Summary of the 2022/23 University of Oxford Admissions Process for the subjects;

Mathematics, Mathematics & Statistics,

Mathematics & Philosophy, and Mathematics & Computer Science

These data refer to applicants in the “2022/23 cycle” who applied in 2022 for the Oxford course starting in
2023 or in 2024 (deferred entry). All figures in brackets relate to the previous admissions cycle, 2021/22.

Overall Application Statistics

Course Applications Shortlisted Offers

Mathematics 1805 (1877) 546 (558) 196 (187)
Mathematics and Statistics 140 (205) 22 (37) 4 (8)
Mathematics and Philosophy 161 (151) 61 (51) 20 (19)
Mathematics and Computer Science 594 (636) 153 (141) 68 (65)
Total 2700 (2869) 782 (787) 288 (279)

• 15.8% of applications made were open applications (19.4%).

• 20 applicants applied for deferred entry (33). Of these, 7 were interviewed and 5 were offered places.
• 29.9% of applicants were female (29.3%) and 22.9% of those offered a place are female (28.3%).
• 1486 applicants were studying A-levels in the UK (1494). Of these, 95% were taking Further
Mathematics as a full A-level. Of the 74 applicants studying A-levels in the UK who weren’t taking
Further Maths as a full A-level, 6 were shortlisted for interview, and fewer than 3 were offered a place.
• There were 1000 non-EU international-fee-paying applicants (1168).

The admissions criteria are published on the department’s website at:

www.maths.ox.ac.uk/study-here/prospective-undergraduates/how-apply/admissions-criteria.

Mathematics Admissions Test

All applicants are expected to sit the Mathematics Admissions Test (MAT), or must seek permission in
exceptional circumstances from the subject Admissions Coordinator to be exempted from the test. In 2022
the test date was 02 November. In this cycle, 2621 applicants successfully registered for and sat the MAT
(2816).

36 applicants who, due to exceptional circumstances, either failed to register for the test or could not sit the
test, were invited to take a separate mathematics test after shortlisting. Others who failed to register or who
did not sit the test – and did not have exceptional circumstances – were notified that their application was
no longer under consideration.

Details relating to the MAT, including several past and specimen papers, can be found at:
https://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/study-here/undergraduate-study/maths-admissions-test

The average score for Oxford applicants answering questions 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 was:
• 48.3 (51.1) amongst all applicants;
• 65.2 (69.5) amongst shortlisted applicants;
• 71.5 (73.5) amongst successful applicants.

The average score for Oxford applicants answering questions 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 was:
• 47.3 (46.9) amongst all applicants;
• 69.1 (69.9) amongst shortlisted applicants;
• 75.8 (74.3) amongst successful applicants.
This chart excludes applicants who did not sit the MAT, and the numbers have been rounded.

Shortlisting

In light of the competition for places, the purpose of shortlisting is to provide time during the December
interview window to interview all shortlisted applicants.

Shortlisting is performed in accordance with the stated admissions criteria on the basis of all currently
available and relevant data: in particular these data include an applicant’s score from the MAT, all aspects
of the applicant’s UCAS form and any further relevant contextual data specific to the application.

As guidance, the Admissions Coordinator advises college tutors as to an upper threshold score and a lower
threshold score. All candidates above the upper threshold were recommended to be shortlisted, and
candidates below the lower threshold were recommended not to be shortlisted, except in the case of
exceptional circumstances. Around half of the candidates between the two thresholds were shortlisted for
interview, resulting in around 3 applicants per place.

Throughout the process all UCAS forms, test scores, contextual information, comments, and interview
grades are easily accessible to all college tutors involved with admissions via a web-based database.

College tutors review the UCAS forms and any other information relevant to individual applications, and in
light of all information enter their provisional shortlisting decisions in the web-based admissions database.
In light of further information a college may reverse the default shortlisting decision, making known the
reasons for their decision to the Admissions Coordinator. Provisional shortlisting decisions become final by
an agreed deadline unless appealed by another college or the Admissions Coordinator. Letters and/or
emails are then sent to candidates informing them of the outcome of the shortlisting exercise.

Interview Stage

Each applicant has a first-assigned college, which is either the college to which they applied or, in the case
of open applications, a college randomly assigned by the University Admissions Office in such a way as to
even out the number of applicants per place across colleges. Each shortlisted applicant is also randomly
assigned a second college by an algorithm aiming to equalise across colleges the interview load per place
ratio.

In cases where a college is particularly over-subscribed (more than four shortlisted applicants per place), a
college must reallocate a fraction of their candidates. These candidates are then assigned at random to
other colleges. In this admissions cycle, 20 candidates were reallocated to a different first college (all Maths
& Computer Science).
In December 2022 all interviews were carried out remotely. Most applicants were given interviews by at
least two different colleges (their first- and second-assigned colleges). Applicants may also have been
interviewed by other colleges. Applicants to joint degrees typically have separate interviews in the two
disciplines.

Interviews are academic in nature. An applicant’s performance is judged according to the admissions
criteria and graded on a scale of 1-9 against agreed descriptors. The score and any comments are added
to the shared web-based database.

Decisions

The Admissions Group operates various procedures in a coordinated effort to ensure that the strongest
applicants are admitted to the University irrespective of college choice; these include transparency of all
test results, interview grades, and UCAS forms amongst all tutors involved with admissions, and a final
meeting of tutors at which the strongest unplaced applicants are collectively discussed and open offers are
made by the Admissions Group. Around 28% of offers (24%) made in this cycle were either open offers or
made by a college other than the first college considering the applicant.

Colleges may make offers conditional on the Opportunity Oxford bridging programme to eligible students
who would not otherwise have been admitted. In this cycle, 14 such offers were made for Maths or joint
honours courses. More information on this programme is available at: www.ox.ac.uk/opportunityoxford.

Decisions are deemed to be official at the end of the Group’s final meeting and the shortlisted applications
are assigned a final overall grade. These decisions are then conveyed by tutors to their respective college
offices for dissemination to shortlisted applicants. The Admissions Group has standard offers for those
taking A-levels, the International Baccalaureate or Advanced Highers; college tutors will seek advice from
admissions tutors or the Admissions Office in making other offers.

Feedback

All candidates who took the MAT, and who have not withdrawn, will have their MAT score emailed to them
automatically by the University Admissions Office at the end of the admissions process.

Other feedback will not automatically be sent out, but applicants may seek feedback from their first-
assigned colleges about any aspect of the admissions process. Feedback will not usually be sent out until
the new year, once the admissions process is complete.

January 2023