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Is Cambridge easier to get into than oxford?

The same number of people in my year applied to Cambridge as Oxford, however 8 people got offers from Cambridge and only 2 people got offers from Oxford. Is Oxford harder to get into?

Reply 1

Ariwanas

It depends on the subject tbh. I think both are equal on terms of how hard it is to get an offer in general.
In my year we had four people going to Oxford and none going to Cambridge.

Reply 2

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

As above varies a lot between subjects. For medicine Oxford is at least on the surface "harder" to get into in terms of success rates, but Cambridge has additional requirements which thins their field through self-selection at the outset. For chemistry Oxford is on the surface potentially easier to get into as it has a higher success rate than Cambridge natsci but the latter does not distinguish between the intended focuses of the applicants so it may be those planning to specialise in chemistry in natsci do just as well as those applying to Oxford.

Generally they're looking for essentially the same kinds of students. They just assess those somewhat differently in the admissions processes so you may present a better application to one than the other in different circumstances (or find an offer easier or harder to achieve after getting one). Broadly speaking Oxford put more emphasis on GCSEs while Cambridge puts less emphasis on these, while Oxford has lower standard entry criteria for A-level grades (or equivalent) while Cambridge are somewhat higher. They also may have different admissions tests (e.g. MAT vs STEP for maths), or a subject may require an admissions test at one of the two but not the other.

Also bear in mind each has a number of courses unique to them that is not offered by the other, either in general or in that particular format (e.g. arch & anth vs archaeology, ASNAC, land economy, vet med, human sciences, natural sciences vs individual science subjects, PPE, HSPS, etc, etc).

Reply 3

skylark2

There will be some people for whom one is easier to get into than the other. For instance, I got into Oxford for physics but would have been an insta-rejection for Natsci from Cambridge because of my A level subjects. If a candidate has poor GCSEs for whatever reason, it may rule them out of an Oxford interview but not Cambridge. It's incredibly hard to get into Cambridge for medicine if your third A level isn't maths, while Oxford don't care.

On average, in terms of "what are the average stats of people who get places at Oxford vs Cambridge?" They're basically identical.

Reply 4

Mpho47

Hello, I do not believe that Cambridge is easier to get into than Oxford, however I think that both universities offer internationally renowned courses for business and law, as a prospective candidate for such I would prefer my CAS from either of the two universities, thank you, Mpho47