Thinking of Applying to Brasenose? Here's some thoughts and stats to help you decide. We are very excited at the prospect of students joining us in October 2019 from a wide variety of UK locations, including Plymouth, Bolton, Birmingham, London, Coventry, Harrogate, Leeds, Swindon, York, Bristol, Slough, Glasgow, Nottingham, Sheffield and Carmarthen. In addition, 11% are international students from the USA, Turkey, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria and elsewhere. Our Freshers are drawn from many different backgrounds and over 75% of UK offer-holders this year are from state schools.
Angharad Morgan, from a comprehensive near Swansea and now a second year studying Biology, is Brasenose’s student access representative. Commenting on this news, she said: “Coming from a Welsh state school (with little past Oxbridge success) as a first-generation university student, I was worried that I wouldn’t ‘fit in’ with the rest of the students at Brasenose, but I couldn’t have been more wrong! Brasenose really is the most welcoming, friendly and diverse community - we’re really like a little family - and in the past year and a half I know I have made friends for life…I couldn’t be happier and have met so many amazing, like-minded people that are all as passionate about their chosen subjects as I am. If you’re wondering whether to apply, please don’t let the stereotypes put you off and remember there is no typical Oxford student - we come from all sorts of educational backgrounds, and everyone gets on regardless of what school you came from!”
Brasenose is located at the very heart of the cosmopolitan city of Oxford, and is able to offer single bedrooms to undergraduates for all years of study. We have a reputation for being the friendliest University college. In the Oxford Barometer Survey, Brasenose’s undergraduates registered 97% overall satisfaction and the College ranks 1st by this measure from 2010 to present. Brasenose, along with the other colleges at Oxford, provides students with a diverse and close-knit community within which to live and study. We offer excellent academic services, accommodation, food, social facilities and welfare support.
Although the history of Brasenose stretches back some 500 years, we are a modern, progressive and vibrant place to live and study. Half of our undergraduate offer holders are women, and Brasenose was amongst the first Oxford colleges to become mixed gender. We have a fantastic week-long arts festival every year, have recently refurbished and expanded our libraries, and are opening a new lecture theatre this spring. Our diverse student body puts on a huge array of events, including open-air music festivals, holi, film nights, pub quizzes, Halloween parties, garden parties, LGBT+ events, puppy petting, Pilates, a summer sports day and much more. In recent months we have celebrated Chinese New Year, Burn’s Night, Lebanese cuisine, St David’s Day, Christmas, Diwali, a BAME/LGBT dinner and much more.
Brasenose applicants have just as good a chance as anyone else when applying. Statistics show that in the most recent admissions round 20% of Brasenose applicants received an offer to study at Oxford, either at Brasenose or at another College, compared to the university-wide average of 17%. At Oxford, applicants are often reallocated from one college to another during the admissions process to ensure that the best students are made an offer regardless of college preference. In fact, one third of successful applicants are made an offer by a college they did not specify on their application and, since all colleges offer fantastic services and sense of community, satisfaction ratings across the University are extremely high.
So, if you are applying to Oxford, please don’t hesitate to select us as your college preference. Have a look at our prospectus, our alternative prospectus, and videos on our website. Why not read some students views in blog posts from Brasenose students Damayanti, Erica, Anna and Tom.
An admissions report for the 2019 entry admissions round provides some further statistics.