The Faculty of History seeks, among other things:
- To promote in all its students skills and aptitudes which are transferable to a wide range of employment contexts and life experiences.
- To provide challenging undergraduate courses that engage the critical acumen, imagination and creativity of the students; that develop their independent thinking by drawing on technical skills in historical investigation and exposition; that increase their sensitivity to the human issues at the heart of the analysis of the past.
Our admissions procedures are designed to select those students best fitted by ability and potential to benefit from the intensive, tutorially-based learning methods employed by the Faculty to achieve those goals. While academic staff will be guided in their decision-making by the criteria that follow, it is important to remember that selection involves complex professional judgements and that selection for places at Oxford takes place in a highly competitive environment. On both counts, mere possession of the qualities indicated below does not guarantee a candidate the offer of a place.
The following criteria are to be applied in the assessment of candidates for History. In the case of candidates for the Joint Schools with History, these criteria are to be applied in assessment for the History side of each school.
History
Many of these criteria also apply to candidates in the Joint Schools. For more details, see below.
General Selection Criteria
- Intellectual curiosity
- Conceptual clarity
- Flexibility - the capacity to engage with alternative perspectives and/or new information
- Accuracy and attention to detail
- Critical engagement
- Capacity for hard work
- Enthusiasm for History
- Evidence of historical imagination and understanding, in particular, the ability to speculate and compare, alongside the possession of appropriate historical knowledge and the capacity to deploy it.
Candidates will be assessed against these criteria on the basis of information derived from the following sources:
- UCAS forms, including, in particular, personal statements, school reports, qualifications achieved and qualifications predicted
- Relevant additional information supplied on, or with, the Oxford application form (for example, concerning candidates’ special circumstances)
- Performance in the History Aptitude Test (HAT)
- Written work submitted by candidates
- Performance in interviews
- Comparison, in all these areas, with other candidates
Every effort will be made to take into account the special needs or particular circumstances of candidates in making judgements on these matters.
Within these general criteria, the assessment of written work and interviews is guided by more specific criteria, as follows.
Test and Written Work Criteria
In grading the HAT and items of submitted work, selectors will bear in mind the criteria listed below. In the case of written work, they will take into account the circumstances under which the work was written, in their best judgement, having regard to the information provided on the attached sheets and to comments made by teachers where these exist. Such circumstances might include the time allowed for the exercise, the level of the exercise and the resources made available to candidates.
- evidence of careful and critical reading
- an analytical approach
- coherence of argument
- precision, in the handling of concepts and in the evidence presented to support points
- relevance to the question
- historical imagination
- originality
- precision, clarity and facility of writing
Interviewing Criteria
A general aim of the interview is to establish a sense of the candidate’s potential for effective learning in a tutorial-based system. Within this general aim, interviews are particularly intended to inform selectors about the following abilities of candidates:
- Clarity of thought and expression
- Analytical ability
- Flexibility
- Enthusiasm and Commitment
- Historical imagination
- Use of appropriate historical knowledge: candidates must demonstrate that they have understood well what they have studied (and specifically that they know about the topics explored in their written work); and demonstrate their ability to deploy historical evidence in support of an interpretation.
Interviews will be designed to allow selectors to measure candidates against these criteria.
Ancient and Modern History
The general selection criteria and written work/test criteria applied in assessing candidates for Ancient and Modern History are the same as those for History (above), except that – wherever appropriate – candidates’ enthusiasm and aptitude for the study of the ancient world will be explored.
Interview Criteria
A general aim of the interview is to establish a sense of the candidate’s potential for effective learning in a tutorial-based system. Within this general aim, interviews are particularly intended to inform selectors about the following abilities of candidates:
- Clarity of thought and expression
- Analytical ability
- Flexibility
- Enthusiasm and Commitment, including specifically for ancient history
- Historical imagination
- Use of appropriate historical knowledge
- Responsiveness to ancient source-materials and aptitude for analysing them
Interviews will be designed to allow selectors to measure candidates against these criteria.
History and Economics
Many of the criteria for History are also applied in assessing candidates for Modern History and Economics. Further details will be posted shortly.
History and English
Candidates are assessed separately for each side of this school. For the criteria applied in History, please see above. For those applied in English, please go to the English Faculty web site.
History and Modern Languages
Candidates are assessed separately for each side of this school. For the criteria applied in History, please see above. For those applied in Modern Languages, please go to the Modern Languages web site.
History and Politics
General Selection Criteria
The admissions process as a whole is concerned with detecting potential for the study of History and Politics at Oxford. Existing achievements (as revealed in official examinations, predicted examination results, written work and school reports) are relied upon mainly as evidence of potential.
- Candidates should show that they can listen effectively and present reasoned arguments orally.
- Candidates should show that they can understand and analyse written work and present reasoned arguments on paper.
- Candidates should show self-motivation, intellectual curiosity and creativity in areas they have studied.
- Candidates should demonstrate enthusiasm for both sides of the joint school. It is not necessary to have studied both subjects at school, but candidates should be prepared to put their minds to problems of politics or modern history that might be put to them.
In the case of candidates whose first language is not English, competence in the English language is also a criterion of admission.
Test/Written Work Criteria
These are the same as those for Modern History, above.
Criteria for interview
The interview is aimed primarily at assessing the candidate's potential for future development. Interviewers will be looking for evidence of genuine interests, enthusiasms and the motivation to work hard at them. The candidates should listen effectively, absorbing facts and ideas presented to them and assessing their relevance. They should be ready to respond to problems and criticism put to them. They should present arguments in a clear and carefully articulated manner. Interviewers will be looking for evidence of a capacity both for analytical reasoning and for historical imagination. The candidates are expected to show reasons for their expressed interests in modern History and Politics. Their general accomplishments are not relevant except insofar as they bear on one or more of the general admissions criteria.
General observation
Those responsible for admissions will pay due attention to all the available information, i.e. from past and predicted exam results, school reports, personal statements, written tests and interviews. In the light of all this information they will assess (a) whether the candidate is suited to the chosen course at Oxford, and (b) how that candidate should be ranked in relation to other candidates for the same course, or for other courses. Entry is competitive, and it may well happen that a candidate who satisfies all the criteria mentioned above is nevertheless squeezed out by stronger competitors.
These criteria are subject to regular review and may be altered before the next admissions exercise.
[1] That is, the capacity to
engage with alternative perspectives and/or new information.
[2] That is, the ability to speculate and compare,
alongside the possession of appropriate historical knowledge and
the capacity to deploy it.
[3] That is, demonstration by candidates that
they have understood well what they have studied (and specifically
that they know about the topics explored in their written work);
and demonstration of their ability to deploy historical evidence
in support of an interpretation.
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