Sunday, 3 November 2013

Admission to the 2 year Senior Status Law course - 20 Questions

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Here are some frequently asked questions about admission to study the undergraduate law course in Oxford with Senior Status. Before reading them, please remember that you should always check the Undergraduate Prospectus for authoritative information on current admissions procedures.
The information set out below applies to the two year Senior Status Law course.  That course is open only to applicants who already have an undergraduate degree, or who will have obtained such a degree by the time they intend to begin the Oxford law course. Note that, at Oxford, first degrees in Law (including the two year Senior Status course) are taught at the undergraduate level, in contrast to the position in some other countries (e.g. the United States) where first degrees in Law are always graduate degrees. 
It is important to note that an applicant who already has an undergraduate degree, or will have obtained such a degree by the time they intend to begin the Oxford law course, may choose not to apply for the two year Senior Status Law course, and can instead choose to apply for either the three year Law course or one of the four year Law with Law Studies in Europe courses. For information on other courses see:
admissions to the three year Law course
admissions to the four year Law with Law Studies in Europe courses
Please note that, whether applying for the two year, three year, or four year courses, applicants with a degree must send their degree transcript to the college considering their application.

The Application Process: 20 Questions
1. If I want to do an undergraduate law degree at Oxford, who do I apply to? 
All applications for places on our undergraduate law degrees must be made to a college – not to the Law Faculty. Any offers of a place are made solely by the colleges: the University – and hence the Law Faculty – automatically admits candidates awarded a place by a college. This is because Oxford is a federal University: the University awards degrees, but every undergraduate student must be a member of a college, and each college decides who to admit.
For further information, see:
How does the college system work?

2. How do I decide which college to apply to?First, if you don’t want to choose a particular college to apply to, you don’t have to. You can instead make an “open application”. This means that, when your application is received, the Oxford Undergraduate Admissions Office will allocate your application to a particular college that considers applications for the two year Senior Status Law course. Your application will then be considered in exactly the same way as applications made by those who chose to apply to that college. In 2008, for example, around 15% of all undergraduate law applicants made an open application.  
Second, if you would rather choose a specific college, it is very important to note that not all colleges consider applications for the two year Senior Status Law course. A list of colleges that do consider such applications is maintained by the University and is available below. There is still a good deal of choice available. For example, in 2008, nine colleges considered Senior Status applicants. It is important to note that Harris Manchester and Hertford College do not consider applications from those who wish to complete the two year Senior Status course. However, in some years, they may consider Senior Status applications from applicants who wish to complete the Law course in seven terms (i.e. in two years plus one term). For more information, see Question 14 below.
If you have a chance to visit Oxford, colleges will be happy for you to look around; college web-sites will also have details of specific Open Days, when tutors will be on hand to answer questions. However, there is no need to worry if you can’t visit before making an application. The best way to choose is to read about the colleges in their own words, and in the words of their current students. Each college has a web-site and a prospectus. Some will also have an “Alternative Prospectus” produced by students; in addition, there is a University-wide Alternative Prospectus produced by the Oxford University Student Union.
3. Who makes the admissions decisions?Any offers of a place must be made by a college. The main decision is therefore made by the law tutors at the college considering your application. At each college, the law tutors are professional academics who are also lecturers in the Law Faculty. If they admit you, they will also teach you in tutorials (or organise tutorials for you at other colleges in subjects outside their expertise). In making admissions decisions, each college applies exactly the same criteria to its applicants: it is not the case that different colleges look for different types of applicant.

List of Law Faculty members showing their college affiliations: most (except the holders of 'statutory chairs') are also college tutors ...

4. Will my application be considered by more than one college?All the colleges considering Senior Status applications make great efforts, separately and together, to make sure that those candidates who should receive offers from Oxford do receive them. 
First, your application will first be considered by the college to which you apply – or, if you make an open application, by the college to which your application is allocated. That college may select you for interview, in which case it will continue to consider your application, and, at the end of the interview period, will make a decision as to whether to offer you a place. Alternatively, it may be that the college does not select you for interview (this may happen, for example, if that college has received a large number of excellent applications). Your application will then be considered by a Law Faculty committee.  The committee is made up of Faculty members who are also college law tutors.  This committee may then decide that your application, assessed against the general field of applications to all colleges, is worth further consideration. In that case, you will be called for interview at a different college that considers Senior Status applications. This pre-interview re-allocation process aims to ensure that, as far as possible, strong candidates are selected for interview, no matter which college first considered their applications. 
The co-operation between colleges does not end there. If you are invited for interview at a particular college, it may also be the case that, once that college has interviewed you, you will be offered a further interview at another college that considers Senior Status applications. That college may then consider your application and make a decision as to whether to offer you a place. This form of re-allocation, taking place during the interview process, aims to ensure that, as far as possible, the best candidates are offered places, no matter which college first interviewed them. 
5. Can I apply for deferred entry?
In general, applications for deferred entry are welcomed. However, applicants who are offered places for deferred entry will generally rank among the strongest of those to whom offers are made. This is because we need to be sure that they would also have been offered a place had they applied the following year, against what might turn out to be stronger competition. For the Senior Status course, the required academic standard is already very high (see Question 14 below): this means that, to be successful in receiving an offer of a deferred place, a Senior Status applicant must be particularly strong.
For the purposes of deciding whether to invite deferred-entry applicants for interview  and whether to offer them a place, the colleges and the Law Faculty will rank them against all the other current applicants, not only against the other deferred-entry candidates.

6. Can I visit the University and/or colleges to see what they are like?Yes, we have open days for prospective students in March and in the summer. College open days run throughout the year.  We also host a summer school in July.
Open days and summer schools ...

7. What are the fees and other costs?

All students reading for their second (or later) undergraduate degree must pay both University fees and college fees. Home and EU students pay fees at the ELQ rate and Overseas students at the Overseas rate.
The costs of accommodation and food are also payable by you, whether you are a UK, EU, or Overseas student. College rents and catering charges vary. There are also options for living out of college. Oxford works out as no more expensive than other popular UK student cities.

8. Are there any bursaries and scholarships?UK government support is not usually available to students reading for their second (or later) undergraduate degree. However, there are some scholarships open to such students: some of these scholarships are administered by the University and others by colleges.

9. How do I get the application forms?
You need to fill in the online Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) form.  The UCAS form is all that is needed: there is no additional Oxford form.

Go to the UCAS website
10. Do I need to fill in separate application forms for accommodation?No. First year undergraduates are invariably accommodated by their colleges. If you get a place, your college will be in touch to explain the arrangements and will provide you with any paperwork that needs to be completed.

11. What is the timetable for applications and decisions?
Your forms have to be submitted  in October (for example, October 15th 2013 is the deadline for applications to study at Oxford from October 2014 and for deferred applications to study at Oxford from October 2015). You must sit the LNAT (see Question 17 below) before 20 October 2013. Registration for the LNAT starts in August 2013.
You are also required to send your degree transcripts by 11 November 2013 to the college you have applied to, or if you have made an Open Application, to UndergraduateAdmissions, Faculty of Law, St Cross Building, St Cross Road, Oxford, OX1 3UL, United Kingdom..  Interviews are in December. Decisions are sent out in late December or early January. If you receive a conditional offer your place will either be confirmed or denied when your results are available.

Get the precise application deadline ...   

12. Are there any special requirements for applicants who are not native English speakers?Candidates who are not native English speakers and who have not been educated in the medium of the English Language during their two most recent years of study must satisfy our English Language Requirements.


13. Do you make special provision for mature students?Yes. All colleges consider applications from mature students (those who will be aged 21 or over when starting their course). In addition, Harris Manchester College exists to serve the specific needs of mature students and admits only mature students.

14. What academic standards are set for undergraduate admissions in law?All colleges apply the same admissions criteria. We rely on the UCAS form, on performance in the National Admissions Test for Law (see Question 17below), and on our interview process to assess our applicants. We do not rely on any non-academic factors unless they reveal something relevant to academic progress. 
It is important to note that the two year Senior Status Law course is a particularly demanding course, as subjects are studied at a quicker pace than on the three year Law course or the four year Law with Law Studies in Europe courses. As a result, colleges generally require that successful applicants for the two year Senior Status Law course will normally have achieved (or be predicted to have achieved before starting their Oxford course) a first class degree or equivalent. Where a candidate for the two year Senior Status course has not recently been pursuing formal academic qualifications, colleges will generally require strong and convincing evidence, at an equivalent level to a first class degree, of the candidate’s achievements and future promise.
In some years, Harris Manchester and Hertford College are able to offer Senior Status places to study for the undergraduate Law degree in two years plus one term. For example, in some years, it may be possible for Harris Manchester or Hertford College to make an offer, to a candidate applying in December, to begin their studies at Oxford in the following April (i.e. at the start of the following Trinity Term). In this way, it is possible for candidates offered such a place to complete the course in seven terms, studying subjects at the same pace as undergraduates on the three year Law course and four year Law with Law Studies in Europe courses. As a result, the academic criteria applied to candidates for this seven term Senior Status course may not be so strict as those applied to candidates for the standard two year Senior Status course. It is important to note that: (i) no college other than Harris Manchester and Hertford College currently offers places for the seven term Senior Status course; and (ii) in some years, Harris Manchester and Hertford College are unable to offer places on the seven term Senior Status course. So, if you are interested in this seven term course, please contact Harris Manchester or Hertford College before making your application (links below).
15. What if I do not yet have any pre-existing academic qualifications, such as GCSEs or equivalents?
We do accept applications from candidates who have not yet obtained any certified academic qualifications. However, in order to give your application fair consideration, we do require some evidence of your academic achievements to date. When assessing applications for the two year Senior Status course by candidates who have not recently been pursuing formal academic qualifications, colleges will generally require strong and convincing evidence, at an equivalent level to a first class degree, of the candidate’s achievements and future promise. So, if you do not have any certified examination results, it is very important to include on your UCAS form detailed information on your academic achievements. It will also be helpful if your referee can give a detailed account of your academic achievement.  All graduate applicants are required to send their degree transcripts to the college to which they have applied (if making an Open Application, you must send such transcripts to the University Undergraduate Admissions Office).

16. Should I study any particular subjects before applying?At least a C grade in GCSE Mathematics (or equivalent) is normally required. Otherwise your choice of subjects (whether at A-Level or equivalent level or at degree or equivalent level) is your own. Strictly academic subjects matter most. Both arts and sciences are helpful. Studying A-Level or AS Law confers no particular advantage or disadvantage and we are happy to receive applications from those who are studying for such qualifications in law. When Oxford colleges are comparing A-level results and predictions they may attach reduced importance to General Studies.

Check the official table of admissions requirements, which gives more detail of the language requirements for Law with Law Studies in Europe applicants (note that the Law with Law Studies in Europe course must be completed over four years)...

17. What is the 'National Admissions Test for Law'?The National Admissions Test for Law (LNAT) is a test used by a number of leading UK law schools to assist us in making fair comparisons between the very large number of excellent applications we receive each year. Oxford was a founder member of the Consortium which owns and supervises the LNAT and we continue to be closely involved in the development and setting of the test, which is operated by Pearson Vue, and administered in co-operation with UCAS. The LNAT tests candidates’ aptitude for the type of skills necessary on a law degree: for example, a set of multiple choice questions tests reasoning and analytical ability; you are also asked to write a short essay, which tests your written communication skills. Your essay will be seen and marked by Oxford tutors. Further information on the composition of the test, as well as a practice paper, is available on the LNAT website (link below).
All applicants for any of the Oxford undergraduate law degrees are required to sit the LNAT. It is your responsibility to register for and sit the LNAT before Oxford’s deadline of 15 October 2013. If you fail to sit the LNAT test by that deadline, your application will be incomplete. It is your responsibility as an applicant (not anyone else’s) to check the LNAT consortium website for deadlines and instructions as to how to register and sit the test. This applies to UK, EU and overseas applicants: there are LNAT test centres all over the world.  If there is no test centre in your country, or no safe transport route to a test centre, you must contact the Oxford college to which you are applying for further instructions.
18. Why does Oxford hold interviews?Most of our applicants have an outstanding academic record, strong reference, and impressive personal statement. Because of this we need to have further mechanisms to reach final decisions among such uniformly excellent applicants. One mechanism is the LNAT (see Question 17 above). Another is the interview process. Our interview process is designed to provide further insight into the academic strengths and weaknesses of our candidates.
It is important to note that we do not interview all applicants. For those being interviewed, interviews are time-consuming and demanding. In addition, we prefer to focus our interviewing efforts on candidates with a reasonable chance of success. As a result, we only interview those who have a realistic chance of being offered a place, judged by their UCAS forms (including their existing academic record) and LNAT scores. This short-listing process means that some of our applicants are turned down without being invited for interview. If a candidate is short-listed, and so invited for interview, we will make reasonable efforts to arrange an interview. In some cases, however, candidates from overseas may have to be considered without interview.

19. How do interviews work?Interviews are a useful way for us to test your aptitude for the type of skills necessary on a law degree: for example, interviewers will be testing your reasoning and analytical ability. The purpose of the interview process is thus to give us extra information as to how you perform against our admissions criteria (see Question 18 above). Interviews can take different forms: for example, an interview may include legally related questions as well as more general intellectual puzzles calling for logical analysis of a type similar to legal analysis.Whilst interviews may discuss legal issues, your pre-existing knowledge of the law is not being assessed. For example, you may be given a legal extract to discuss – if so, the only legal knowledge being sought is that which can be learnt from the extract. 
A useful way to see what an Oxford undergraduate law interview is like is to watch a mock interview: a video can be downloaded for free from the Oxford University iTunes store (go to http://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/) or seen at http://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/?feed=law-general-video-feed#law-general-video-feed.
If you come to a particular college for interview in Oxford, you are very likely to receive two interviews at that college. E.g. in 2010, those interviews took place over Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th December. It may then be the case that, as part of our re-allocation process (see Question 4 above), a candidate was also interviewed by a second college: if so, that interview took place on Friday 17th December.

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