Full details of the application procedures relating to all (taught and research) degrees administered by the School of Archaeology, including access to the online application form, can be found on University admissions. Questions about their detail should be directed in the first instance to the Graduate Admissions Office. What follows is an outline of the procedures followed and the steps that you need to take.

Deadlines for receipt of applications

The University has a number of application deadlines allowing applications to be assessed against each other at a series of dates throughout the academic year. You can apply to study archaeology at Oxford in time for any of the deadlines.

Many programmes are able to consider applications submitted after the last relevant deadline if places are still available but be aware that courses and college places do fill up and so you should apply as soon as possible. Please contact the School Administrator to check if applications are still open for a specific course out of the normal application cycle.

Deadlines for candidates applying for grants

If you are applying for a grant from a UK Research Council (with the exception of an NERC quota studentship), for Overseas Research Student (ORS) status, for Clarendon or other awards, you must apply by the January deadline. You should also indicate on your application that you are applying for a specific award.

Qualifications required

As with other courses at Oxford most successful applicants for graduate study in Archaeology have good first degree level qualifications. The normal minimum qualification required for admission as a graduate student is possession of a bachelor's degree with first or good upper second honours degree or equivalent in a relevant subject. Applicants with less than these qualifications are unlikely to be accepted. If you are unsure how your degree compares to those of UK universities, you may find it helpful to consult the NARIC website.

As well as your first degree, decisions about admission take into account the strength of your own statement of interests/research proposal, the academic references supplied by your referees, the academic quality of the written work you are asked to submit as part of your application and the availability of teaching and supervision in the fields that you wish to study.

Submitting your application

Your application can only be assessed once all relevant information has been supplied. Please therefore make sure to complete all appropriate sections of the application form and arrange for references and written work to be submitted on time. You will need to provide:

• evidence of previous academic study, including final degree result (or predicted result if you have not yet completed your studies) and academic transcript (where available);
• information on how you will pay fees and support yourself while a graduate student, including information on any scholarships or awards for which you may be applying;
• a statement explaining why you wish to study a particular Master's course, including any intentions for further study or research thereafter, or a clearly set out, well documented research proposal (of up to 2 pages) for a MLitt or DPhil;
• academic references from three people who can provide confidential assessments of your past academic studies and potential for graduate study and research;
• two pieces of written work, for example chapters from a thesis or undergraduate essays, that provide evidence of your ability to assess evidence, derive logical conclusions and write in a scholarly and lucid manner.

Existing students

If you are currently studying for a taught course at Oxford and applying to carry on to a research programme with no break in your study, you can do so on a re-admission form and will be exempt from paying the application fee. If there is any break in your study (even if only for a term), you will not be able to use a re-admission form and will need to submit an application form for graduate study and pay the application fee.

Re-admission forms will be available via OSS Student Self Service by mid-December and will be pre-populated with details that the University currently has on record for you, such as your personal details and your previous qualifications, but you will need to enter details of the programme you intend to study and any changes to the data we hold in your record.

You will need to submit your re-admission together with the following supporting materials:

• transcript(s) of previous higher education
• three academic references (at least one of which should be new, two can be used from a previous application)
• curriculum vitae
• research proposal
• two samples of written work (at least one of which should be new, one can be reused from the previous application)

For guidance on supporting materials please refer to the Notes of Guidance for Applicants to Graduate Study.

You should ensure that your re-admission form and all supporting materials, including your references, are submitted to the Graduate Admissions Office in time to meet the application deadline(s) for your chosen programme. If you wish to re-use materials from your Master’s application you must specifically request the items from the Graduate Admissions Office. Late or incomplete re-admission applications will not be considered. Guidance on which application deadlines apply to your programme can be found in the Notes of Guidance for Applicants to Graduate Study.

Knowledge of English

All instruction at Oxford is in English. If this is not your first language and/or if your previous degree has not been awarded by an English-language university then you will be required to provide evidence of competency in English. It is not possible to learn English while a graduate student. The minimum qualifications required on standard English language tests are set out in the Graduate Studies Prospectus.

Choosing a College

All graduate students must also be a member of one of the Colleges that make up the University. Offers to potential students must be made by both the School of Archaeology and a College and fees must be paid to both the College and the University.

When completing your application you may select a College of choice or allow the College to be allocated automatically. The following admit graduate applicants in Archaeology:

• Balliol¹
• Brasenose
• Campion Hall
• Christ Church²
• Corpus Christi
• Exeter
• Harris Manchester
• Hertford
• Keble
• Kellogg
• Linacre
• Lincoln
• Lady Margaret Hall
• Magdalen
• Merton
• Queen's
• Regent's Park
• St Anne's¹
• St Catherines
• St Cross
• St Hilda's
• St Hugh's
• St John's
• St Peter's
• Trinity
• University
• Wadham¹
• Wolfson
• Worcester³

¹ MSt/MPhil in Classical Archaeology only
² MSt in Classical Archaeology only
³ MPhil in Classical Archaeology only

A full list of relevant colleges is given in the admissions college guide and you should check this for for your proposed course as some colleges do not accept students on all programmes. If your application is approved by the School of Archaeology it will be passed to your College of choice (if you have selected one). If you are accepted by that College you should expect to receive an offer from them. If not, your application will be passed to other Colleges that still have places available. However long the process takes (and we try to make it quick), if you have been accepted by the School of Archaeology you will ultimately also receive a College place and be able to come to Oxford as a graduate student.

Assessment of your application

All applications are assessed by two members of the School of Archaeology chosen by the Director of Graduate Studies. If need be, additional advice is also taken. Assessments are made solely on academic grounds. Interviews do not form part of the assessment process. However, you are welcome to email or visit relevant members of staff to discuss your study or research plans before making your application.

The assessment is based on the material submitted with your application after consideration of your previous qualifications, references, personal statement or research proposal and the submitted written work.  Each candidate is assessed on four main selection criteria:

• Academic standard (based on qualifications, references and written work)
• Skills, experience and preparedness (based on other information about the candidates skills and preparedness for the proposed course)
• Quality of the research aims and plan (based largely on the personal statement or research plan and the references)
• Compatibility of the plan with the goals of the candidate and the department (whether the proposed course will be best catered for at Oxford and will benefit the student in their long-term aims.

Funding

Whether you have yet secured funding is not taken into consideration in the decision to make an initial offer a place, but please note that the initial offer of a place will not be confirmed until the college which gives you an initial offer of a place is satisfied that you have sufficient funding to cover your fees and living costs for the standard period of fee liability for your course.

Equal Opportunities

Within equal opportunities principles and legislation, students are selected for admission without regard to gender, marital or civil partnership status, disability, race, nationality, ethnic origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation, age or social background. Decisions on admission are based solely on the individual academic merits of each candidate and the application of the selection criteria appropriate to the programme of study. Further information on how these matters are supported during the admissions process is available on the graduate welfare site.