Applying to Oxford or Cambridge is a little tricky - so make sure you know what's going on!

You CANNOT apply to both in the same year - so choose the one you want to apply to first.

Choose your course. Think about subjects you are good at and would like to continue, think about a career path you might want to follow, think about new subjects you don’t know much about. There’s plenty of information available on the university websites Oxford and Cambridge, and you may be able to attend faculty or department open days to find out more.

Secondly, choose, your college. Oxford and Cambridge are collegiate universities: this means your application to the university is routed via one of its constituent colleges.

You can either choose a particular college that appeals to you, or submit an open application which means you are assigned by computer to a college. If you want to choose a college, try, if possible, to visit the university and have a look around. Each college publishes a prospectus and has a website full of information. College preference is largely an individual matter: once you have found out which colleges offer your subject, have a look and see where you’d feel at home.

Factors to consider might be – do you want a new college or an older one? A larger or a smaller? Do you want a traditional college or a modern one? Do you want to be housed in college accommodation throughout your course or would you like to live out for a year? How many students and tutors does the college have for your subject?

You will probably be interviewed in December at the college of first choice. There’s plenty of information about interviews on the websites of each university. Think of the interview as a chance to have a serious discussion with an academic in your area of interest – and a chance to show your commitment to study, rather than as a test of what you know already.

You can prepare for it by reading around your subject, thinking about broader topics and obvious questions like ‘why do you want to study maths/history/whatever’. Interviews will focus on academic matters rather than on your wider interests or hobbies.