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What BMAT score should I aim for - Oxford Biomed?

Title - it's super unclear online what the bracket looks like for those who receive interviews, so does anyone have any further info on what to aim for?

Post admissions process Edit: There's definitely a big range, and BMAT is especially important in shortlisting. However, an average BMAT can be offset by stellar GCSEs, based on the algorithm Oxford uses. For biomed, ensuring your BMAT is solid is super important because only around 25% of applicants are shortlisted. To give some numbers, someone with 5.4, 5.7, 3A is cutting it a little close (on average - there are definitely outliers), however if they had 9+ 9s at GCSE, they have a decent chance of being shortlisted imo. Still wishy washy, I know. But I would say that post-shortlisting, BMAT scores don't account for much, and aren't generally the differentiating factor between applicants (interviews are!).
(edited 10 months ago)
Original post by its_jiaa
I have my heart dead set on Oxford Biomedical Sciences. It's such a dream of mine, I absolutely adore both the course material and the city. I'd love to know what the BMAT is used for in the application - shortlisting only? Or is it referred to throughout? Also what kind of score should I be aiming for? Oxford (for Biomed at least) weights BMAT and GCSEs equally when considering an applicant for shortlisting. For context, I received 11 x 9s and 1 x A*, but I'm not sure what the lower end of the range for shortlisting is (as the stats on the webstie are in %, they aren't super helpful). And any BMAT prep tips would be greatly appreciated; in practice tests, I find section 2 very time pressured and the content is so varied so I'm finding effective revision super difficult. Advice on that specifically would be fab.

Thanks very much!

hi!! I’m also really wanting to do biomed at oxford based on what I’ve found, scores range from like low-mid 5s to 9s for people who got interviews and/or offers
Original post by its_jiaa
I have my heart dead set on Oxford Biomedical Sciences. It's such a dream of mine, I absolutely adore both the course material and the city. I'd love to know what the BMAT is used for in the application - shortlisting only? Or is it referred to throughout? Also what kind of score should I be aiming for? Oxford (for Biomed at least) weights BMAT and GCSEs equally when considering an applicant for shortlisting. For context, I received 11 x 9s and 1 x A*, but I'm not sure what the lower end of the range for shortlisting is (as the stats on the webstie are in %, they aren't super helpful). And any BMAT prep tips would be greatly appreciated; in practice tests, I find section 2 very time pressured and the content is so varied so I'm finding effective revision super difficult. Advice on that specifically would be fab.

Thanks very much!

update: i just checked an foi request from 2018-2020, and honestly the bmat results are super varied; someone with 4.3, 3.9, 3 got an offer and someone with 6.2, 5.3, 3.5 didn’t! there’s really no way to say what bmat score we’d need haha
Reply 3
Original post by username10190205
update: i just checked an foi request from 2018-2020, and honestly the bmat results are super varied; someone with 4.3, 3.9, 3 got an offer and someone with 6.2, 5.3, 3.5 didn’t! there’s really no way to say what bmat score we’d need haha


Ooh thanks so much for the sleuthing. Yeah I struggled to find a definitive range, but good to know that it seems quite broad.
Reply 4
The BMAT is important to get the interview but once you go for interviews, it looks like the interviews are very heavily weighted in decision making for offers. In a sense, the BMAT is used to narrow down whom to interview. But if you look at the FOI request referred to above, you will see that it’s the interview scores that seem to be the deal breaker (in general).

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