for this year’s applicants - I can’t seem to find with a search. Thanks for signposting 🙏

Re tech for Maths and other interviews that use a whiteboard...

A lot of candidates have an ipad which can just join the interview as "another person" (but make sure you don't connect the ipad to audio as well as your laptop as that creates horrible feedback!)

Otherwise I would recommend a (cheap) graphics tablet. It might be that your school can lend one but I would consider spending about £25 to buy one so that you can practice using it before the actual interview! It's cheaper than train tickets to travel for an in-person interview.

For all Oxford Maths interviews you will be expected to be able to write on a shared whiteboard.

For Cambridge it varies a lot college by college (and quite a few have reverted to in-person interviews).

If interviews, it will be from home for us, just realised.

Home WiFi seems to be more reliable for most people than school WiFi, and there will probably be a smaller chance of people accidentally walking into the room!

@Pallando would something like this fit the bill? www.argos.co.uk/product/8365204?clickPR=plp:7:7

@JeRevien did your dd recover to sit the CLAT? Mine did the CAT as she hasn’t learnt Latin or Greek. It looks like most applicants get interviews so that’s the next high stress situation!

That looks perfect! You can practice using a free zoom account (even if interview is not on zoom it's still a good way to practice writing).

Excellent. I think I’d rather get him something just in case it’s needed at what could be pretty short notice but the budget is tight. Thanks so much

My DCs school tell them they have to go the interview at home.
DC1 had three interviews. 5 day notice for the first two and 24hr notice for the third one.
DC2 applying for the same course so 🤞they get an interview.
School should supply the equipment needed and you are asked to download an app in the invitation to an interview email.
Good luck everyone 🍀

Anyone with DCs applying for an essay based subject - have they been contacted about submitting their written work yet?

My DS hasn't heard yet - but I can see on the college website that the deadline for submission is 5 November - so slightly concerned that he hasn't heard (although knowing him he could easily have missed their email!!)

Hello my DD is applying for Human Sciences at Oxford. She didn’t do a huge amount of revision for the TSA and said it was ok but she ran out of time. She doesn’t really let me get too involved so I haven’t seen her UCAS applications. My first DD let me see as she is very disorganised and gets overwhelmed but this DD hates too much interference. She’s at a comp and got 10 A and is predicted 4 A at A level so grades are ok. I’m a bit worried that she hasn’t got any other offers yet - she assures me that the application has definitely been submitted but she won’t let me look so it’s making me a bit anxious! I think the school are pretty invested though so I’m sure they have it under control.

if others have offers from other Unis already do you mind sharing which ones? I suspect all her choices don’t offer early but she has some friends with 4 offers already! Thank you

My DS has offers from Exeter, York and Bristol.

Waiting for Durham but at the open day they said offers tend to come late - even into 2026.

Also in the process for Cambridge - a few more hurdles to go before any offer could be made.

DS has got offers from Manchester and Warwick. They came within 3 days of his ucas application being submitted!

Thanks for the replies @Muchtoomuchtodo and @loopylou459 - this is what is making me feel a bit anxious - Exeter and Warwick are two of hers. The others I think won’t be until after Jan. She’s applying for quite oversubscribed courses though so that might be the issue. I wish she would just get one so I could be reassured that she has submitted everything properly!

Well done to those with offers already.
My DC is waiting for the TMUA result before popping on the other four Uni’s…depending on the result. Warwick seen to accept a 5 but Imperial look for much higher, over 7 I believe from past experience.

Your DC should contact the college. DD got her college instructions about submitting work on the same day as her My Cambridge application email.

Yeah we’re waiting for Tmua results too before DS fills final two slots, no point chancing the likes of Imperial if it’s not high enough. I wouldn’t worry about no offers yet, it’s still very early and different unis and departments have very different timelines, especially stem and humanities where the offer rate can differ so widely. It’s easy to get stressed when others get almost instant offers but the deadline isn’t till January and most will come through next year. As long as all five applications aren’t wildly ambitious, our DCs should all get something they’re happy with when the time comes.

DS decided just to put all 5 down without knowing his TMUA results! Whether that was wise or not remains to be seen.

However, interestingly Warwick have given him 2 different offers depending whether or not his TMUA score is 5 or higher.

@Bigbus DS has an offer from Exeter for Economics and Politics. Which subject(s) is your DD applying for? Different departments have completely different timescales for offers at the same unis. Also, for many oversubscribed courses, international and home contextual offers tend to come out sooner. DS is home non-contextual so is likely to have to wait a bit longer for the rest of his (if he gets them). There is a spreadsheet on Reddit with detailed tracking of offers from last year that is helpful in giving a sense of these different factors.

We have Warwick and not yet sat TMUA. I havent realised that the wait for interview or not call is a month or longer. The wait feel like 7 years ago with 11+.

Hello fellow applicants' parents!

DD is applying with grades in hand so it may be slightly different in terms of timescales. But she's had offers from Sussex, Birmingham, Bristol and Exeter (in that order), so everywhere except Oxford.

Oxford plus all other applications for PPE done and submitted. TSA completed on 24th. No news here on anything @Bigbus . We just have to wait it out and see.

My DD is applying with grades in hand (3 x A star) and has eff all from her (so far) four applications apart from a 'you're on hold' from Bristol! This is for various politics/economics/history combos.

DD also has 3 x A star, but is applying for English Literature. The subject must make a difference.

Is this for maths?

DS put down Warwick for maths, but hasn't heard yet. However, his TMUA result is due in a couple of weeks, so I wondered whether they were waiting to see the results?

(and yes, DS did get to sit the TMUA, after all the saga around sorting out technicalities)