The official line is that you are just as likely to get into Oxbridge no matter what college you apply to. Both unis have “pooling” systems, so that brainy applicants from oversubscribed colleges get “imported” to the less popular colleges. But the colleges at the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford actually all have wildly different offer rates. Picking a college with a higher offer rate will definitely maximise your odds of going to a college you’ve chosen, instead of an unpopular one. We worked out the offer rate for every single University of Cambridge and University of Oxford college, so you can see which are the easiest Oxbridge colleges to get offers from. You’re welcome, everyone x
As a general rule, Oxbridge colleges tend to receive fewer applications if they’re further from the city centre, only for girls, or uglier. Murray Edwards College at the University of Cambridge fits into all three categories. This explains why Medwards is officially the easiest Oxbridge college to get an offer from. In 2024, the college only received 414 applications, but dished out 174 offers. The most competitive Oxbridge college to get an offer from is Magdalen College at the University of Oxford. Magdalen received ten offers for each place. Maybe everyone wants to study somewhere with a deer park?
There are plenty of factors that contribute to why the offer rates differ so much from college to college. Some colleges are bigger, and have more spots in the first place. More famous colleges often have to filter through more applications. Colleges with strong reputations for extra competitive subjects (such as Downing College in Cambridge, which is known as being great for law) often end up with lower overall offer rates.
For context, the overall offer rate for 2024 applicants was 16 per cent for Oxford, and 21 per cent for Cambridge. Offer rates for colleges do vary year by year. Here’s what they were last year, if you’d like to compare.
The numbers of applications, offers and acceptances for each college were dug up from the depths of Cambridge‘s and Oxford‘s websites. The figures refer to undergrads from the 2024 admissions cycles (because that’s the most recent data available). Oxford’s Permanent Private Halls (PPHs) aren’t included in this list, because they operate differently to colleges, so it’s not really fair to compare the undergraduate admission statistics for them.
So, here are all the Oxbridge colleges ranked by the offer rate:
59. Magdalen College, Oxford – 10 per cent
=57. Balliol College, Oxford – 12 per cent
=57. Worcester College, Oxford – 12 per cent
This is the one Emma Watson went to, fyi
(Credit: Andrew Shiva)
=54. Brasenose College, Oxford – 13 per cent
=54. Keble College, Oxford – 13 per cent
=54. St John’s College, Oxford – 13 per cent
=51. New College, Oxford – 14 per cent
=51. Trinity College, Oxford – 14 per cent
=51. University College, Oxford – 14 per cent
=49. Christ Church, Oxford – 15 per cent
=49. Hertford College, Oxford – 15 per cent
44. Downing College, Cambridge – 16 per cent
44. Jesus College, Oxford – 16 per cent
44. Merton College, Oxford – 16 per cent
44. Pembroke College, Oxford – 16 per cent
44. St John’s College, Cambridge – 16 per cent
=41. Lincoln College, Oxford – 17 per cent
=41. The Queen’s College, Oxford – 17 per cent
=41. Trinity College, Cambridge – 17 per cent
Trinity is the Cambridge college with the most money, and the most private school students
=37. Pembroke College, Oxford – 18 per cent
=37. Selwyn College, Cambridge – 18 per cent
=37. St Catherine’s College, Oxford – 18 per cent
=37. St Edmund Hall, Oxford – 18 per cent
=27. Clare College, Cambridge – 19 per cent
=27. Emmanuel College, Cambridge – 19 per cent
=27. Exeter College, Oxford – 19 per cent
=27. Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge – 19 per cent
=27. Jesus College, Cambridge – 19 per cent
=27. Oriel College, Oxford – 19 per cent
=27. Somerville College, Oxford – 19 per cent
=27. St Hugh’s College, Oxford – 19 per cent
=27. St Peter’s College, Oxford – 19 per cent
=27. Wadham College, Oxford – 19 per cent
=20. Christ’s College, Cambridge – 20 per cent
=20. Corpus Christi College, Oxford – 2o per cent
=20. King’s College, Cambridge – 20 per cent
The King’s chapel is surely the most photographed building in Cambridge
=20. Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford – 20 per cent
=20. St Anne’s College, Oxford – 20 per cent
=20. St Hilda’s College, Oxford – 20 per cent
=20. Wolfson College, Cambridge – 20 per cent
19. Mansfield College, Oxford – 21 per cent
=17. Queen’s College, Cambridge – 22 per cent
=17. St Catharine’s College, Cambridge – 22 per cent
=14. Corpus Christi College, Cambridge – 23 per cent
=14. Peterhouse, Cambridge – 23 per cent
=14. Trinity Hall, Cambridge – 23 per cent
13. Magdalene College, Cambridge – 24 per cent
=10. Churchill College, Cambridge – 25 per cent
It’s not ugly, it’s brutalist x
=10. Newnham College, Cambridge – 25 per cent
=10. Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge – 25 per cent
9. Robinson College, Cambridge – 26 per cent
=7. Harris Manchester College, Oxford – 27 per cent
=7. Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge – 27 per cent
=5. Homerton College, Cambridge – 28 per cent
=5. Hughes Hall, Cambridge – 28 per cent
4. Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge – 29 per cent
3. St Edmund’s College, Cambridge – 30 per cent
2. Girton College, Cambridge – 31 per cent
1. Murray Edwards College, Cambridge – 42 per cent
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Featured image the Murray Edwards library by Cmglee.
