Oxbridge applications 2027 entry

[Justlurkingmostly]

Starting up a new thread for anyone whose YP might be applying this autumn for entry next year!

From this year interview shortlisting is done by TMUA score - so instead of interviewing 80% of all applicants, they are using this to reduce the number they interview.

They still have to do STEP though.

So glad my daughter isn't studying maths - TWO entrance tests plus an interview????? One test was bad enough.

Universities might get slightly earlier or similar time as results go out.
Candidates to receive test results via their UAT-UK account
Monday 16th November 2026 (mid-afternoon GMT)

Congratulations on all interview invites received. I certainly won’t expect anything before next Tuesday. My DS’ college says it will give 2 weeks notice for interviews.

Anyone waiting for TMUA results before adding other uni choices? DS just put Oxford and waiting till result is known to decide on putting others for maths - in the mix are imperial, UCL, Warwick, Bath or Manchester. Once other choices are entered how soon will those that require it get TMUA sent on? Nervous for Monday.

DS was offered A star A star A A IIRC for MEng at Manchester a couple of years ago. He got AABB (so a whole grade lower on every subject) but got confirmation of his offer before he knew his actual A’level results. TBF he was close to the grade boundaries across the board.

@Butterfly44 This is AI answer: UAT-UK does not publish an exact hour-by-hour processing time for newly added UCAS choices, though data syncing between UCAS and admissions portals typically takes a few working days.
Because your ESAT scores are already graded and stored in the central UAT-UK system by results day, the transfer happens automatically once your UCAS application updates.

Best wishes for children who attend BPHO1 today and BMO1 next Wednesday.

That’s good to hear, thank you.

just noticed my stars didn’t translate, so to avoid doubt the offer was A star, A star, A.

Dd says that apparently last year ESAT results were out at about 3pm but that the site crashed almost immediately and many people had to wait until after 4 to get access. She’s going to be in rehearsals for a school concert on Monday from 2pm to 4.15pm so won’t be able to get them until then anyway.

I think dd will be sitting the BMO1. She missed the qualifying score by 2 marks but suspects that school will pay for her to do it. They did last year and she came out with an astonishing score of….3. Was still best in year! 🤣. She’s happy to have another bash at it this year. She just views it as a bit of fun (she’s a strange child!) and doesn’t do any prep for it.

She has a mock interview after school today but I’m not sure she’s done any planning for it. 😬 I hope at least that she’s going to re-read her PS at lunchtime.

Good luck with ESAT results! For what it's worth, DS was interviewed for a STEM subject at Cambridge (and is now a fresher there). He was only asked briefly about his gap-year plans as he deferred for a year; other than that, there was nothing about the PS, just a string of subject questions getting progressively harder.

Many of you will know this but it's worth repeating. The interviews are not designed to be a nice chat but to see how people react under pressure. It is very common to think you've failed, afterwards. If candidates know that in advance, it can help!

(At my own interview decades ago, in person, I was the first of the day and had to do some maths on a whiteboard. It turns out they gave me a permanent marker by mistake and that rather messed up their plans for the rest of the morning! I suspect that's why I got a place...)

Son missed BMO1by four points. He's going to do the Kangaroo for fun. School doesn't help and BMO1 has to be paid by them, even if we pay it back and they didn't engage when asked. Him and two friends did SMC independently so it's not easy.

Does anyone know if TMUA result comes by email, or do they need to log in and check regularly through the day? Son was a bit clueless when I asked him!

@justteanbiscuits Your DS’ school doesn’t seem very supportive.
He will be sent an email saying TMUA results are ready to view then he will need to login and find out. Website says mid afternoon.

Thank you :)

No, they're not very supportive, and this is why they very rarely have someone go to Oxbridge!!

Your DS has scored very well in SMC entering independently. He will be successful wherever he goes.

Oxford interview invitation for Music received!

Music departments are on fire! Maybe they just get fewer applicants so have fewer applications to sift through...

DD doesn’t want to look at her ESAT score on Monday, says she’d rather wait and find out if she gets an interview otherwise a low score will put her off preparing for an interview. I do not believe she’ll be able to resist!

Amazing! Congratulations!!!

@BreakfastClub80 My DD is going to check hers for comedy value - expecting only a “participation award” 😂😂😂. Her school have encouraged her to prepare for interview anyway as the sorts of problems posed will be application of knowledge and is great prep for thinking at A star level. Proved right as one of the questions on a recent school mock was very similar to one of the engineering interview questions available on the internet.

Hooray for the first Oxford interview of the thread!! 👏👏👏

Congratulations on the interview!

I’ve just seen on Uniscout someone with an engineering interview at Kings. Assume that suggests colleges now have the ESAT results?

Eek!

It seems that Engineering departments are moving ahead. Memory lane - long ago, ENGAA was on 5/11, then Cambridge interview invite came on 22/11. Even longer ago, my eldest received Cambridge interview invite on 15/11, did LNAT on 22/11. Keep calm and walk the path last time. ;) Hopefully good news all around next week for everyone.

…congratulations on the first Oxford interview!
The Microsoft outage might be delaying invites today!!