Deferred entry Oxford application (PPE)

[phyllidafosset]

Has anyone’s child applied for a deferred entry place at Oxford? My DD wants to do PPE but she wants to do a gap year and do some volunteer/low-paid work abroad (NGO or English language teaching, probably in SE Asia to start with, and then potentially elsewhere). Just wondering what sort of profile kids who got accepted had, and if anyone reapplied with grades in-hand and was successful.

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My DS is just finishing his gap year before starting at Cambridge, so his experience might not be entirely relevant to you, OP, but if nobody else replies I'll happily pass along some more details! The general advice is that you have to be stronger than the 'usual' candidate as you are competing against two cohorts. Also, different colleges have different attitudes, so check individual websites.

I'm not aware of anyone who successfully deferred entry for PPE as it's usually only granted for exceptional circumstances such as illness or bereavement.

Has your DD looked at the info on referrals here? https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/after-you-apply/your-offer-and-contract

Not everyone has 3 x A* or straight grade 9s at GCSE for PPE. The offer is AAA, but DD was in the top 15% for the TSA and handled weird & wonderful questions well in the interviews.

In their own words:

The University does not normally accept requests for deferral of entry to a later term/year.
Applying for a deferral
You will normally be expected to start your course on the date and term indicated in your departmental offer. However, you may apply for a deferral of entry, under exceptional circumstances, if you have met all the departmental and college conditions of your offer, including your Financial Declaration, and either of the following two criteria are met:
Unforeseen and unforeseeable circumstances that are outside your control will prevent you from taking up your offer on the start date indicated in your offer. This might include, for example, ill health or bereavement. In some instances, deferrals can also be requested because of visa application issues (see below).

The quote in the post above is about requests to change the entry year after an offer is made and so isn’t the correct information about applying for deferred entry.

The relevant bit is here: https://uni-of-oxford.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/456/~/can-i-apply-for-deferred-entry-for-a-place-on-an-undergraduate-degree-course

But note this section:

“If you apply for deferred entry, making a successful application is seen as slightly more difficult since the college is effectively committing to a decision on your application before they have seen other students applying in the following year. Successful applications for deferred entry will therefore generally be among the strongest of the cohort for their subject.”

Sorry about that. Thanks for the correct info @foxglovetree

A young relative of mine is just finishing up a gap year between school and Cambridge, having applied to Cambridge and received an offer in Y13 for deferred entry. However, this relative had very clear reasons for wanting a gap year in order to improve a skill highly desirable to the course.

Thanks all! @PhotoDad hope your DS had a great year! Did he have concert plans when he applied? My DD won’t be able to firm up her plans until she knows if she has to be in the UK in 2027 to re-sit the TARA!

We have seen the guidance on Oxfords website, and the data they released about the rate of acceptance for deferred entry applications. Was a fantastic 32% in 23/24, but went back to (what I believe is more common) 7% the following year.

She will frame plans in relation to things that will be useful for the course, but we are thinking that she can reapply (not as deferred entry) in 2027. I know it is small numbers so any Oxbridge experiences would be really helpful!

@phyllidafosset, my DS only had very vague plans, and his gap-year reasons were unrelated to his degree course. He did take some textbooks with him to help maintain his maths, as he is in a STEM area. But the Cambridge college website said that that was okay, and they made good on that. He spent seven months coaching his relatively obscure sport abroad, as he gained all the coaching qualifications during his sixth-form years; and then a few months travelling with his earnings.

He did put a section in his personal statement explaining that he thought it was 'now or never' to do that sort of thing, but wasn't asked about it all during the interviews, which were purely academic. He had great GCSEs (and ultimately got his 4 A-stars at A level), but only 'good' on the standardised Cambridge test (his was "ESAT.")

He gets home tomorrow having been away since last October!

@phyllidafosset where on the university website are you getting those stats from, and what does 32% or 7% relate to? Proportion of offer holders who applied for deferred entry relative to all successful candidates? Course specific or across all courses?

In my experience (entry in the mid 2000s), I was offered a deferred entry place without actually asking for one. I had a great gap year and, when I arrived to start my course, I found that about half my cohort on my course in my college (about 4 of 8 students) had also had a deferred entry offer. Apparently it was something that the college I went to did back then. I was definitely better for it as I did lots of work and work experience, then travelled around the world. No idea if this still happens.

I also was given a deferred offer without asking for one (Cambridge) as the Director of Studies was taking a sabbatical and wanted to choose the people for when he was back so had the same year off as him. Said they had one every 7 years. I doubt that still happens but don't know.

I know one who got a deferred place at Oxford in a similar subject to PPE and I know they scored incredibly highly in admissions test, far above the minimum of the offers. Though its your score across a range of things. Getting in on second attempt is not uncommon and having been through process once probably helps and would give some idea of whether worth trying again. If you get to interview at Oxford you are normally in the last 3 per offer.

@foxglovetree they are here - although luckily I'm not applying because for 23/24 was only 22% in 23/24 (I used the interviewed number to calculate my percentage, not the offered number): 2023_24 PPE stats;
2223 PPE 2425 PPE

@UnintentionalArcher I feel like more people used to do gap years than do now. I think they are a great thing for so many reasons!

@OneZanyCat I'm with you. If applying again doesn't seem to be taken as a negative, then applying for a deferred entry sounds like the obvious choice. IF DD gets a place, then she can go off and volunteer abroad with a pathway for returning, if she doesn't she can apply again (since she is totally sure she wants a year off!).

The only issue with re-applying is that it could be tricky if your DD is out of the country when deadlines roll around, possibly with limited communications.... I'm sure you have considered this!

I agree - I think she might have to wait around if she re-applies. I am assuming she would need to be around to sit the TARA, and being somewhere remote would be a challenge if she did get offered an interview (or more). She had thought to just wait to apply next year, but IF she managed to get in this year (deferred), that would be SO much better (big IF though!).

DDs interview was online for Oxford though who knows whether that will still be the case in a couple of years time, would have thought they would be flexible and allow online if she prefers that though check with admissions. They give out interview days well in advance though exact times can be quite short notice.

@phyllidafosset both my two applied for deferred entry at Oxford and both were successful getting offers. One for Geography (graduated in 2023) and one for Modern Languages (still a student). I'm a big fan of a year out before Uni.

My advice would be to apply to a college where they have lots of students in their chosen subject (PPE in your DC's case) because the reluctance to give deferred offers is that (some) colleges don't like to 'give away' a place a year in advance because they don't know what geniuses will apply the next year. Ie what if they give one of 4 places to a 'standard Oxford student' then find they have that place blocked and yet have applications from 4 geniuses.

So my DC applied to colleges that generally made 8-10 offers in their year.

The rule of thumb I heard was that colleges tend only to give deferred offers to students who are in the top 25% of those they are interviewing that year. Also do make sure your DC has a credible plan for their year out which preferably will support their degree.

(Maths of course is the exception where deferred offers are almost never made)