Your chances of getting into Oxford History and Economics, and the TARA score you need
For 2025 entry, 132 people applied for History and Economics at Oxford, 63 were interviewed and 18 received offers: 14%. Built from the test scores and outcomes of 278 past applicants, released by Oxford.
Your chances
Answer the questions, then see your chances
- Your estimate from the scores and outcomes of 278 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
- 132
- Interviewed
- 63
- Offers
- 1814%
History and Economics selection in 2025
How many reached each stage in 2025. Your own chances appear here once you have answered.
| Stage | Students | AVG | You |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apply | 132 | ||
| Interview | 63 | 48% | ? |
| Offer | 18 | 14% | ? |
How the offer rate rises with TARA score
Show as a table
| TARA | Offer rate | 80% confidence range |
|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | 7% | 1% to 28% |
| 4.5 | 13% | 4% to 34% |
| 5.0 | 19% | 7% to 34% |
| 5.5 | 24% | 10% to 35% |
| 6.0 | 27% | 14% to 36% |
| 6.5 | 29% | 17% to 38% |
| 7.0 | 32% | 21% to 40% |
| 7.5 | 35% | 21% to 41% |
| 8.0 | 37% | 26% to 41% |
| 8.5 | 38% | 26% to 42% |
| 9.0 | 39% | 27% to 42% |
Why you can trust this
278past applicants
2 yearsof scores linked to offers (2018 and 2020 entry)
1.5xwider ranges, with no other year to test on
Method and sources
Applicants are ranked by test score within each year. The offer curve is fitted to the two years when Oxford released History and Economics test scores with outcomes, 2018 and 2020 entry (278 applicants), the interview curve to 2020 alone, and the level is set to Oxford's 2025 figures. TARA scores are converted with our published TSA-to-TARA estimate until Oxford releases TARA results.
With no other year to test the curve on, every range is made 1.5 times wider instead.
History and Economics has too few applicants to measure its own grade and school effects, so the GCSE, A-level and school adjustments are borrowed from PPE's fitted effects. The interview positions are the course's own, from a single year: the 57 candidates interviewed for 2018 entry.
- University of Oxford, FOI/2018/April. History and Economics TSA, HAT, GCSE and interview scores by outcome, 2018.
- University of Oxford, FOI/20201027/1. TSA Section 1 score, shortlisting and offer for each History and Economics applicant, 2020.
- University of Oxford, FOI/20200803/4. History and Economics HAT and TSA scores by year, 2016 to 2020.
- University of Oxford, 202201/30. Interview marks, written work and predicted A-level bands by outcome, 2022.
- University of Oxford, FOI/202608/918. Offer holders' predicted A-levels and TSA scores, 2022 to 2024.
- University of Oxford, FOI/202508/865. UK applicants and offers with and without Further Maths A-level, 2021 to 2025.
- University of Oxford, FOI/202601/77. GCSE grades of applicants, interviewees and offer holders, 2025 and 2026.
- University of Oxford, FOI/202304/349. History and Economics applicants who received History offers, 2016 to 2022.
- University of Oxford, Undergraduate Admissions Statistics 2025, including offers by school type and domicile.
- Faculty of History, information for applicants 2020-21 to 2024-25, and History and Economics 2026: admissions statistics and shortlisting process.
- Faculty of History, Making an application; Department of Economics, Undergraduate admissions criteria; UAT-UK, Course List 2027 Entry.
- 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, written work, reference or college choice. The score curve rests on two years and 34 offers, and the GCSE, A-level and school effects are borrowed from PPE, so treat it as a rough guide. Predicted and achieved grades are treated the same.
Oxford History and Economics admissions statistics
What the numbers Oxford has released say about getting into History and Economics: 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
18 offers from 132 applicants for 2025 entry, and 54 from 421 over 2023 to 2025. Oxford made 14 to 19 offers a year from 2015 to 2025.
17 of 20
interviewees scoring 7 or more out of 10 got an offer
More detail
2018 entry, and 15 of 22 for 2022 entry. None of the 31 interviewees scoring below 6 in those two years did.
28 of 35
offer holders were predicted A*A*A* or more
More detail
2022 to 2024 entry, offer holders listing three or more predicted A-levels, against a standard offer of AAA.
20
History offers went to History and Economics applicants
More detail
2021 to 2025 entry, about 1 in 5 of all offers to these applicants. Tutors can offer you single-honours History instead.
Oxford History and Economics acceptance rate
For 2025 entry, 132 people applied for History and Economics at Oxford, 63 were interviewed and 18 received offers.
That is an offer rate of 13.6%, or about 1 in 7.
Oxford's own published acceptance rate counts only those who took up a place: 18 of 132, or 14%, for 2025 entry, the same as the number of offers that year.
This is a small course: between 14 and 19 offers in every year from 2015 to 2025. One offer more or less moves a yearly rate by almost a point, so the three-year figure is steadier: 54 offers from 421 applicants over 2023 to 2025 (12.8%).
- Applied
- Interviewed
- Offered a place
Applications rose from 38 for 2007 entry to a peak of 172 for 2021 entry, while offers stayed between 12 and 19 a year.
Close to half of applicants are interviewed: 47.7% for 2025 entry, against 18.1% for Economics and Management. About 3 in 10 interviewees then get an offer (54 of 183 over 2023 to 2025).
The History Faculty's own count for 2026 entry shows 177 applicants, 74 interviewed and 22 offers.
Show the data as a table
| Entry | Applicants | Interviewed | Offers | Offer rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 132 | 63 (48%) | 18 | 13.6% |
| 2024 | 131 | 59 (45%) | 17 | 13.0% |
| 2023 | 158 | 61 (39%) | 19 | 12.0% |
| 2022 | 148 | 59 (40%) | 18 | 12.2% |
| 2021 | 172 | 57 (33%) | 19 | 11.0% |
| 2020 | 167 | 60 (36%) | 16 | 9.6% |
| 2019 | 168 | 67 (40%) | 19 | 11.3% |
| 2018 | 121 | 57 (47%) | 18 | 14.9% |
| 2017 | 121 | 75 (62%) | 18 | 14.9% |
| 2016 | 130 | 76 (58%) | 16 | 12.3% |
| 2015 | 114 | 58 (51%) | 14 | 12.3% |
| 2014 | 84 | 48 (57%) | 17 | 20.2% |
| 2013 | 99 | 56 (57%) | 16 | 16.2% |
| 2012 | 87 | 42 (48%) | 13 | 14.9% |
| 2011 | 85 | 48 (56%) | 16 | 18.8% |
| 2010 | 74 | 42 (57%) | 16 | 21.6% |
| 2009 | 74 | 46 (62%) | 13 | 17.6% |
| 2008 | 60 | 41 (68%) | 12 | 20.0% |
| 2007 | 38 | 30 (79%) | 12 | 31.6% |
What TARA score do you need for Oxford History and Economics?
A TARA score of about 7.3 gave a 1 in 3 chance of an offer, and past offer holders averaged an estimated TARA 6.4.
Oxford publishes no pass mark, and it has released no TARA results yet: TARA replaces the TSA for 2027 entry. Before that the course used the HAT up to 2025 entry, the TSA alongside it from 2018 entry at the latest, and the TSA alone for 2026 entry.
So the figures below are estimates. They come from past applicants' TSA scores and outcomes in the only two years Oxford released them together, 2018 and 2020 entry, converted to TARA with our published TSA-to-TARA estimate.
Past offer holders averaged an estimated TARA 6.4, converted from their TSA scores. The History Faculty's own figures for 2026 entry: offer holders averaged 58.4 on the TSA, against 49.6 for all applicants.
On that basis, a TARA score of about 7.3 gave a 1 in 3 chance of an offer, against the 14% average. It converts from a TSA Section 1 score of about 69 to 74 on our conversion's scale, and each year's TSA ran differently.
The 80% confidence range around that estimate runs from 22% to 40%. Even at the top of the scale, 9.0, the estimate is about 39%, because the ranking after interview also counts your GCSEs, written work and both interviews.
Which Oxford courses require TARA for 2027 entry is in our guide to TARA for Oxford.
- Interviewed
- Offered a place
The TSA sorted applicants, though less sharply than for Economics and Management. Pooling 2018 and 2020 entry, applicants in the top quarter of their year's scores received 24 of the 34 offers.
A top score is still no guarantee. For 2020 entry, when applicants averaged 64.7, 6 of the 10 scoring 75 or more got no offer, and none of the 49 scoring below 60 got one.
A modest score can still succeed: one 2022 offer holder scored 52.0, when that year's applicants averaged 66.8.
Show the data as a table
| TARA score | From TSA | Applicants scoring below | Interviewed | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | 55 to 60 | 42% | 44% | 7% |
| 5.0 | 62 to 66 | 67% | 63% | 19% |
| 6.0 | 65 to 69 | 77% | 72% | 27% |
| 7.0 | 68 to 73 | 84% | 78% | 32% |
| 8.0 | 72 to 78 | 91% | 84% | 37% |
| 9.0 | 75 to 83 | 95% | 89% | 39% |
How much does the interview matter?
Each shortlisted candidate has two online interviews, one in History and one in Economics, about 15 minutes each in recent years. Each is marked out of 10.
For 2026 entry the two interviews made up 30% of the History Faculty's ranking after interview (15% each), next to contextualised GCSEs (40%), the TSA (20%) and the written work (10%).
- 2018 entry
- 2022 entry
Once you are shortlisted, the interview scores track the outcome closely: for 2018 entry 17 of the 20 interviewees scoring 7 or more got an offer, and 15 of 22 for 2022 entry. Tutors who mark the interviews also make the decisions, so these describe past outcomes; there is no mark to aim for.
The History interview separated offer holders most clearly. For 2026 entry, offer holders averaged 7.8 in History and 7.2 in Economics, against 6.4 and 6.7 for everyone interviewed.
A second interview means you are still in contention: for 2026 entry, 4 of the 22 offers came after 9 second interviews at another college.
Show the data as a table
| Interview score | 2018 entry | 2022 entry |
|---|---|---|
| 7 or more | 17 of 20 | 15 of 22 |
| 6 to 6.9 | 1 of 22 | 3 of 21 |
| Below 6 | 0 of 15 | 0 of 16 |
UK and international applicants
UK and non-EU applicants have had similar odds. Over 2023 to 2025 entry, 38 of 278 UK applicants got an offer (14%), and 13 of 105 non-EU applicants (12%). EU applicants did less well, with 3 offers from 38.
- Interviewed
- Offered a place
Non-EU applicants were interviewed less often (40 of 105, against 135 of 278 from the UK), but once interviewed they converted at least as well: 13 of 40, against 38 of 135 UK candidates.
One year can reverse the picture. The History Faculty's figures for 2026 entry show 17 offers from 109 UK applicants, but 3 from 51 overseas applicants.
EU applications have fallen from 25 for 2019 and 2020 entry to 9 for 2025 entry.
Show the data as a table
| Applying from | 2017 to 2019 | 2020 to 2022 | 2023 to 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK | 40 of 252 | 35 of 283 | 38 of 278 |
| Non-EU | 12 of 99 | 16 of 146 | 13 of 105 |
| EU | 3 of 59 | 2 of 58 | 3 of 38 |
State and independent schools
For History and Economics, school type makes no clear difference among UK applicants. Over 2023 to 2025 entry, 23 of 164 state-school applicants got an offer (14.0%), against 15 of 110 from independent schools (13.6%).
Earlier three-year blocks went either way, which is what 10 to 24 offers per group produce.
- State
- Independent
State schools supply about 3 in 5 UK applicants and UK offer holders: 164 of 278 applicants and 23 of 38 offers over 2023 to 2025.
Across all applicants, UK and overseas, independent-school applicants were interviewed a little more often (65 of 124, against 76 of 166 from state schools), and both groups converted at about 30% once interviewed. Oxford does not publish this split for UK applicants alone.
The course's numbers are too small to measure a school effect of its own, so the calculator borrows PPE's.
Show the data as a table
| Entry | State | Independent |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 to 2025 | 14.0% (23 of 164) | 13.6% (15 of 110) |
| 2020 to 2022 | 14.4% (24 of 167) | 9.3% (10 of 108) |
| 2017 to 2019 | 13.7% (19 of 139) | 20.0% (21 of 105) |
Do GCSEs and A-levels matter?
Oxford's standard offer for History and Economics is AAA (IB: 38 points with 6, 6, 6 at Higher Level). No subject is formally required, but the Economics department highly recommends both History and Maths, and the History Faculty strongly advises them.
In practice, offer holders are predicted well above it. For 2022 to 2024 entry, 28 of the 35 offer holders listing three or more predicted A-levels were predicted A*A*A* or more, and none was below A*AA.
Almost all had both recommended subjects: of the 37 offer holders listing predicted A-levels, 36 took Maths or Further Maths and 36 took History. Only 25 took Economics.
Further Maths is not required, but UK applicants taking it got offers at 24.6% (17 of 69) over 2021 to 2025, against 12.8% without it. These are raw rates: Further Maths students also tend to have stronger grades and test scores.
GCSEs carried the most weight at shortlisting for 2026 entry: the History Faculty ranked applicants on 66.5% contextualised GCSE (your grades read against your school's results) and 33.5% TSA. For 2025 entry, offer holders averaged 9.9 GCSEs at grade 8 or 9, against 7.9 for all applicants with six or more GCSEs.
The course has too few applicants to measure its own grade effects, so the calculator borrows PPE's, counting only what your grades add beyond your score.
Show the data as a table
| Best three predicted | Offer holders |
|---|---|
| A*A*A* or more | 28 of 35 |
| A*A*A | 6 of 35 |
| A*AA | 1 of 35 |
Questions about Oxford History and Economics admissions
What is the acceptance rate for Oxford History and Economics?
About 13.6% of applicants got an offer for 2025 entry: 18 offers from 132 applicants. Oxford's own published acceptance rate, which counts only those who took up a place, was 14% (18). Over 2023 to 2025 it was 54 offers from 421 applicants. Close to half of applicants are interviewed, and about 3 in 10 of those interviewed get an offer.
What TARA score do I need for Oxford History and Economics?
Oxford sets no pass mark. Our estimate puts a 1 in 3 chance at about 7.3, and even the top of the scale stays near 39%, because the ranking after interview also counts your GCSEs, written work and both interviews. Past offer holders averaged an estimated 6.4. Oxford has released no TARA results yet, and these estimates rest on two years of TSA data, so treat them as rough.
Which TARA modules do History and Economics applicants take?
The sources differ. UAT-UK, which runs the test, lists all modules as compulsory for History and Economics. The History Faculty says applicants need the Critical Thinking and Problem Solving modules. Check both sites for the latest guidance before you register.
Do I need A-level History and Maths?
Neither is formally required, but the Economics department highly recommends both and the History Faculty strongly advises them. In practice, of the 37 offer holders for 2022 to 2024 entry who listed predicted A-levels, 36 took Maths or Further Maths and 36 took History.
Is AAA enough for Oxford History and Economics?
It meets the standard offer, but most successful applicants are predicted higher: 28 of 35 offer holders for 2022 to 2024 entry were predicted A*A*A* or more, and none below A*AA. GCSEs matter too: they made up two thirds of the 2026 shortlisting score.
How are History and Economics interviews marked?
You have one History and one Economics interview, each marked out of 10. For 2018 entry, 17 of the 20 interviewees scoring 7 or more got an offer (15 of 22 for 2022 entry), and none of the 31 scoring below 6 in those two years did. For 2026 entry, offer holders averaged 7.8 in History and 7.2 in Economics.
Can a History and Economics application end in a History offer?
Yes. Tutors can offer you single-honours History instead: History Faculty reports show 20 such offers to History and Economics applicants over 2021 to 2025 entry, about 1 in 5 of all offers to them. For 2016 to 2022 entry, these applicants averaged 7.9 in their History interview but 5.8 in Economics.
Keep going
- Same testOxford Economics and ManagementAlso TARA, with management in place of history and a much lower offer rate.Your E&M 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.