Prospective students

Oxford does not set any specific GCSE grade requirements for Law. However, we do take contextualised GCSE scores into account. Strong GCSEs can strengthen an application, but they are only one part of the overall assessment. If your GCSE results were lower than expected due to extenuating circumstances (such as a change of school, disruption to teaching, serious illness, bereavement, or other significant difficulties) you may still be considered as a competitive applicant.

We understand that writing a personal statement can be very daunting. UCAS has recently introduced three key questions to help guide you through the process. Whilst a strong personal statement can help explain your interest in the subject, it does not hold as much weight for us as your GCSEs and LNAT and will not be used to decide whether you should be interviewed or not. You can only write one personal statement for your UCAS application, so you need to focus on your motivation for the subjects you are applying to, your academic preparation (further reading) and what you have gained from your extracurricular experiences, particularly focusing on any instructions you have been given by other Universities which don’t have the luxury of interviewing people as Oxford does. We are not looking for lists of accomplishments; we want to know what skills you have gained from them, and it’s good to know what else you do with your time so that (a) we know that you are not stretched to the limit by your schoolwork and you’d therefore have the capacity to expand into degree level study, and (b) so that we know you can organise and balance your time effectively, keeping commitments and managing your schoolwork around that.

There are two sections to the LNAT, and we use both scores in our assessment of your application. There is no pass mark: we use the average score of our applicants as a base point for all our applicants. You can find last year's admissions statistics report, which details average LNAT scores, on the Faculty website.

You cannot apply to both Oxford and Cambridge in the same application year.

You have 2 options: choose a college or opt for an open application and a college will be randomly allocated. We have worked hard on improving equity in the Law admissions process so that it should not matter which of these you choose in terms of your chances of getting in. The initial shortlisting stage takes place with the College information removed from your application to ensure that all applications are treated equally. Once the initial shortlist has been drawn up Colleges are then involved in adding more candidates to the shortlist and deciding who will be interviewed where. More than half of those selected for interview will be seen by more than one college. There are several points in the application process where you may be reallocated to a new college and throughout the process we move candidates around the Colleges to ensure that the best candidates across Oxford get in somewhere. So if you do particularly want to apply to a College then please do, but please also bear in mind that you might be interviewed and even taken elsewhere at a different College.

There are a lot of myths about the interview process, but really it is just a chance for tutors to see how your brain works and whether you would be successful in undertaking the work of an Oxford Law degree. There aren’t any ‘trick questions’; we really just want to know whether you have the natural aptitude, and, perhaps even more importantly, the dedication and commitment to studying your subject intensively.   You should receive two interviews at one college, and you may be called for a third interview at a different college. We understand that you may be very nervous, but the tutors will try to put you at your ease and it is important to remember that our Law interviewers never want to see students fail: they are there to converse with you on a subject you both enjoy. Together you will work out the answers to some very difficult questions! Students who get in often say that they enjoyed the interview but didn’t think it had gone very well. This is precisely because the tutors will ask you really difficult questions to challenge and stretch you and see how well you can do with their help. We would advise you to pay particular attention to the wording of any questions, and to speak your thoughts out loud so the interviewers can follow your thought process. You are encouraged to ask questions and ask for clarification etc if you feel that would be helpful. You are not expected to know any legal terms or cases or to have any knowledge of the subject at all; tutors will test your aptitude, not your knowledge. If you are studying A level law the questions will be designed to take you into areas or issues you haven’t studied so that all interviewees are on a level playing field. Tutors want to select students who will excel in the tutorial teaching system and on the Oxford course.

When you apply to UCAS, your application is sent to all the courses you are applying for (but universities cannot see your other choices). This is what we call UCAS Invisibility, and it is in place to ensure your other choices won't influence any decisions. You don’t have to mention any university in your personal statement.

Fees for Oxford are no more expensive than those at almost all other English universities. There is a tuition fee cap that is set by the UK government. Oxford offers extensive funding and scholarship opportunities for students from lower socio-economic backgrounds. One example is the Crankstart Scholarship, which provides a programme of enhanced support to UK residents from lower-income households who are studying for their first undergraduate degree. You can find more information on the university website. 

All colleges will provide a room on college grounds for your first year, and most will offer for all three years of your course. This is much cheaper than living out of college – meals in colleges are heavily subsidised too.

Students from state schools make up the majority of UK-domiciled undergraduate admissions at Oxford. 

Between 2020 and 2024, the proportion of admitted students from state schools remained consistently high at 66.2%. During the same period, the proportion of students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds decreased from 16.0% to 14.5%, where it has since stabilised.

Oxford has a rich range of traditions and formalities, some of which include wearing academic dress such as gowns for occasions like matriculation, examinations, and graduation. College culture also varies widely, with some colleges holding frequent formal dinners, while others may have few or none. Examinations are also accompanied by their own traditions, including the wearing of carnations in different colours: white for the first exam, pink for intermediate exams, and red for the final exam. But it’s important to remember that while some of these historical traditions remain, Oxford is a 21st Century institution too. We have members of Oxford’s law Faculty who specialise in Law and AI, for example. And it’s also the case that once students are here, regardless of their background, they really enjoy the historical traditions because they have earned the right to be part of those traditions and that history, and it belongs to them too. Whenever we ask students if they want to carry on with a particular tradition they always say yes. 

Many traditions also involve both colleges and the wider city. One of the most well-known is May Day, when thousands of students and local residents gather to hear the choir sing from the top of Magdalen Tower at dawn. Other popular traditions include punting on the River Thames (known locally as the Isis), as well as more light-hearted events such as tortoise racing.

It is extremely competitive, and successful applicants should be academically strong and motivated to learn. We expect students to manage their time effectively, as Oxford operates on a short-term system (eight-nine weeks), with assessments taking place at the end of the degree. This requires the ability to work independently and engage with material at a fast pace.

We receive around 2,200 applications for Law each year and have approximately 240 places available. As a result, the majority of applicants will not receive an offer, but you can be very proud even of being invited to interview because this is in itself a significant achievement.

There are strict admissions deadlines, and we are unable to accept late UCAS applications (deadline: 6pm BST, 15 October) or LNATs taken outside the testing window (1 September – 15 October).

Interviews are currently held online and are designed to assess how applicants think independently, respond to new ideas, and engage with unfamiliar material.