Official Oxford 2023 Postgraduate Applicants Thread

Prospective course: Environmental Change and Management (ECM)
Achieved (or expected) grade: Expected - first class
Nationality: Sri Lankan
Current (or last) university: University of London
Current (or last) course: International Development, BSc
College preferences: Mansfield
Other universities you’re applying to: Cambridge, UCL


Hi everyone! Would be happy to connect with other ECM applicants!

Also if anyone has experience applying before, if applications are submitted in early December - does that also guarantee an earlier response than if submitted in January? I missed the November deadline so was just wondering.

Hello, I recently realized that I may have made a mistake with a sentence (some logical error) in the written work I submitted for the November deadline in the process of downsizing my paper to fit the word count (basically the sentence doesn't exactly match what is described in the accompanying figure/graph). I am really frustrated that I discovered this after submitting it, especially since I'm pretty confident with the rest of my supporting documents. I'm wondering if this one-sentence anomaly will have a critical impact on the admission decision with regards to the written work, such as making the assessors believe that I have low analytical skills.

Does anyone know if the assessors just look at the overall picture of the work and the general academic English writing skills of the applicant, or if they really tend to read every single word and sentence carefully as if they would assess a journal article candidate for publishing? I sincerely hope that one logical error in a sentence won't bother the assessors much in terms of their holistic assessment of my written work.

I cannot speak on behalf of Oxford admissions people as I have never specifically been in their shoes. However, as some-one who has worked in university admissions (as an assessor) for the most part of my career, I can say with confidence that we assessors rarely look closely into each and every detail of a supporting piece/an application so much as consider that piece/app as a whole. Hope this respond comforts you somehow!

Thank you very much! I'm definitely feeling better after your response.

I have certainly heard that supporting documents are reviewed holistically overall rather than in minute detail in order to choose the candidates that really fit the program at Oxford, so I'm still pretty confident going in!

My understanding is that they are not marking your written work for accuracy. The admissions team want to see that you can write in an academic style, especially since essays are an integral part of Oxford's system.

Don't sweat a typo!

Does Oxford not like students from Nottingham? A friend my average 90% in her undergrad maths course, did a summer research project, mentored 1st and 2nd years whilst in her third year but she got rejected when applying for a OMMS. I can only think that Oxford don't value the course at Nottingham. She's at warwick now doing a masters there.

Do you know when Oxford usually interview the candidates? Is it December or is it early next year?

I came from Nottingham and I am currently on the OMMS course

hi I submitted my DPhil application yesterday and received this...does anyone know what it means?

"Ready for assessment in December Deadline :
Your application can be or has been considered by the relevant academic department. The Graduate Admissions website provides further information on the graduate admissions timetable and process.
Documents submitted after the application deadline may not be taken into account by the academic department."