Selection Criteria

In making decisions on candidates, tutors are guided by selection criteria, which are listed here. These criteria, which are the same for all colleges, are reviewed annually.

History Aptitude Test

All candidates for History, or any joint school including History, are required to take the History Aptitude Test in early November. You can find out more information about it here.   From October 2011, all applicants MUST register themselves to take the HAT via Cambridge Assessment's secure Entries Extranet.  For more information, go to:

http://www.hatoxford.org.uk

Written Work

Candidates for History will be asked to send in an essay on a historical topic by 10 November. This should be a marked essay of A2 level, or equivalent, written in your own time as part of your normal school/college work. It should be about 1,500 words long and not longer than 2,000 words.  There are additional requirements for some joint-school candidates: please see below.

Please send an ordinary essay, not a structured question, nor a source-based response, nor a personal study. Your work should be accompanied by a signed certificate stating the circumstances under which the work was written (this can be downloaded from the University Admissions website). If these requirements cause any problems, please contact the Tutor for Admissions at your college of preference. Note that in selecting work for submission you should choose a piece which has enthused you and on which you are willing to talk. Do not worry if you have changed your mind on the topic since writing it. Tutors are impressed by candidates who remain intellectually engaged with their work.

Reallocation

Please note that you will probably be interviewed at the college to which you applied, or the college to which you were allocated, if you made an open application. However, in some cases your application may be referred to another college. This can happen if a college is significantly oversubscribed for your subject that year, and the faculty will re-distribute candidates with the aim of ensuring greater parity in the number of applicants interviewed in each college. During the interview week itself, you may be offered further opportunities to have an interview at other colleges.

Interviews

Interviews are not intended to be confrontational although they will undoubtedly be intellectually challenging. The tutors are interested in finding out what your intellectual potential is; they do not wish to catch you out. But remember to think carefully about the questions you have been asked; your interviewers will not mind if you pause to think. Try not to go in with some pre-packaged prepared piece you are determined to deliver at all costs.

Your submitted essay is likely to form a starting point for discussion in at least one of your interviews. The tutors are not so much interested in the level of your knowledge as in your ability to think historically. They wish to test your flexibility, your conceptual skills, and the precision of your thinking. They will use a variety of methods to assess these skills, but you are likely to be asked about the definition of terms you have used; you may be asked to compare the material you have submitted with some other historical example you have studied; and you may be asked how new pieces of information presented to you affect the arguments you have made.

Some colleges may require you to read a short passage of historical writing while you are up for interview, which they will ask you to discuss as part of the interview process.

You may be asked questions about statements on your UCAS form. Tutors will be particularly interested in evidence of a historical sensitivity: e.g. relating to places you have visited or books you have read. If you are planning a gap-year you should be prepared to discuss your plans.

Tutors like to see an interest in political history backed by interest in political ideas, and in the social and economic context of politics. We welcome historians who have or may develop an interest in archaeology, literature, culture, sociology, foreign languages, the arts or religion – in short, in any aspect of historical inquiry, or in any other intellectual discipline that can enrich our historical understanding.

The Minimum Offer

In order to take up a conditional offer of a place in History or any of its joint schools, Oxford requires you to achieve three As at A2 in A-level, for places offered in the Admissions Process 2011.  You need not have taken all three A levels in the same year.  You do not need to have an A*. 

Joint schools

Candidates for all the joint schools with History will take the History Aptitude Test in early November. All candidates will be asked to submit an essay on a historical topic by 10 November, as above. In the case of candidates for Ancient and Modern History, the essay may deal with a topic from either ancient or modern history.

In the case of Ancient and Modern History, and History and Politics, there are typically no further requirements, though some colleges may ask History and Politics candidates for an additional piece of writing.

In the case of Modern History and English, you should submit two additional marked essays prepared in the normal course of your college or school work in English. These should not be specially rewritten for Oxford entrance, nor should they be timed essays, creative writing, or critical commentary on a short piece of verse or prose. Both essays should be on an English Literature topic with the exception that one may be on an English Language topic. One piece of moderated course work done for either English Literature or English Language courses or course components is acceptable.

In the case of History and Modern Languages you are required to submit two additional pieces of recent school or college written work (preferably of different kinds) for the language you are currently studying. This work should be essays or similar pieces of work which have already been written and marked with teachers’ corrections. At least one piece should be written in the target language. There will also be a 30-minute written test in the target language. It is intended to test your grasp of grammar. A sample of the test is available from the Oxford Colleges Admissions Office.

In the case of History and Economics, you should submit one coursework essay in Economics or a closely related subject. If you need advice about this, you should contact the Tutor for Admissions at your college of preference. You will also be required to sit a one-hour written test. This is designed to test candidates’ comprehension, writing and problem-solving skills. There is a sample of the test here.

If you are thinking of applying for any of the joint schools with history, you should think about how the two disciplines relate to each other. How does the study of history differ from the study of literature, or politics, or economics? Are there differences between the study of ancient history and modern history (when does ‘modern’ begin?)? How does a knowledge of each side of your chosen joint school enrich, or affect, the study of the other side? Tutors will want to be sure that you have made a positive decision to study two subjects alongside, and in relation to, each other.

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