Oxford 2026 Applicant, tips?

3

Hi! I've never posted on here before so I'm not totally sure how it works, but I'm going to apply to Somerville for Psychology this year, and I was wondering if anyone has any tips for the application process/ suggestions for wider reading/ ways to strengthen my application? I've wanted to go to Oxford for as long as I can remember, and now that it's actually getting closer to applying I'm worried that I won't be a strong enough applicant.
(Some of my stats/ECs, I'm studying Psych, Geography and Sociology, I don't have predicted grades yet but I'm hoping for A*A*A*, I have roles in equality and mental health at my college, I've done psychology-related volunteering, silver DofE, I will be doing an EPQ, HE+ program etc)
Anyways, tips/ suggestions are super welcome, it's good to be here!!

Reply 1

cactus11235813

21

Original post

by unpunisherable

Hi! I've never posted on here before so I'm not totally sure how it works, but I'm going to apply to Somerville for Psychology this year, and I was wondering if anyone has any tips for the application process/ suggestions for wider reading/ ways to strengthen my application? I've wanted to go to Oxford for as long as I can remember, and now that it's actually getting closer to applying I'm worried that I won't be a strong enough applicant.
(Some of my stats/ECs, I'm studying Psych, Geography and Sociology, I don't have predicted grades yet but I'm hoping for A*A*A*, I have roles in equality and mental health at my college, I've done psychology-related volunteering, silver DofE, I will be doing an EPQ, HE+ program etc)
Anyways, tips/ suggestions are super welcome, it's good to be here!!

Check out the suggestions given by the university/other universities for wider reading and pick what seems interesting!

https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/suggested-subject-resources

There's a word document with a list of suggested books etc for experimental psychology linked to on the Oxford website under psychology. I've heard The Man who mistook his Wife for a Hat is good (linked to in both the psychology and medicine reading lists on the Oxford website).

Googling "Cambridge psychology reading list", here are some of the (better) ones which come up:
https://www.christs.cam.ac.uk/psychological-and-behavioural-sciences/reading - college pages have a lot of information, and some are better than others.
Also, the main Psychology page for Christ's: https://www.christs.cam.ac.uk/study-here/undergraduate-study/subjects/psychological-behavioural-sciences#resources

The Cambridge department one is here: https://www.pbs.tripos.cam.ac.uk/prospective/faq/faq-pbs-tripos-course#toc-10 (right at the bottom of the FAQ).

There was also another TSR thread, but I can't confirm reliability/quality of those books mentioned (whereas the college/university ones are more fact-checked by default): https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4482918

Also, probably the best resource I found when looking up wider reading back in the day was the University College Oxford page about book recommendations: https://www.univ.ox.ac.uk/applying-to-univ/reading-bank/

It's basically reviews by students about books they read as students, and it's generally very good + helpful.

There's a lot of information out there - it's just a matter of finding it!

Also - this is not an official suggestion, but brushing up on your maths beforehand can be useful, for any science degree in general! I don't do psychology in any way shape or form, but I know people doing psychology/neuroscience, and what applying to Oxbridge for sciences is like, so happy to help if you have any other questions!

Reply 2

unpunisherable

OP

3

Original post

by cactus11235813

Check out the suggestions given by the university/other universities for wider reading and pick what seems interesting!
https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/suggested-subject-resources
There's a word document with a list of suggested books etc for experimental psychology linked to on the Oxford website under psychology. I've heard The Man who mistook his Wife for a Hat is good (linked to in both the psychology and medicine reading lists on the Oxford website).
Googling "Cambridge psychology reading list", here are some of the (better) ones which come up:
https://www.christs.cam.ac.uk/psychological-and-behavioural-sciences/reading - college pages have a lot of information, and some are better than others.
Also, the main Psychology page for Christ's: https://www.christs.cam.ac.uk/study-here/undergraduate-study/subjects/psychological-behavioural-sciences#resources
The Cambridge department one is here: https://www.pbs.tripos.cam.ac.uk/prospective/faq/faq-pbs-tripos-course#toc-10 (right at the bottom of the FAQ).
There was also another TSR thread, but I can't confirm reliability/quality of those books mentioned (whereas the college/university ones are more fact-checked by default): https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4482918
Also, probably the best resource I found when looking up wider reading back in the day was the University College Oxford page about book recommendations: https://www.univ.ox.ac.uk/applying-to-univ/reading-bank/
It's basically reviews by students about books they read as students, and it's generally very good + helpful.
There's a lot of information out there - it's just a matter of finding it!
Also - this is not an official suggestion, but brushing up on your maths beforehand can be useful, for any science degree in general! I don't do psychology in any way shape or form, but I know people doing psychology/neuroscience, and what applying to Oxbridge for sciences is like, so happy to help if you have any other questions!

hey thank you so much for replying!! i completely forgot i'd ever even posted on here haha it's been a busy 4 months but im starting my personal statement now and these reading lists looks super helpful!!!!
are there any other supercurriculars you'd recommend that i take part in/do over the summer to make my application stronger?

Reply 3

cactus11235813

21

Original post

by unpunisherable

hey thank you so much for replying!! i completely forgot i'd ever even posted on here haha it's been a busy 4 months but im starting my personal statement now and these reading lists looks super helpful!!!!
are there any other supercurriculars you'd recommend that i take part in/do over the summer to make my application stronger?

Honestly, less can sometimes be more for the personal statement. There's a lot of info online, and basically any official university/college source is reliable. Make sure it's well-written, flows nicely (think of it as a flowchart), and focus on what you learnt from things. Try and link stuff together. I'm not sure what things are on?

Go to open days and ask questions! People are always happy to chat, and a lot of prospective students can be a bit dull and don't really seem to care, so if you go in genuinely interested and ask literally anything that isn't just "will I get in", they'll be ecstatic. Especially for departments - everyone always asks "are my A levels good enough", "are my GCSEs good enough", "will applying to X college boost my chances" - so if you show more of an interest, that'll be great. Obviously you can ask those questions, and many people do, but ask other stuff too! I'm not a psychology student, so obviously won't be as helpful as the real deal.

If you're eligible for e.g. Zero Gravity, Target Oxbridge, or similar, those programmes can be great (you'll get more targeted feedback), and I don't think it's too late to apply? (I mentored for Zero Gravity in my first year of uni, and was assigned people in September and October). Also, please please please don't use AI in your personal statement - you want it to sound like YOU, not like ChatGPT wrote it, and you'll get a lot out of writing it yourself and gathering your thoughts. There's barely any actual waffly writing in there anyway with 4000 characters - it's all your own concise thoughts linking stuff together.

Do TSA past papers - that's probably as important if not more compared to your personal statement, and practising it to time can really make a difference. It's another data point they'll have, and I'm assuming it's a strong discriminator. Probably not the end of the world if you do badly and the rest of your application is good, but having a high TSA score will look good, and that's something they can 100% trust. Obviously, work on your personal statement though! It might take many drafts (it took me forever), but you want it to be concise and easily readable. Get family to help if you can (especially with legibility etc), and remember that they'll be reading so many of them, so make their life easy.

Also, look through all the info on all the websites on all the universities you're applying to, even if it's just to hype yourself up. You want to know these details. Bring a notebook! Make notes at open days! Watch sample lectures. Prepare questions before you go, and get those answers. Genuine interest really shows through in your personal statement - honestly.

I might be biased (physics MSci hahaha), but I had a look at the oxford experimental psych website, and it looks like they have quite a bit of stats in first year? My main concern from what you've posted (you can tell I'm really procrastinating on my actual work) is that you're not doing maths A level, or at least the stats part of that, so if you can study some AS/A2 stats in advance, that shows that you're prepared! But that might also be overkill, so I don't know.

Sorry about long reply - I'm really procrastinating on my own work here hahaha! And I haven't checked this website in 4 months either.

Reply 4

thegeek888

18

Original post

by unpunisherable

Hi! I've never posted on here before so I'm not totally sure how it works, but I'm going to apply to Somerville for Psychology this year, and I was wondering if anyone has any tips for the application process/ suggestions for wider reading/ ways to strengthen my application? I've wanted to go to Oxford for as long as I can remember, and now that it's actually getting closer to applying I'm worried that I won't be a strong enough applicant.
(Some of my stats/ECs, I'm studying Psych, Geography and Sociology, I don't have predicted grades yet but I'm hoping for A*A*A*, I have roles in equality and mental health at my college, I've done psychology-related volunteering, silver DofE, I will be doing an EPQ, HE+ program etc)
Anyways, tips/ suggestions are super welcome, it's good to be here!!

Many other applicants will have 2 or more subjects at A-Level from Maths, Psychology, Biology and Chemistry. So, you really must get to grips with the A-Level Statistics topics of A-Level Maths perhaps?

Reply 5

Anonymous #1

Original post

by unpunisherable

Hi! I've never posted on here before so I'm not totally sure how it works, but I'm going to apply to Somerville for Psychology this year, and I was wondering if anyone has any tips for the application process/ suggestions for wider reading/ ways to strengthen my application? I've wanted to go to Oxford for as long as I can remember, and now that it's actually getting closer to applying I'm worried that I won't be a strong enough applicant.
(Some of my stats/ECs, I'm studying Psych, Geography and Sociology, I don't have predicted grades yet but I'm hoping for A*A*A*, I have roles in equality and mental health at my college, I've done psychology-related volunteering, silver DofE, I will be doing an EPQ, HE+ program etc)
Anyways, tips/ suggestions are super welcome, it's good to be here!!

if you could i would try and change one of your subjects to sciences! im not sure if youre applying to ep or ppl, but, especially for ep, having science subjects is an absolute must. the course is highly scientific and not having science subjects means you probably wont be the best match (which is okay!! there are tons of other great universities with psychology programs that may be more suited to your interests :smile:

). if you could, id reccomend doing maths as a fourth a level as that would probably add more course rigour to your application. i got an offer for cambridge and when i looked at foi requests for oxbridge psychology the vast majority of acceptances (over 85%) had 2/3 science subjects.

even though i got a cambs offer, i really didnt have that many supercurriculars (outside lab experience). i think the most important thing, especially for interviews, is to read widely, and be up to date with the current research. before my interview, i spent a lot of time going through neuroscience reviews which were super useful and will give you good overviews of topics - i really reccomend nature neuroscience.

is there a specific reason you are chosing oxford? ucl, kings and cambridge all have arguably stronger psychology programs. if there is, id capitalise on what specifically attracts you to oxford - is it a specific lab? are there researchers working on a specific topic there? do they offer unique modules?

if you have any more questions let me know! id love to help out

Oxford 2026 Applicant, tips?

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Articles for you

How The Student Room is moderated