Decisions, Offers and What Comes Next

In this lesson we'll cover what happens after the interview: how each university makes its decisions, when you hear, what the different outcomes mean, and what to do if you don't get an offer.

At Oxford, each of the two colleges that interviewed you ranks all the candidates it saw. The colleges are then shown your ranking from the other college and your UCAT score, including your situational judgement band, and submit a final ranking. Offers are assigned from those rankings. About 425 applicants are interviewed for around 175 offers.

At Cambridge, the college that interviewed you makes the decision, looking at your whole application together: grades, UCAT, personal statement, reference and interview. If the college thinks you are strong enough for a place but has no room, it puts you into the winter pool, where other colleges can make you an offer.

At both universities the interview is one part of the decision, and your academic record still counts.

A conditional offer

The standard offer is A*AA at Oxford and A*A*A at Cambridge. Some Cambridge colleges ask for more, such as an A* in a particular subject, so read your offer carefully.

An offer from a different college

It is common to be offered a place by a college you did not apply to. At Oxford, 45% of offers last year came from a college other than the one the applicant chose. At Cambridge this happens through the pool. The offer is worth exactly the same, and students who end up at a college they didn't choose are almost always happy there.

An open offer (Oxford)

A small number of Oxford offers are open offers: 16 of the 175 last year. You are guaranteed a place at Oxford if you meet the conditions, but you are not told which college until after A-level results. It is a full offer in every other way.

The winter pool (Cambridge)

About one in five Cambridge applications is placed in the winter pool, and around a quarter of pooled applicants receive an offer from another college. You are not told that you have been pooled. In nearly all cases the other college decides from your file and your original interview notes, and you hear the result on the same decision day as everyone else. A few pooled applicants are invited to a further interview in mid to late January.

Your place is confirmed when you achieve your grades in August. Use the months after the offer to make sure of them: the offers are high, and missing by a grade is common. In 2025, about one in five Cambridge offer holders finished with grades below A*A*A.

If you miss narrowly, you may still be admitted. Cambridge has a summer pool in August, in which offer holders who have just missed their conditions can be considered by other colleges. This is not guaranteed, so choose your insurance offer carefully.

Most applicants don't, and most of them are strong candidates. You still have three other medical schools, and nothing about an Oxbridge rejection affects those applications.

Feedback

You can ask for feedback, and it is worth doing if you are thinking of applying again.

• Oxford: if you were not shortlisted, feedback comes from the medical school. If you were interviewed, ask the college, before 15 February.
• Cambridge: each college sets its own policy. Feedback is usually sent to your school referee, so ask your teacher.

Reconsideration in August (Cambridge)

Cambridge runs an August Reconsideration Pool for UK applicants from widening-participation backgrounds who were interviewed, did not get an offer, and then achieve the standard offer grades. Medicine was included this year. You have to register yourself on results day.

Reapplying

Both universities allow you to apply again. Cambridge says that having applied before "doesn't make you less likely to be accepted", and suggests choosing a different college. Oxford treats a second application as entirely separate, but notes that if you apply to the same college you may meet the same interviewers.

Reapplying means a gap year, sitting the UCAT again, and applying with achieved grades. It makes most sense if you reached the interview stage, your final grades are at or above the offer, and you would rather wait a year than take up a place elsewhere. If you hold an offer from another medical school, think carefully before turning it down: you will qualify as the same doctor either way.

That is everything in the process, from deciding whether to apply to the final decision. The part you can influence most from here is the interview, and the way to improve at it is to practise out loud.