Admissions facts and figures
Applications Success Rate - 2019
|
No. of Applicants |
Shortlisted |
Offered Places |
Success Rate |
History (Single Honours) |
1053 |
721 |
287 |
27% |
Ancient and Modern History |
100 |
72 |
20 |
20% |
History and Economics |
119 |
63 |
17 |
10% |
History and English |
119 |
57 |
14 |
12% |
History and Modern Languages |
110 |
91 |
27 |
25% |
History and Politics |
427 |
185 |
53 |
12% |
TOTAL |
1979 |
1189 |
418 |
21% |
The University’s preferred interview to place ratio is 3-1, so for every place available the History Faculty will interview 3 candidates.
2019 History Aptitude Test (HAT) Scores

Contextualised GCSE 9/8/A* score (cGCSE)
The contextualised GCSE (cGCSE) score provides information about how well an applicant has performed at GCSE compared to other applicants to Oxford, given the performance of the school at which they took their GCSEs. It can be useful for identifying applicants from low performing schools who have achieved fewer top grades than other applicants, but more than would be expected for an average applicant from that school, and vice versa.
If candidates do not have a contextualised GCSE score, they will be included in the ranking using the information available.
Weighting of Test/GCSE scores
Candidates are given scores and ranks at three different stages in the application process: at the shortlisting stage, immediately before the interviews, and after the interviews at the first college. The weightings of the different components used to score the applicants at each stage are outlined below.
Although the scores, individually and combined, provide a helpful framework for assessing candidates, tutors also take into account the individual circumstances and potential abilities of each candidate.
History (Single Honours)
Application Stage |
Contextualised GCSE score |
History Aptitude Test (HAT) |
History Written Work |
History Interview |
Shortlisting |
50% |
50% |
|
|
Pre-Interview |
40% |
40% |
20% |
|
Post-Interview |
30% |
30% |
10% |
30% |
Ancient and Modern History
Application Stage |
Contextualised GCSE score |
HAT |
History Written Work |
History Interview |
Classics Interview |
Shortlisting |
50% |
50% |
|
|
|
Pre-Interview |
40% |
40% |
20% |
|
|
Post-Interview |
30% |
30% |
10% |
15% |
15% |
History and Economics
Application Stage |
Contextualised GCSE score |
HAT |
TSA |
History Written Work |
History Interview |
Economics Interview |
Shortlisting |
33.3% |
33.3% |
33.3% |
|
|
|
Pre-Interview |
40% |
40% |
|
20% |
|
|
Post-Interview |
20% |
20% |
20% |
10% |
15% |
15% |
History and English
Application Stage |
Contextualised GCSE score |
HAT |
English Written Work |
History Written Work |
History Interview |
English Interview |
Shortlisting |
30% |
40% |
30% |
|
|
|
Pre-Interview |
30% |
40% |
30% |
|
|
|
Post-Interview |
20% |
20% |
20% |
10% |
15% |
15% |
History and Modern Languages
HML candidates are considered at each stage of the process through consultation between College tutors from both History and ML. All information about these candidates, for both subjects, - GCSE score, pre-interview test scores (HAT and MLAT), written work scores, interview times and scores - is entered into the Modern Languages Admissions Database (MLAD) by the College's ML Primary User (who is one of the ML tutors). This results in each candidate carrying a 'guide score' (school written work scores are not included in this calculation). Final admissions decisions may be informed by this score, but it is not used mechanistically as a ranking tool.
History and Politics
Application Stage |
Contextualised GCSE score |
HAT |
History Written Work |
History Interview |
Politics Interview |
Shortlisting |
50% |
50% |
|
|
|
Pre-Interview |
40% |
40% |
20% |
|
|
Post-Interview |
30% |
30% |
10% |
15% |
15% |