Admissions Feedback

Merton College does not provide individual feedback to applicants about their performance in the admissions exercise. Candidates who have taken admissions tests will, however, be sent their test results once final decisions have been relayed. Merton also publishes feedback reports (see below), some of which are produced by departments/faculties and some by the College. These are intended to provide information to unsuccessful candidates, their referees, schools and families about the level of competition and selection process. The vast majority of our applicants are very talented, with exemplary academic backgrounds. The most common reason for non-selection is simply that it is an exceptionally competitive process. It is important to remember both that Oxford makes its selection on published selection criteria alone, and that interview performance is only one of the elements which tutors take into account when evaluating an application.

If you have been a referee for an unsuccessful candidate, we encourage you to continue to send your students to us, taking into account the comments here regarding any of the subject areas in which they may be interested. You may also wish to consult the pages on specific subjects. Merton's Schools Liaison and Access Officer will be pleased to provide any advice on supporting applications or you may wish to contact the Oxford college linked to your area under the University's Regional Outreach Scheme.

The College made 102 offers to undergraduate candidates for 2026/27 entry, including a number of open offers, and offers under the Opportunity Oxford scheme.

For detailed information on the academic criteria for admission, including specifics on how many UCAS points to get into Oxford, please refer to the admissions pages or contact the admissions office directly.

English and Joint Schools

Thank you for applying for a place on BA (Hons) in English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford. We appreciate the time and effort you put into making an application. We had a high number of applicants for English Language and Literature, with many very good applications, which means that we had to make many difficult decisions.

View admissions feedback for English and joint schools