Your Application
As Oxford is a Collegiate University, there are two stages to the application process. Applicants must first have been accepted by a Department or Faculty of the University of Oxford before Wolfson can consider them. However, you only need to make one application which covers both the Department and College.
Applications are made directly through the central Graduate Admissions Office. The University website will explain the Application process in detail.
On the University's application form you may choose to either indicate that you have no college preference, or state your preferred college. You will not be able to amend your choice after submitting your application. The selection you make does not affect how the department assesses your application.
When you have been accepted by the Department/Faculty onto a programme, you are guaranteed a college place, although not necessarily at your preferred college. Your application file will be sent to your choice of college (or one selected on your behalf, if you indicated 'no college preference'). Applications to Wolfson are considered for any of the courses in which the College offers admission. Please consult the following list to see these courses: http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/postgraduate_courses/college_guide/index.html
If, for any reason the College is not able to accept you, your application file will be passed on to another college that has places available.
Applications are usually considered by the Senior Tutor in conjunction with the Academic Administrator. Preference may be given to applicants whose area of study overlaps with the academic interests of the College’s academic staff and to current or past students of the College who meet the selection criteria outlined below. The possession of competitively won funding may also be taken into account as an indicator of the applicant’s academic merit and potential.
The College aims to admit a certain number of graduate students each year spread across the range of subjects in which it accepts graduate students, and this will determine the number of offers which can be made to applicants. Where there are more applicants than offers which can be made, the relative academic merit and potential of the applicants may be taken into account. It may not be possible to make offers to applicants whose applications are received late in the admissions round, when places are full.
The final decision on whether to offer a place in the light of the overall competition for graduate places and the spread of those places across subject areas is usually taken by the Senior Tutor in conjunction with the Academic Administrator.
Please note that any offer of a place will be subject to satisfactory financial evidence that the applicant can meet the tuition and living costs for the duration of their course. Please consult this guidance for more details: http://www.ox.ac.uk/feesandfunding/fees/financialguarantee/
If you are accepted by the College
You will receive a conditional offer letter and acceptance form via email. You must complete and return the acceptance form within two weeks of receiving your offer letter, otherwise it will be assumed that you have declined the offer.
Once you have returned your acceptance form, you will receive details of College Accommodation (via email) directly from the College Accommodation Officer. The Academic Secretary will also send you a Financial Guarantee Form. This will need to be returned before the 1 August, along with the required supporting documentation. You will need to demonstrate that you have sufficient funds to support the entire duration of your studies, in order to meet your financial conditions.
Once you have met your Financial conditions (set by the College) and your Academic conditions (set by the Department/Faculty), the University will issue a final unconditional offer letter and contract.
The next contact with the College will be in July, when you will receive a welcome pack (via email) containing information about your arrival. If you are a self-financed student you will also receive an invoice and will need to pay your fees by the 30 September (or by the time you move into College Accommodation if this date is earlier than the 30 Sept).
Find the answers to many of the common questions prospective students ask about the graduate admissions process here.
