Oxford Uni help... Choral scholarship

Hi there, I have just received my A level results A* A A which I am thrilled about and have the option now to apply to Oxford, Choral is my world and I have an Alto scholarship in a cathedral for my gap year. I would love to receive advice on colleges and which ones are best and which are less competitive to apply for a scholarship. Any advice about interview prep, essay submission and personal statement top tips would be very very much appreciated

Reply 1

Stiffy Byng

19

No college is easier to get into than any other. There are sixteen colleges which offer choral awards. Choose the one you like the most.

You can also, exceptionally, seek a choral award at Cambridge as well as at Oxford (if not applying for a choral award, you can't apply to both universities in the same year). EDIT: I was wrong about that. You can apply for an organ scholarship at both of the universities, but for a choral scholarship at only one of the two.

Good luck.

(edited 1 week ago)

Reply 2

xyz1234567

6

Some colleges require more commitment from a choral scholar than others do think about how many rehearsals and services you would be willing to do each week. In particular, the choral foundations (Magdalen, Christ Church, New College) are significant commitments but have extremely high standards of choir. You would be singing almost every day at those colleges, but the musical training and opportunities are incredible. Other colleges may require less of a commitment- between 1 and 4 services a week.

There is a list here of which colleges have awards for 2025 entry: https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/applying-to-oxford/choral-and-organ-awards/choral-awards

Reply 3

xyz1234567

6

Also, bear in mind the application system is different. You can nominate several colleges to be considered at for a choral award. This all happens before you apply via UCAS (when you can only apply for one college). So you don’t need to worry too much about second-guessing how competitive the choir is at any given college as you are meant to put down at least 4 preferences and can put down up to 10. If you meet the standard for a choral award, you then apply (to that college) along with everyone else in October and go through the academic admissions process to see if you get a place on academic merit.

Reply 4

loughrea

OP

4

Huge thanks for the above information!!!

Reply 5

The_Lonely_Goatherd

20

Congrats on those great A Level results! Can't help on the choral award front. Re other stuff: am I right in assuming that, when you ask for interview/PS/essay submission advice, you'd be applying for a music undergrad degree? :smile:

Reply 6

islabyrne19

1

Original post by The_Lonely_Goatherd

Congrats on those great A Level results! Can't help on the choral award front. Re other stuff: am I right in assuming that, when you ask for interview/PS/essay submission advice, you'd be applying for a music undergrad degree? :smile:

Any chance you could give advice on that for a Music undergrad degree anyway? Im looking for some help before applying this year...

Reply 7

The_Lonely_Goatherd

20

Original post by islabyrne19

Any chance you could give advice on that for a Music undergrad degree anyway? Im looking for some help before applying this year...

@qwerties can give more up-to-date advice than I can! But some advice that won't have changed from when I did the music degree at Ox (2007-2010):

Personal statement

I think you still have to submit the usual UCAS personal statement (rather than answering questions, as per the upcoming new format?) As a former Personal Statement Reviewer on TSR, I recommend a five paragraph structure:

1) Short introduction to your statement. How you open is up to you. Some suggestions are that you can start with how you first got into classical music/how you came to play your first instrument.

2) Your non-performance interests and achievements in music (super-curriculars). This can be books you've read, podcasts listened to, concerts attended, and a general overview of what you might be most interested in studying at any music uni. Be sure to not just list books and podcasts, but to comment on them intelligently.

3) Performance-related achievements in music. This paragraph might be a good place to indicate what your principal instruments are (or whether you're a composer/conductor!), level of piano playing, etc. It should not be too long.

4) Areas of interests/achievements outside of music (extra-curriculars).

5) Short but punchy conclusion paragraph, reminding the admissions tutors why they should choose YOU! :musicus:

Essay submissions to Oxford

These essays may form the basis of discussion at interview (I had a whole interview on my music essay! :headfire:

), so it's important that you only send essays on topics you're confident talking about at length/in depth at the Oxford interview. So for example: I had an essay about Louis Armstrong, but jazz isn't my thing, so I didn't want to send that in!

The official advice is that the essay shouldn't have been written especially for Oxford but the reality is as long as your classroom teacher fills in the form, etc., they have little way of knowing :wink:

Interview advice

Interviews are hard to plan for but there are some basics:

•

think aloud. Don't just give them the final answer, but show them how you got to it. Oxford is more interested in how you think than what you know :h:

•

Know sonata form and derivatives inside-out and back-to-front, as this can often form the basis of the analysis extract at the interview

•

A good guide as to musicological topics that might come up in the interview is Nicholas Cook's short volume, Music: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford Uni Press). That said, if you don't understand it, don't panic!

•

Practice having mock interviews, so you can get used to thinking on your feet!

Reply 8

qwerties

2

Original post by islabyrne19

Any chance you could give advice on that for a Music undergrad degree anyway? Im looking for some help before applying this year...

Hey Isla, I would pretty much agree with everything TLG has said below! I have two edits and points to add:

1.

Your personal statement, if you’re sending the application in 2025, will be questions-based. This will be really similar in content to the personal statements, just framed differently to give you more structured. I’ve DMed you with more info.

2.

For preparation for your interviews, I would say treat every article, journal, or extract from a book you read as practice. Whether you do this by talking to yourself or just thinking about potential questions or points of interests that the interviewers might talk about with you, it’s best to also structure your thinking. I like to do this in two steps to mirror the interview structure: ‘what is the main summarised argument in this prose’, and secondly, ‘what do I think? Do I agree, disagree, or don’t understand? If so, why?’ All of these questions give structure to your thoughts, and are great for signposting your thinking in the real thing, too.

Let me know if you have more questions. Best of luck!

Reply 9

loughrea

OP

4

Original post by The_Lonely_Goatherd

Congrats on those great A Level results! Can't help on the choral award front. Re other stuff: am I right in assuming that, when you ask for interview/PS/essay submission advice, you'd be applying for a music undergrad degree? :smile:

Hi yes I’m applying for the music degree

Reply 10

loughrea

OP

4

Original post by The_Lonely_Goatherd

Congrats on those great A Level results! Can't help on the choral award front. Re other stuff: am I right in assuming that, when you ask for interview/PS/essay submission advice, you'd be applying for a music undergrad degree? :smile:

Hi yes that correct, I am applying for the music degree

Reply 11

The_Lonely_Goatherd

20

Original post by loughrea

Hi yes I’m applying for the music degree

Cool, see replies above from me and qwerties!

Reply 12

BarbaraStoneM

5

Original post by qwerties

Hey Isla, I would pretty much agree with everything TLG has said below! I have two edits and points to add:

1.

Your personal statement, if you’re sending the application in 2025, will be questions-based. This will be really similar in content to the personal statements, just framed differently to give you more structured. I’ve DMed you with more info.

2.

For preparation for your interviews, I would say treat every article, journal, or extract from a book you read as practice. Whether you do this by talking to yourself or just thinking about potential questions or points of interests that the interviewers might talk about with you, it’s best to also structure your thinking. I like to do this in two steps to mirror the interview structure: ‘what is the main summarised argument in this prose’, and secondly, ‘what do I think? Do I agree, disagree, or don’t understand? If so, why?’ All of these questions give structure to your thoughts, and are great for signposting your thinking in the real thing, too.

Let me know if you have more questions. Best of luck!

Hello! I'm also applying for music and choral Award and would love to have your DM too. Thank you! -B

Reply 13

loughrea

OP

4

Original post by The_Lonely_Goatherd

Congrats on those great A Level results! Can't help on the choral award front. Re other stuff: am I right in assuming that, when you ask for interview/PS/essay submission advice, you'd be applying for a music undergrad degree? :smile:

Hi ...yes I am applying for a music degree