Studying PPL at Oxford

Hi, I'm a high schooler from Scotland, currently in Year 12 (or S5 in Scotland). I'm interested in applying to Oxford for Philosophy and Linguistics as part of PPL course. For my Highers (which we do in S5), I am doing maths, English, French, physics, and economics. I'm wondering if anyone has any advice for Advanced Higher choices (which we do in S6) and what I could be doing now to prepare for my application next year?
Everyone one around me who has similar aspirations seem to be doing tons of competitions and stuff while I have just been doing some reading. Should I also be doing essay competitions for philosophy and maybe something like the UKLO for linguistics?
I'm especially interested in the philosophy of mind (esp. phenomenology, though I hear Oxford aren't too keen on continental philosophers) and personal identity, so I've been reading about these topics. But I have no idea what I should be doing for linguistics, I'm not too great at language puzzles and I'm more interested in how language itself shapes human thought. Any advice would be much appreciated!

Hi ! It’s great that you’re starting now. What is really important to remember is that PPL is empirical and science based - there’s going to be less Freud and subjective stuff that can’t be tested, and more scientifically credible/testable concepts. More importantly, you have to show how your interest overlaps - why do you want to study Philosophy AND linguistics? I would give you specific recommendations but I applied for Psych and linguistics not philosophy. General advice : start reading books now (books about linguistics/philosophy), start listening to podcasts/subscribing to journals/reading papers, create a resource to document any interesting facts/new research in the field of philosophy or linguistics (preferably both). MOOCs are an easy way of broadening your understanding/scope of a subject, but applying to workshops and competitions is better and you can be more specific. Oxford hosts some language courses which aren’t too difficult to get onto (I attended one). Also a hack is searching ‘special opportunities’ in the Unifrog search bar and it will give you comps/workshops/summer schools etc.
Not really sure how the Scottish system works but if you can pick up a science -based subject it would be beneficial to your understanding of linguistics and improve your chances of getting in (maybe). Psychology is a good one if - like me - the hard core sciences seem a bit too much. Good luck !

Hi, thanks so much for the reply! I hope you don’t mind answering a few more questions 😅.
I was just wondering if you had any specific book recommendations for linguistics? So far I haven’t really done any reading in the area and the only reason I feel like I want to study it is because I enjoy learning the grammar of different languages and comparing them. And while I was exploring philosophy, I encountered and enjoyed Wittgenstein who incorporates concepts of language in his works. But compared to philosophy I’ve done almost no reading on linguistics.
The other question I have is about the interview. I’ve watched the interviews Oxford posts online and they all seem to involve the student solving some sort of language puzzle (like trying to translate a foreign language from a few lines) posed by the tutor. Is this what you experienced as well? Should I be doing these too?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P4EcEvGQl8
Thanks so much and I’ll look into some of the moocs, can I just check which Oxford one you were talking about?

Hi again - sorry I should have clarified , I’m not currently at Oxford but a 2025 applicant (did the TSA yesterday! ) I hope i can still be of use to you
The journal ‘Applied Linguistics’ is good because you can focus your interest and attention on a specific area of linguistics . I read the short story ‘The Truth of Fact, The Truth of Feeling’ by Chiang because of my interest in oral/written culture .
Here is a link to some more : https://fivebooks.com/best-books/linguistics-david-adger/
I would say it’s better to listen to podcast though, for a multitude of reasons. 1. You can listen whilst doing something else , doesn’t have to take loads of time 2. There are often experts/top researchers who present /are invited on shows 3. It’s current - a lot of the most well-regarded books are now kinda outdated - Oxford is all about new, current research and changes 4. It will recommend books/journals/other podcasts.
Some of the ones I listened to (including for philosophy) : Lingthusiasm, The Language of Neuroscience, Very Bad Wizards, The Consciousness Podcast , The Allusionist + more. Find your niche !
I haven’t done interview yet, but yes you’re right. There will be 2 interviews, usually from 2 different colleges - one for philosophy, one for linguistics. However, I really don’t think you need to be preparing for this now. Focus on getting good mock results, beefing up your application with extra/supercurriculars, and later start practicing your maths skills for the TSA.
The language course I did was St Edmunds Hall - Language Miracles Workshop (I chose the Spanish and French ones, as that’s what I do at a level.)
Good luck , and let me know if you have any more questions !