Applying from the EU - Wish I'd Known (Expert Oxford Application Advice)
Universities in EU countries are not allowed to discriminate against EU nationals from other countries. In effect, any EU citizen is entitled to study at UK universities under the same conditions as nationals. This applies to entry requirements, course fees, and grants for course fees but not to maintenance loans or grants. I applied to Oxford and four other UK universities during my gap year in September 2012.
As an EU citizen, I started my application by registering an account at UCAS, the central admission service for all UK universities. You should do this well in advance, ideally around the beginning of the summer holidays. The application deadline for Oxford is in mid-October which is much earlier than for most European universities. I started in September which felt early enough at the time but resulted in unnecessary stress.
With my account set up, going through the UCAS process was straightforward. The website walks you through each step. Your progress is saved on the platform (called Track) so you can do it bit by bit. Make sure to read the parts referring to EU/EAA applicants carefully and don’t hurry it. Unless you have an affiliation with a UK school you will be applying independently. In that case you just enter the contact details for the referee and UCAS will contact them to obtain a reference. I, however, contacted my UK school and a teacher who was willing to write a reference. The school provided a “buzzword” which I used to link my application to the school.
The step was the registration for the Physics Aptitude Test (PAT). You can only be registered through a test centre, not directly. There are authorised open test centres, but I contacted my old school which was registered already. Oxford also requires non-native speakers to prove their English language abilities by the time they start their course. While I was advised to sit an IELTS test in advance, I decided to save the money and wait for the Universities to require it. In the end, only Imperial made their offer conditional on me sitting one and Oxford never demanded it.
The most exhausting part at this stage was writing my personal statement. I started by mind-mapping strengths and interests and thought of ways to show evidence for my enthusiasm for engineering. I made sure to mention my Austrian heritage and drive to go abroad but focussed mainly on my science-related experiences. Friends, family, and a kind teacher looked over my many drafts. In the end, I submitted my application with only a day to spare.
Preparing for the PAT was like other physics and mathematics exam preparation. I read through the syllabus and spent the evenings working on problems taken from old school books. All the past papers are online, so I printed them off at work and did timed mock tests on the weekends. I ended up taking the day of the exam off work and travelled to the city of the test centre the evening before. Not having to stress in the morning put me in the best frame of mind. The PAT is nothing to fear, but I wanted to do my best and not let some unexpected train cancellation thwart my application.
Being invited to an interview felt like a good sign and I was excited to visit Christ Church. All EU citizen must attend their interviews and since I was already working in the UK I saw it as a welcome break. This part really isn’t any different for international students and I don’t think my origins were ever brought up during the interviews. I had an Engineering and an Economics interview at Christ Church which both went reasonably well and a third interview at New College which went terribly. Still, while I was understandably nervous, I found the whole day to be a really stimulating experience.
The offer came through in January and the last administrative hurdle was the application to Student Finance England. This is required in all cases to provide a financial guarantee to your college, regardless of the proportion of the fees you want to finance through them. Christ Church required confirmation that SFE had accepted me as an EU student. Getting it was straight forward once my application had gone through.
Useful links:
https://www.admissionstesting.org/for-test-takers/pat/how-to-register/
https://study-uk.britishcouncil.org/options/scholarships-financial-support
https://www.ucas.com/ucas-terms-explained
Let us know if you have any questions about this article or anything related to applying from the EU.
This article was written by Mark (Engineering, Economics & Management at Oxford).
If you find this content useful, please visit Mark's profile for further information on applying to Oxbridge. Alternatively, book support now with Mark, using the form below.
Author: Mark - Oxford
MEng Engineering, Economics & Management
I’m a recent graduate with keen interest in science, technology, and education. During my four years at Oxford I gained deep insights into these departments and their application processes.
