Your chances of getting into Oxford Experimental Psychology, and the TARA score you need
For 2025 entry, 490 people applied for Experimental Psychology at Oxford, 151 were interviewed and 67 received offers: 14%. Built from the test scores and outcomes of 279 past applicants, released by Oxford.
Your chances
Answer the questions, then see your chances
- Your estimate from the scores and outcomes of 279 past applicants
- Adjusted for your grades, school and where you apply from
- A likely range, with each step that moved it
- What would change your odds, and a card to share
- Applied, 2025
- 490
- Interviewed
- 151
- Offers
- 6714%
Experimental Psychology selection in 2025
How many reached each stage in 2025. Your own chances appear here once you have answered.
| Stage | Students | AVG | You |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apply | 490 | ||
| Interview | 151 | 31% | ? |
| Offer | 67 | 14% | ? |
How the offer rate rises with TARA score
Show as a table
| TARA | Offer rate | 80% confidence range |
|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | 12% | 7% to 20% |
| 4.5 | 19% | 14% to 32% |
| 5.0 | 25% | 17% to 37% |
| 5.5 | 30% | 19% to 42% |
| 6.0 | 34% | 22% to 47% |
| 6.5 | 38% | 25% to 53% |
| 7.0 | 43% | 30% to 59% |
| 7.5 | 48% | 35% to 64% |
| 8.0 | 53% | 40% to 67% |
| 8.5 | 57% | 44% to 68% |
| 9.0 | 60% | 46% to 70% |
Why you can trust this
279past applicants
1 yearof scores linked to offers (2017 entry)
1.5xwider ranges, with no other year to test on
Method and sources
Applicants are ranked by test score within each year. The chance of an interview is fitted on 2017, 2018 and 2024 entry, but the link from score to offer comes from one year, 2017, when Oxford released every applicant's test score with their outcome. Both are set to Oxford's 2025 rates, and TARA scores are converted with our published TSA-to-TARA estimate until Oxford releases TARA results.
With one year behind the offer curve, there was no other year to test it on, so every range was widened 1.5 times.
GCSEs, A-levels and school type are added on top of the score. Experimental Psychology has no fit of its own for these, so the calculator borrows the effects fitted for Oxford PPE. The interview positions are Experimental Psychology's own, from both colleges' marks for 2017, 2018 and 2020 entry.
- University of Oxford, FOI/2016/Mar. Experimental Psychology TSA score, interview marks, predicted A-levels and outcome for each applicant, 2017.
- University of Oxford, FOI/20180302/2 and FOI/202409/816. TSA scores with shortlisting, and with interview marks, 2018 and 2024.
- University of Oxford, FOI/20180302/2 and FOI/20200427/1. Interview marks from both colleges by outcome, 2018 and 2020.
- University of Oxford, FOI/2016/Jan, FOI/20200313/5 and FOI/20210225/2. TSA averages for applicants and offer holders, 2015 to 2020.
- University of Oxford, FOI/202406/532 and FOI/202405/449. Predicted A-levels by stage, 2023, and for UK applicants with 7 or more top GCSEs, GCSEs by stage.
- Department of Experimental Psychology, EP/PPL admissions information handbook 2024-25 (released under FOI/202412/1123), and the department's EP/PPL admissions reports for 2020 to 2026 entry.
- University of Oxford, Undergraduate Admissions Statistics 2025, including offers by school type and domicile.
- GCSE, A-level and school effects: GhostPrep's Oxford PPE calculator, whose sources are listed on that page.
- Grade equivalence: Ofqual, grade standards for new GCSEs (2017); Cambridge International, A guide to A*-G and 9-1 grades (2025); Ecctis for the IB, MYP grade comparisons with the GCSE (2021).
- GhostPrep, TSA to TARA score conversion, published guide.
This estimate cannot see your personal statement, reference or college choice. The offer curve rests on one year of applicants (2017), the GCSE, A-level and school effects are borrowed from Oxford PPE, and predicted and achieved grades are treated the same, so read the number as a rough guide.
Oxford Experimental Psychology admissions statistics
What the numbers Oxford has released say about getting into Experimental Psychology: how many people apply, how the test and the two interviews sort them, and how the odds differ by where you apply from, your school and your grades.
1 in 7
applicants got an offer
More detail
67 offers from 490 applicants for 2025 entry. Oxford makes 52 to 74 Experimental Psychology offers every year.
88%
of the top quarter on the test were interviewed
More detail
2017, 2018 and 2024 entry, scores ranked within each year (242 of 274). Only 12% of the bottom half were (56 of 482).
96%
got an offer with interview marks averaging 4+ out of 5
More detail
2017, 2018 and 2020 entry (82 of 85). Of those averaging below 3, only 3 of 120 got an offer.
9 of 20
got an offer when one college marked them 4+ and the other below 3
More detail
2020 entry: candidates marked 4 or more by one college and below 3 by the other. Two colleges interview every shortlisted candidate, and their marks often differ.
Oxford Experimental Psychology acceptance rate
For 2025 entry, 490 people applied for Experimental Psychology at Oxford, 151 were interviewed and 67 received offers.
That is an offer rate of 13.7%, or about 1 in 7.
Oxford's own published acceptance rate counts only those who took up a place: 50 of 490, or 10%, for 2025 entry.
Oxford makes a similar number of offers every year: between 52 and 74 in every year from 2007 to 2025. Applications doubled over the same years, so the offer rate fell.
- Applied
- Interviewed
- Offered a place
Applications peaked at 496 for 2020 entry, double the 246 of 2007.
About 3 in 10 applicants are interviewed: 30.8% for 2025 entry. If you are interviewed, your chance of an offer is a little under 1 in 2 (67 of 151).
The department says it invites about 3 applicants to interview for each place. Its report for 2026 entry shows 428 applicants, 162 interviewed and 65 offers.
Show the data as a table
| Entry | Applicants | Interviewed | Offers | Offer rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 490 | 151 (31%) | 67 | 13.7% |
| 2024 | 402 | 148 (37%) | 69 | 17.2% |
| 2023 | 379 | 139 (37%) | 56 | 14.8% |
| 2022 | 405 | 137 (34%) | 60 | 14.8% |
| 2021 | 469 | 159 (34%) | 60 | 12.8% |
| 2020 | 496 | 157 (32%) | 72 | 14.5% |
| 2019 | 427 | 142 (33%) | 74 | 17.3% |
| 2018 | 395 | 158 (40%) | 73 | 18.5% |
| 2017 | 295 | 139 (47%) | 64 | 21.7% |
| 2016 | 251 | 131 (52%) | 64 | 25.5% |
| 2015 | 257 | 120 (47%) | 63 | 24.5% |
| 2014 | 238 | 141 (59%) | 63 | 26.5% |
| 2013 | 212 | 136 (64%) | 57 | 26.9% |
| 2012 | 325 | 173 (53%) | 66 | 20.3% |
| 2011 | 262 | 149 (57%) | 52 | 19.8% |
| 2010 | 271 | 149 (55%) | 54 | 19.9% |
| 2009 | 213 | 171 (80%) | 66 | 31.0% |
| 2008 | 197 | 153 (78%) | 58 | 29.4% |
| 2007 | 246 | 169 (69%) | 57 | 23.2% |
What TARA score do you need for Oxford Experimental Psychology?
A TARA score of about 6.0 gave a 1 in 3 chance of an offer, and past offer holders averaged an estimated TARA 5.7.
Oxford publishes no pass mark, and it has released no TARA results yet: TARA replaces the TSA for 2027 entry.
So the figures below are estimates. They come from past applicants' TSA scores and outcomes, converted to TARA with our published TSA-to-TARA estimate.
Past offer holders averaged an estimated TARA 5.7, converted from their TSA scores. Oxford's own figures for 2020 entry, the latest with an offer-holder average for Experimental Psychology alone: offer holders averaged 70.3 on TSA Section 1, against 63.2 for all applicants, on that year's TSA scale, which ran higher than recent sittings: do not convert 70.3 with today's table.
On that basis, a TARA score of about 6.0 gave a 1 in 3 chance of an offer, more than double the 13.7% average. It converts from a TSA Section 1 score of about 65 to 69 on our conversion's scale, and the 80% confidence range around the estimate runs from 22% to 47%.
The link from score to offer rests on a single year, 2017 entry (279 applicants), so treat these figures as a rough guide.
Which Oxford courses require TARA for 2027 entry is in our guide to TARA for Oxford.
- Interviewed
- Offered a place
The TSA did most of the sorting before interview. Applicants in the top quarter of their year's scores were interviewed 88% of the time (242 of 274, 2017, 2018 and 2024 entry), against 12% of the bottom half (56 of 482).
A top score is still no guarantee. For 2024 entry, 3 of the 10 applicants scoring 70 or more were not interviewed, and for 2017 entry 4 of the 16 who scored 70 or more were interviewed but got no offer.
A modest score can still succeed: the lowest-scoring offer holder for 2017 entry scored 54.3, below that year's applicant average of 60.2. Each year's TSA ran differently, so compare a score only with its own year.
Show the data as a table
| TARA score | From TSA | Applicants scoring below | Interviewed | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | 55 to 60 | 59% | 31% | 12% |
| 5.0 | 62 to 66 | 80% | 62% | 25% |
| 6.0 | 65 to 69 | 88% | 76% | 34% |
| 7.0 | 68 to 73 | 93% | 86% | 43% |
| 8.0 | 72 to 78 | 97% | 93% | 53% |
| 9.0 | 75 to 83 | 99% | 96% | 60% |
How much does the interview matter?
Every shortlisted candidate is interviewed by two colleges, so each gets two independent assessments. Each college marks from 1 to 5: 1 weak, 2 reasonable, 3 good, 4 very good and 5 exceptional, with points in between allowed.
The figures below use the average of the two colleges' marks. Once you are shortlisted, that average tracks most outcomes: candidates averaging 4 or more got an offer 96% of the time (82 of 85, 2017, 2018 and 2020 entry).
These describe past outcomes rather than a mark to aim for. The department's handbook says interviewers look at how clearly you analyse, the ideas you put forward and how you respond to theirs.
Below an average of 3, only 3 of 120 got an offer. Offer holders averaged about 3.8 to 3.9 out of 5, against 2.8 to 3.0 for the other interviewees.
The two colleges often disagree: 33% of candidates for 2020 entry and 38% for 2024 got marks a full point or more apart. For 2020 entry, 9 of the 20 candidates marked 4 or more by one college and below 3 by the other still got offers.
A strong interview can outweigh a stronger test. For 2017 entry, when Oxford released each applicant's test score, interview marks and outcome together, interviewees with a TSA below the middle score among interviewees but an interview average of 3.5 or more got offers 18 times in 22, while those at or above it with an interview below 3.5 got 8 in 45.
Show the data as a table
| Average interview mark | Interviewed | Offers | Offer rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 or more | 85 | 82 | 96.5% |
| 3.5 to 3.99 | 128 | 87 | 68.0% |
| 3 to 3.49 | 116 | 34 | 29.3% |
| Below 3 | 120 | 3 | 2.5% |
UK and international applicants
UK applicants are more likely to get an offer: 17.3% for 2025 entry, against 6.8% for applicants from outside the EU (11 of 161).
EU applicants are few: 4 offers from 29 applicants in 2025, so the chart below combines 2023 to 2025.
- Interviewed
- Offered a place
The gap opens at both stages, mostly at the interview invitation. Over 2023 to 2025, 41.6% of UK applicants were interviewed against 24.1% from outside the EU, and 44.8% of UK interviewees got offers against 38.0%.
UK odds have fallen too: UK applications rose from 185 for 2007 entry to 300 for 2025, and the UK offer rate fell from 28.1% to 17.3%.
For 2017 entry, non-EU interviewees had higher average TSA scores than UK interviewees (65.9 against 62.9) but lower interview marks (3.09 against 3.50 out of 5), and 15 of 46 got offers against 42 of 79.
Show the data as a table
| Applying from | Applicants | Interviewed | Offers | Offer rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | 788 | 328 (42%) | 147 | 18.7% |
| Non-EU | 415 | 100 (24%) | 38 | 9.2% |
| EU | 68 | 10 (15%) | 7 | 10.3% |
State and independent schools
Among UK applicants, state-school students do at least as well as those from independent schools: 19.4% got offers over 2023 to 2025 entry, against 15.6%.
Single years swing because the independent group is small: for 2025 entry, 47 of 235 state-school applicants got offers, against 3 of 51 from independent schools.
- State
- Independent
Across all applicants, UK and overseas, state-school applicants were interviewed more often (42.0% against 36.9%) and did better after interview (46.2% against 39.0%, 2023 to 2025). Oxford publishes this split for all applicants only.
State-school students made up about four in five UK applicants over 2023 to 2025 (78.4%) and took 81.6% of UK offers.
UK applicants eligible for free school meals got offers at about the same rate as others over 2023 to 2025: 19.7% (15 of 76) against 19.8%.
Show the data as a table
| Entry | State | Independent |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 20.0% (47 of 235) | 5.9% (3 of 51) |
| 2024 | 19.7% (41 of 208) | 20.4% (10 of 49) |
| 2023 | 18.3% (32 of 175) | 22.9% (8 of 35) |
| 2022 | 19.4% (34 of 175) | 21.7% (10 of 46) |
| 2021 | 19.9% (38 of 191) | 9.8% (5 of 51) |
| 2020 | 22.5% (45 of 200) | 26.4% (14 of 53) |
| 2019 | 26.9% (45 of 167) | 21.5% (14 of 65) |
| 2018 | 28.6% (38 of 133) | 29.6% (16 of 54) |
| 2017 | 30.0% (30 of 100) | 30.2% (13 of 43) |
| 2016 | 34.1% (30 of 88) | 34.0% (17 of 50) |
| 2015 | 29.3% (27 of 92) | 33.3% (16 of 48) |
| 2014 | 31.9% (29 of 91) | 48.8% (20 of 41) |
| 2013 | 30.4% (28 of 92) | 43.2% (16 of 37) |
| 2012 | 17.6% (27 of 153) | 33.8% (25 of 74) |
| 2011 | 21.4% (25 of 117) | 30.6% (19 of 62) |
| 2010 | 24.5% (34 of 139) | 18.5% (10 of 54) |
| 2009 | 31.2% (34 of 109) | 43.6% (17 of 39) |
| 2008 | 30.2% (32 of 106) | 42.9% (18 of 42) |
| 2007 | 24.8% (34 of 137) | 39.1% (18 of 46) |
Do GCSEs, A-levels and subjects matter?
The department's minimum is A*AA at A-level, predicted or achieved (IB: 39 points with 7, 6, 6 at Higher Level). Its 2024-25 admissions handbook says applicants not predicted at least A*AA should not, as a general rule, be shortlisted.
In practice, offer holders were often predicted higher. For 2017 entry, when Oxford released each applicant's predicted grades with their outcome, those predicted A*A*A* got offers 23 times in 36, against 5 in 42 for A*AA.
The pattern held for 2023 entry: state-school applicants predicted three A*s got offers at 30.2% (13 of 43), against 9.5% for A*AA (4 of 42). Those predicted higher also tended to have stronger test scores and GCSEs (in 2017, the one year the data link them), so part of that gap probably reflects those.
No A-level subject is required, but Oxford highly recommends at least one science (Psychology counts) or Maths, and an A or 7 in GCSE Maths. Psychology is the most common A-level at every stage: for 2026 entry, 64% of applicants and 74% of offer holders took it.
Maths and Biology are more common among offer holders than applicants: 49% of 2026 offer holders took each, against 24% and 31% of applicants. These are raw shares, and those students may also differ in grades and test scores.
GCSEs count too. Offer holders averaged 8.4 to 8.9 GCSEs at grade 9, 8 or A* in every year from 2020 to 2026, against 6.5 to 7.2 for applicants with GCSEs, in figures that pool Experimental Psychology with PPL.
Applicants with stronger grades also tend to score higher on the test, so the calculator counts only what your grades add beyond your score.
Show the data as a table
| Best three predicted | Applicants | Interviewed | Offers | Offer rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A*A*A* | 36 | 29 | 23 | 64% |
| A*A*A | 53 | 28 | 11 | 21% |
| A*AA | 42 | 18 | 5 | 12% |
| Below A*AA | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0% |
Questions about Oxford Experimental Psychology admissions
What is the acceptance rate for Oxford Experimental Psychology?
About 13.7% of applicants got an offer for 2025 entry: 67 offers from 490 applicants. Oxford's own published acceptance rate, which counts only those who took up a place, was 10% (50). About 31% of applicants are interviewed, and a little under half of those interviewed get an offer.
What TARA score do I need for Oxford Experimental Psychology?
Oxford sets no pass mark. Our estimate is that a TARA score of about 6.0 gave a 1 in 3 chance of an offer, and past offer holders averaged an estimated 5.7. Oxford has released no TARA results yet, and the estimate rests on one year of past applicants, so treat it as a rough guide.
Do I need A-level Psychology for Experimental Psychology at Oxford?
No. Oxford requires no particular subject, but it highly recommends at least one science (Psychology counts) or Maths at A-level, and an A or 7 in GCSE Maths. Psychology is the most common A-level among applicants (64% for 2026 entry), and Maths and Biology were more common among offer holders (49% each) than among applicants (24% and 31%).
Is A*AA enough for Oxford Experimental Psychology?
It meets the minimum, but many successful applicants are predicted higher. For 2017 entry, applicants predicted A*A*A* got offers 23 times in 36, against 5 in 42 for A*AA, partly because they also tended to score higher on the test. None of the 15 applicants predicted below A*AA that year was interviewed.
How are Experimental Psychology interviews marked?
Two colleges interview each shortlisted candidate and each marks from 1 to 5. Candidates whose marks averaged 4 or more got an offer 96% of the time over 2017, 2018 and 2020 entry, and only 3 of 120 averaging below 3 did. The two colleges' marks often differ, so one weaker interview does not decide the outcome on its own.
Is it harder to get into Oxford Experimental Psychology from outside the UK?
Yes. For 2025 entry the offer rate was 17.3% for UK applicants and 6.8% for applicants from outside the EU. Most of the gap is in who gets interviewed: over 2023 to 2025, 41.6% of UK applicants were interviewed against 24.1% from outside the EU.
Keep going
- Same departmentOxford PPLAny two of Psychology, Philosophy and Linguistics, selected through the same department.Your PPL chances →
- CompareEvery Oxford course we coverApplicants, interviews and offer rates side by side.Compare Oxford courses →
- PrepareTARA study planA week-by-week plan from now to your test date.Build your plan →
Updated 25 October 2026 · GhostPrep is independent of the University of Oxford. Figures describe past applicants and are an estimate for planning, with no guarantee of any outcome.