Oxford and Cambridge issued over 200 offers, but Chinese students are not happy…

Oxford and Cambridge recently released their latest admissions reports. Cambridge received 22,153 applications for the 2023/24 intake, while Oxford received an even more impressive 23,061.

There are only so many places available! Sigh! It looks like another year of declining acceptance rates. However, a careful analysis of both reports reveals that the offer rate for Oxford and Cambridge has actually increased compared to the previous year, but it seems to have become more difficult for Chinese students to get into Oxford and Cambridge…

Next, let’s take a closer look at the latest changes and trends in Oxford and Cambridge admissions.

01 With the increase in Oxford and Cambridge applicants, has the number of offers also increased?
While the overall number of applications to Oxford and Cambridge universities has increased annually, the rate of increase has been different for each institution.

·Both Oxford’s offers and acceptance rates have increased.

According to data released by the University of Oxford, Oxford received 23,061 applications for the 2023/24 semester and issued 3,793 offers, for an offer rate of 16.4%. This represents a slight increase of 0.4% compared to the offer rate of 16% in the same period the previous year, suggesting that overall, it appears to be more accessible.

·Cambridge issued 207 more offers.

In the 2023/24 semester, Cambridge received 22,153 applications and issued 4,760 offers (compared to 4,553 in the previous cycle), resulting in an offer rate of 21.4%, an increase from the previous cycle (21.2%). The final number of admitted students, 3,632, represents 75 more than in the previous cycle. This data indicates that its enrollment continues to expand moderately.

Judging from the admissions reports, both Cambridge and Oxford saw an increase in undergraduate offers compared to the previous year. So, given this situation, how many places will international students, or more specifically, Chinese students, receive?

02 Does the increase in offers from Oxford and Cambridge mean that more Chinese students are being offered?

Chinese students remain the largest group of overseas applicants to Oxford.

In the 2022-2024 cycle, Oxford received 6,372 applications from students from mainland China and ultimately granted 566 offers, for an overall acceptance rate of approximately 8.89%, an increase of 0.85 percentage points compared to the previous three-year cycle.

Another piece of good news: the total number of applications from mainland Chinese students to Oxford in the 2022-2024 cycle decreased by 319 compared to the previous three-year cycle, but the number of offers received by Chinese students increased by 28.

·Is it becoming more difficult for Chinese students to apply to Cambridge?

Big data shows that Cambridge’s application situation is becoming increasingly clear. However, looking solely at the number of offers and admissions received by mainland Chinese students over the past three years, we can observe some new developments:

2021/22 application season: 294 offers, 224 admissions

2022/23 application season: 341 offers, 262 admissions

2023/24 application season: 343 offers, 252 admissions

In fact, the number of offers received by Cambridge University has also been on an upward trend over the past three years! However, in the 2023/24 application season, the offer rate for mainland Chinese students applying to Cambridge decreased by 0.9% compared to the previous season, and the admission rate also decreased by 0.6%. This suggests that the internal competition facing Chinese students is increasing.

03 Choosing the right college can achieve twice the result with half the effort. What are the admissions preferences of each Oxford and Cambridge college?

Oxford and Cambridge’s unique collegiate system is one of their hallmarks, so choosing the right college is a skill.

Take Oxford, for example. Among the incoming class of 2023, students from UK state schools accounted for a staggering 67.3%. However, the acceptance rates for this group varied significantly across colleges.

Oxford colleges popular with UK students include Worcester College, St. John’s College, and Magdalen College; while less popular with UK students include Corpus Christi College and St. Peter’s College.

While Oxford doesn’t directly identify specific colleges as being friendly to Chinese students, applicants can consider their overall style when choosing a college, such as size, facilities, subject focus, and student body composition, to determine if they are a good match. They can also actively research the college’s admissions history and atmosphere for specific majors.

The Cambridge report also highlights the high competitiveness of some popular colleges. For example, Trinity College, with its long history and strong financial resources, consistently attracts a large number of applicants, yet its overall acceptance rate is often lower than the university average. Choosing an overly competitive college can put you at a disadvantage right from the start.

04 While the number of Oxford and Cambridge offers increases, the scores of admitted students remain high.

Oxford and Cambridge admissions have always been based on academic potential and exceptional ability. The reports released by Oxford and Cambridge show that high academic scores are almost a standard requirement for successful applicants. *The data in parentheses below are from the previous cycle.

According to official Oxford data, 21% of students submitted grades AAA* or above. Among offer holders, 40.5% (41.9%) submitted grades AAA* or above, and 19.8% (19.5%) submitted grades AAA.

Among the final admitted students, 45.5% (47%) submitted 3A* or above, indicating a decrease in the proportion of high scores compared to the previous application cycle.

Although the proportion of applicants submitting 3A* has decreased, the fact remains that the submitted scores far exceed those reported on the official website.

As for Cambridge, taking UK applicants as an example, 78.4% of admitted students achieved AAA or higher.

Specifically, science subjects experienced more competitive scores than humanities and social science subjects, with 37.2% of applicants achieving A*AA or higher, a higher percentage than in the previous application cycle. Good luck to all the upcoming applicants!

However, the report also clearly shows that approximately 21% of applicants who met or even exceeded the offer requirements ultimately did not receive an offer from Oxford. Therefore, even high scores do not guarantee admission.

05 A Look at the Most Popular Oxford and Cambridge Subjects: Grades Alone Are Not Enough

Choosing a subject is crucial for applying to Oxford and Cambridge, and the level of competition varies dramatically. From 2022 to 2024, Economics and Management surpassed Computer Science to become the subject with the highest application-to-admission ratio at Oxford. With over 19 applicants competing for a single place, it was the most difficult subject to get into.

For the remaining nine “hardest to get into” majors, each offer had an average of over eight applicants!

By category, in the 2023/24 application cycle at the University of Cambridge, the number of applicants for science majors significantly outnumbered those for humanities and social sciences. Five majors, Engineering, Natural Sciences, Computer Science, Mathematics, and Medicine, led the way, with applications exceeding 1,400, with Engineering and Natural Sciences showing exceptional popularity, reaching over 2,000.

Three humanities and social sciences majors in the 24th cycle at Cambridge received over 1,000 applications: Law, Economics, and High School Practice.

Among these popular majors, Computer Science had the lowest acceptance rate, at just 7.6%. While Engineering had the largest enrollment, its acceptance rate hovered around 12%, making the competition equally fierce.

As everyone knows, beyond meeting the academic requirements, Oxford and Cambridge also prioritize applicants’ academic passion and ability to delve deeply into the subject, their critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and their performance in written exams and interviews.

So during the summer vacation, you can make good use of this time to prepare for the written test, otherwise you will be distracted by standardized tests, memorization, documents and other projects later.