Reasons to Apply to Brasenose College...

At Brasenose College, we are proud of the welcoming, down-to-earth community we continue to build each year. Every admissions cycle, including the most recent, brings a truly inspiring group of applicants from across the UK and around the world. We were hugely impressed this year’s candidates, and we look forward to meeting most of them at our March Offer Holder residential.

This year around 84% of our UK offer holders come from state schools, which is a slight increase from the 80% mark of the last few years, and is well above the University average. Our offer holders represent a wide range of places — Newcastle, Leeds, Cheshire, Blackpool, Bath, Liverpool, Wigan, Belfast, Leicestershire, Haverfordwest, Coleraine, Cardiff, Norfolk, Devon, Cheltenham, Swindon, Slough, Hertfordshire, London and more. Our international offer holders will be joining us from countries including the USA, China, Kuwait, Turkey and Belgium. We are particularly pleased to have four offer holders from Northern Ireland and five from Wales this year.

Lukas, a second-year Law student and current JCR Access and Admissions Rep, comments:
“As a second-year student thoroughly enjoying my time at Oxford, it feels somewhat strange to think back to how apprehensive I was when applying. I was lucky enough to have been able to attend several talks at my school and around the North East that had been arranged by Oxford’s regional outreach team for the area. These really helped to open my mind to the possibility of applying to Oxford but there was still a lot which I remained uncertain about. Visiting Brasenose on an open day gave me the opportunity to be shown around college by an incredibly welcoming student helper who answered all of my questions, settled my nerves about applying, and convinced me to apply to Oxford’s friendliest college.

Oxford’s collegiate system makes it super easy to make friends as you have a relatively small community that you live in close proximity with. The ease of getting to know new people is especially pronounced at Brasenose as the welcoming community here means that there is always someone around to chat to. I particularly like that this has not been limited to my year group or my subject which makes college feel like a very cohesive community.

As a non-drinker I was worried that I would struggle to integrate into the social scene at university. The reality is that there are loads of opportunities for socialising that do not revolve around alcohol, and even those that do are easy to enjoy sober when you’re surrounded by great people.

As access rep it has been great to see the enthusiasm of the students here to get involved with outreach work whether that is through chatting to prospective applicants on tours of College and easing any worries they might have or by showing a glimpse of life at Brasenose on social media to ensure that everyone feels welcome and to encourage potentially nervous prospective applicants to feel emboldened to apply”

Although our history stretches back to the 13th century, Brasenose is a forward-thinking college. We were one of the first Oxford colleges to admit women — and recently celebrated 50 years of co-education. The student committee includes representatives for Women*, Welfare, Charities and Diversity & Equality, reflecting our commitment to ensuring that all students feel supported and heard, regardless of background, identity, faith or school type.

Throughout the year, we celebrate the diversity of our community with events ranging from Diwali Lantern Decorating, BAME events, Chinese New Year celebrations, Burns Night, Black History month dinner and Ceilidh. Alongside these there are music festivals, film nights, pub quizzes, Christmas Crafts, fancy dress, Halloween parties, garden parties, recitals, an extensive range of sports, and one of the university’s largest arts festivals each May.

We know that some students worry Oxford might be unaffordable or that they wouldn’t fit in. In reality, tuition fees are in line with other UK universities, and living costs such as food and accommodation are very affordable. Oxford also offers generous bursary schemes. For 2025 entry, UK students from households with incomes below £50,000 per year will qualify for some level of financial support

If you’d like to hear directly from our students, you can read blogs by Amaan, Holly and Jiya, Natalia, Erin,  Dhairya, Olivia, and Alex. You can also explore @BrasenoseJCR (including student takeovers) and @brasenosecollegeoutreach on Instagram.

Of course, the best way to experience Brasenose is to visit during a university Open Day. Colleges and departments open their doors, offering talks, sample lectures and opportunities to meet tutors and students. See here.

If Oxford is on your radar, why not consider selecting Brasenose as your college choice? We’re always keen to welcome talented, curious and committed students — and we’d be delighted if that included you. If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch at admissions@bnc.ox.ac.uk.

A full breakdown of this year’s admissions statistics is available here