Your chances of getting into Oxford Mathematics and Philosophy, and the TMUA score you need
For 2025 entry, 170 people applied for Mathematics and Philosophy at Oxford, 52 were interviewed and 24 received offers: 14%. Built from the test scores and outcomes of 543 past applicants who sat the MAT, released by Oxford.
Your chances
Answer the questions, then see your chances
- Your estimate from the scores and outcomes of 543 past applicants who sat the MAT
- 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
- 170
- Interviewed
- 52
- Offers
- 2414%
M&P selection in 2025
How many reached each stage in 2025. Your own chances appear here once you have answered.
| Stage | Students | AVG | You |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apply | 170 | ||
| Interview | 52 | 31% | ? |
| Offer | 24 | 14% | ? |
How the offer rate rises with TMUA score
Show as a table
| TMUA | Offer rate | 80% confidence range |
|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | 0% | 0% to 0% |
| 4.5 | 0% | 0% to 1% |
| 5.0 | 1% | 0% to 2% |
| 5.5 | 3% | 0% to 5% |
| 6.0 | 8% | 1% to 17% |
| 6.5 | 16% | 7% to 43% |
| 7.0 | 27% | 19% to 60% |
| 7.5 | 44% | 36% to 67% |
| 8.0 | 53% | 42% to 71% |
| 8.5 | 63% | 37% to 77% |
| 9.0 | 68% | 31% to 85% |
Why you can trust this
543past applicants
4 yearsof scores linked to offers (2018, 2019, 2020 and 2023 entry)
2.25xwider ranges, with no other year to test on
Method and sources
Oxford used the MAT, marked out of 100, up to 2026 entry and uses the TMUA (both papers) from 2027 entry. Oxford has released no TMUA results. So the offer curve is fitted on past applicants' MAT marks, ranked as percentiles within each year (2018, 2019, 2020 and 2023 entry), and the level is set to Oxford's 2025 figures. That level, an offer rate of 14.1%, is a high year for this course and the department counted 10.1% for 2026 entry, so the estimates may run high. It rests on 543 applicants and 77 offers in all, because this is a small course with 16 to 26 offers a year. The chance of being interviewed uses 2018 to 2020 entry.
A TMUA score is placed on that scale by percentile. We find where your score would sit among Imperial College London's 2025 TMUA applicants to Mathematics, then read Oxford's curve at the same position. This assumes Oxford's 2027 applicants are about as strong on the TMUA as Imperial's 2025 applicants. Nobody has published how Oxford applicants score on the TMUA yet, so the assumption cannot be checked. It also assumes a 2027 sitting is scored like the one Imperial's 2025 applicants took.
No year could be held out to test the curve, so we could not check it against a known result. Every range is widened by a factor of 2.25: 1.5 for that, and a further 1.5 for the assumption above. Even so, the ranges are wide.
Mathematics and Philosophy has no grade or school fit of its own, so the GCSE, A-level and school effects are the ones fitted for Oxford PPE. The GCSE and A-level effects are used at half size, and their range runs from no effect to PPE's full size. After the test score, that school effect raises the estimate for UK state-school applicants and lowers it for UK independent-school applicants. The interview positions are not this course's own either: they come from a 2023 release that pools all five MAT courses. Home and international applicants are separated by an odds ratio from Oxford's offer rates for 2023 to 2025 entry.
- University of Oxford, FOI/20201007/1 and 202401/32. Every Mathematics and Philosophy applicant's MAT mark with shortlisting and offers, 2018 to 2020, and with offers, 2023 entry.
- University of Oxford, 202401/32. Interview marks by outcome for the five MAT courses pooled, 2023 entry.
- University of Oxford, 202208/1133. Shortlisting guidance and thresholds for 2020 to 2022 entry.
- University of Oxford, FOI/202203/370. Lowest and highest MAT marks of applicants, shortlisted and admitted students, 2016 to 2021 entry.
- Mathematical Institute, Summary of the 2021/22 admissions process.
- University of Oxford, FOI/202402/175. Mean Maths and Philosophy interview marks by outcome, 2024 entry.
- University of Oxford, Undergraduate Admissions Statistics 2025, including offers by school type and domicile.
- Mathematical Institute, Summary of the 2025/26 Oxford admissions process (2026 entry), and Maths Admissions Test page.
- University of Oxford, Mathematics and Philosophy course page (2027 entry), and UAT-UK Course List 2027 Entry.
- Imperial College London, TMUA scores: applicant outcomes dashboard, 2025 entry cycle. Mathematics applications by TMUA score, used to place a TMUA score on the MAT scale.
- 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); University of Oxford, Mathematics and Philosophy entrance requirements.
- GCSE, A-level and school effects: as fitted for our Oxford PPE calculator, which lists their sources.
The biggest limit is the test change: this estimate assumes Oxford's 2027 applicants are about as strong on the TMUA as Imperial's 2025 applicants, and nobody has published how Oxford applicants score on the TMUA. The course is small and no year could be held out to test the curve, so the ranges are wide. The GCSE, A-level and school effects are borrowed from PPE and the interview positions from a release that pools five MAT courses, so neither may match Mathematics and Philosophy. It cannot see your personal statement, reference or college choice. Predicted and achieved grades are treated the same.
Oxford Mathematics and Philosophy admissions statistics
What the numbers Oxford has released say about getting into Mathematics and Philosophy (M&P): how many people apply, how the admissions test and the interview sort them, and how the odds differ by where you apply from and your school. This is a small course, so many figures are counts.
MAT to TMUA
Oxford changes its test for 2027 entry
More detail
Oxford used the MAT up to 2026 entry and uses the TMUA from 2027. These estimates assume Oxford's 2027 applicants are about as strong on the TMUA as Imperial's 2025 applicants. Nobody has published how Oxford applicants score on the TMUA yet.
1 in 7
applicants got an offer
More detail
24 offers from 170 applicants for 2025 entry, and 46% of the 52 interviewees. Oxford has made between 16 and 26 offers a year since 2007.
25 of 33
applicants scoring 70 or more on the MAT got an offer
More detail
2018 to 2020 entry pooled, MAT marks out of 100. Of the 154 scoring below 40, 1 did.
1 of 160
interviewees averaging below 6 out of 9 got an offer
More detail
2023 entry, all five MAT courses pooled. Of the 105 averaging 7.5 or more, 100 did.
Oxford Mathematics and Philosophy acceptance rate
For 2025 entry, 170 people applied for Mathematics and Philosophy at Oxford, 52 were interviewed and 24 received offers.
That is an offer rate of 14.1%, or about 1 in 7. Oxford's own published acceptance rate counts only those who took up a place: 22 of 170, or 13%, for 2025 entry.
Applications doubled from 82 for 2007 entry to 170, with a peak of 173 for 2024 entry, while offers stayed between 16 and 26 a year. So the offer rate fell from 26.8% to 14.1%. It was lowest for 2024 entry, at 9.8%. With so few offers, one more or fewer moves the rate by about half a point.
- Applied
- Interviewed
- Offered a place
The share interviewed fell from 93% for 2007 entry to 31% for 2025 entry. For 2025 entry, 24 of the 52 interviewees (46%) got an offer, the highest share since at least 2016 entry; in other years since 2016 it was 29% to 38%, about 1 in 3.
For 2026 entry, the Maths department counted 169 applicants for Mathematics and Philosophy, 56 shortlisted and 17 offers (10.1%).
Show the data as a table
| Entry | Applicants | Interviewed | Offers | Offer rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 170 | 52 (31%) | 24 | 14.1% |
| 2024 | 173 | 55 (32%) | 17 | 9.8% |
| 2023 | 163 | 62 (38%) | 20 | 12.3% |
| 2022 | 151 | 51 (34%) | 19 | 12.6% |
| 2021 | 158 | 70 (44%) | 20 | 12.7% |
| 2020 | 120 | 56 (47%) | 21 | 17.5% |
| 2019 | 137 | 56 (41%) | 16 | 11.7% |
| 2018 | 142 | 58 (41%) | 20 | 14.1% |
| 2017 | 108 | 49 (45%) | 17 | 15.7% |
| 2016 | 111 | 52 (47%) | 20 | 18.0% |
| 2015 | 100 | 44 (44%) | 16 | 16.0% |
| 2014 | 83 | 37 (45%) | 17 | 20.5% |
| 2013 | 90 | 48 (53%) | 17 | 18.9% |
| 2012 | 92 | 48 (52%) | 23 | 25.0% |
| 2011 | 95 | 44 (46%) | 18 | 18.9% |
| 2010 | 103 | 57 (55%) | 17 | 16.5% |
| 2009 | 86 | 60 (70%) | 26 | 30.2% |
| 2008 | 89 | 67 (75%) | 23 | 25.8% |
| 2007 | 82 | 76 (93%) | 22 | 26.8% |
What TMUA score do you need for Oxford Mathematics and Philosophy?
A TMUA score of about 7.2 gives a 1 in 3 chance of an offer on our estimate, read from past applicants' MAT results.
Oxford publishes no pass mark. It used the MAT, marked out of 100, up to 2026 entry and requires the TMUA, both papers, from 2027 entry. Oxford has released no TMUA results yet.
So the figures below are estimates. They come from past applicants' MAT marks and outcomes, ranked within each year, and from only 77 offers in four years. We place a TMUA score on that scale by percentile: your score is matched to where it would sit among Imperial's 2025 TMUA applicants to Mathematics.
This assumes Oxford's 2027 applicants are about as strong on the TMUA as Imperial's 2025 applicants. Nobody has published how Oxford applicants score on the TMUA yet, and no year could be held out to test the curve, so the ranges are widened a lot.
On that basis the estimate reaches a 1 in 3 chance of an offer at TMUA 7.2. At 6.0 it is about 8%, against the 14.1% average for 2025 entry.
How TMUA scores compare across all test-takers is in our guide to a good TMUA score.
- Interviewed
- Offered a place
If Oxford's applicants score like Imperial's 2025 applicants, the curve puts the average offer holder at about TMUA 7.9. This is a model figure: no Oxford offer holder has sat the TMUA yet.
The ranges are wide. At 7.0 the estimate is about 27%, with an 80% range of 19% to 60%.
The estimate for a score is the same for everyone before grades, school and where you apply from are added. Use the calculator above for those.
Show the data as a table
| TMUA score | Imperial applicants scoring below | Interviewed | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | 23% | 1% | under 1% |
| 4.5 | 34% | 3% | under 1% |
| 5.0 | 43% | 6% | under 1% |
| 5.5 | 56% | 19% | 3% |
| 6.0 | 67% | 39% | 8% |
| 6.5 | 73% | 57% | 16% |
| 7.0 | 79% | 72% | 27% |
| 7.5 | 85% | 86% | 44% |
| 8.0 | 88% | 91% | 53% |
| 8.5 | 92% | 95% | 63% |
| 9.0 | 96% | 98% | 68% |
How the old MAT results sorted applicants
Everything in this section is on the MAT scale, marks out of 100, and comes from the years before the TMUA. A MAT mark is not a TMUA score and cannot be converted into one by eye.
Pooling 2018 to 2020 entry, when the average M&P applicant scored between 43 and 46, 32 of 33 applicants scoring 70 or more were interviewed and 25 got offers. Of the 154 scoring below 40, 7 were interviewed and 1 got an offer.
- Interviewed
- Offered a place
For 2023 entry, none of the 73 applicants scoring below 40 got an offer, and 6 of the 9 scoring 70 or more did.
The bar was lower than for Maths on the same questions. For 2022 entry, M&P applicants scoring 67 or more were normally shortlisted and those below 46 normally not, against 77 and 56 for Maths, with about half of those in between shortlisted. Shortlisting also weighs the UCAS form, so these thresholds are guidance only.
Between 75% and 94% of offers in 2018 to 2020 and 2023 entry went to the top quarter of marks. The floor was lower than for Maths: the lowest mark among students who took up a place was 40 to 47 in five of the six years from 2016 to 2021 entry, and in 2020 entry one applicant who scored 24 got an offer and took up the place.
Show the data as a table
| MAT mark | Applicants | Interviewed | Offers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below 40 | 154 | 4.5% (7 of 154) | 0.6% (1 of 154) |
| 40 to 49 | 80 | 36.3% (29 of 80) | 7.5% (6 of 80) |
| 50 to 59 | 79 | 82.3% (65 of 79) | 12.7% (10 of 79) |
| 60 to 69 | 37 | 91.9% (34 of 37) | 40.5% (15 of 37) |
| 70 or more | 33 | 97.0% (32 of 33) | 75.8% (25 of 33) |
How much does the interview matter?
M&P candidates have separate Maths and Philosophy interviews, each marked from 1 to 9. In Philosophy tutors look for a critical, analytical approach and reasoned argument; in Maths, for how you respond to unfamiliar problems with help.
Oxford has released M&P interview marks by outcome only as averages, shown below. The chart uses the only candidate-level release, for 2023 entry, which pools all five MAT courses (954 interviewees), and the calculator's interview options come from the same release, not from M&P alone.
Only 1 of 160 interviewees averaging below 6 got an offer, while 100 of the 105 averaging 7.5 or more did.
For M&P in 2024 entry, the Maths interview separated offer holders from the rest much more than the Philosophy one. Offer holders averaged 7.1 in Maths against 6.2 for shortlisted candidates without an offer, but 6.5 against 6.3 in Philosophy. Oxford released means only, with no counts.
The marks come from the tutors who also decide, so they record how decisions went. These figures describe past outcomes; there is no mark to aim for.
Show the data as a table
| Average interview mark | Interviewed | Offers | Offer rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below 6 | 160 | 1 | 0.6% |
| 6 to 6.4 | 238 | 7 | 2.9% |
| 6.5 to 6.9 | 209 | 64 | 30.6% |
| 7 to 7.4 | 242 | 177 | 73.1% |
| 7.5 or more | 105 | 100 | 95.2% |
UK and international applicants, and school type
UK applicants did slightly better. For 2025 entry the offer rate was 15.5% for UK applicants (16 of 103), against 6 of 54 for non-EU and 2 of 13 for EU applicants. Over 2023 to 2025 entry it was 12.9% for UK applicants (39 of 302) and 10.8% for non-EU applicants (18 of 167).
UK applicants were interviewed more often (35.4% against 32.3% for non-EU, 2023 to 2025) and converted at similar rates once interviewed (36.4% and 33.3%). These are Oxford's own groups by where you live, not fee status.
- Interviewed
- Offered a place
UK applicants were 61% of applicants and took 67% of offers in 2025. The UK offer rate was 20 of 64 for 2007 entry and 16 of 103 for 2025 entry.
School type shows a gap among UK applicants, on small numbers. Over 2023 to 2025 entry, 11.2% of state-school applicants got offers (25 of 223), against 19.1% from independent schools (13 of 68). For 2025 entry alone it was 8 of 71 and 7 of 26.
Across all applicants, 34.5% of state-school and 31.8% of independent-school applicants were interviewed over 2023 to 2025, and raw rates do not allow for test marks.
The calculator's school effect is borrowed from Oxford PPE, where state-school applicants did a little better than independent-school applicants with the same test score, so it raises a UK state-school estimate slightly and lowers an independent-school one, the opposite of the raw offer-rate gap above. M&P's own numbers are too small to check it (see the method).
Show the data as a table
| Applying from | Applicants | Interviewed | Offers | Offer rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | 103 | 34 (33%) | 16 | 15.5% |
| Non-EU | 54 | 15 (28%) | 6 | 11.1% |
| EU | 13 | 3 of 13 | 2 | 2 of 13 |
What grades and subjects does Oxford Mathematics and Philosophy ask for?
Oxford's standard offer for Mathematics and Philosophy is A*A*A, with the A*s in Maths and Further Maths if available. Where Further Maths is not available at your school, it is A*AAa with an AS in Further Maths, or A*AA with A* in Maths.
For IB it is 39 points with 7, 6, 6 at Higher Level, the 7 in Maths. Maths at A* is required and Further Maths is highly recommended.
Philosophy is not required. The requirements are the same for 2026 and 2027 entry, and the course lasts four years.
Oxford has released no results by grade for M&P, so this page cannot show offer rates by predicted grades or GCSEs. The calculator's grade effects are borrowed from Oxford PPE (see the method).
Oxford's course page says the majority of those who read Mathematics and Philosophy have taken both Maths and Further Maths at A-level or the equivalent.
Shortlisting guidance combined the MAT with the share of GCSEs at A* for 2020 entry and with a contextualised GCSE score for 2021 entry, and used the MAT alone for 2022 entry; M&P's thresholds were lower than Maths' each time.
Show the table
| Requirement | |
|---|---|
| A-levels | A*A*A, with the A*s in Maths and Further Maths if available |
| Further Maths not available | A*AAa with an AS in Further Maths, or A*AA with A* in Maths |
| IB Diploma | 39 points, 766 at Higher Level, the 7 in Maths |
| Subjects | Maths at A* (Advanced Higher A, IB Higher Level 7); no Philosophy required |
| Admissions test | TMUA (both papers) from 2027 entry; MAT up to 2026 entry |
Questions about Oxford M&P admissions
What is the acceptance rate for Oxford Mathematics and Philosophy?
About 14.1% of applicants got an offer for 2025 entry: 24 offers from 170 applicants. Oxford's own published acceptance rate, which counts only those who took up a place, was 13% (22). About 31% of applicants are interviewed, and 46% of those interviewed got offers, the highest share since 2016 entry.
Does Oxford Mathematics and Philosophy use the MAT or the TMUA?
The MAT up to and including 2026 entry; the last one was sat in October 2025. From 2027 entry Oxford requires the TMUA, both papers. Oxford has released no TMUA results yet, so the estimates on this page place a TMUA score by percentile among Imperial's 2025 TMUA applicants to Mathematics, and assume Oxford's applicants are about as strong.
What TMUA score do I need for Oxford Mathematics and Philosophy?
Oxford sets no pass mark. Our estimate reaches a 1 in 3 chance of an offer at TMUA 7.2, and puts the average offer holder at about 7.9, if Oxford's applicants score like Imperial's 2025 applicants. These are estimates on a small course, because Oxford has released no TMUA results and nobody has published how Oxford applicants score on the TMUA.
Do I need Philosophy for Oxford Mathematics and Philosophy?
No. Oxford requires Maths at A* (or the equivalent) and does not require Philosophy. Further Maths is highly recommended.
Is it easier to get into Oxford Mathematics and Philosophy than Mathematics?
The offer rate was higher for 2025 entry (14.1% against 10.5% for Mathematics) but lower for 2024 entry (9.8% against 10.5%), and Oxford's 2022 MAT guidance for shortlisting was lower (67 against 77). The course is small, with 16 to 26 offers a year, and its applicants differ, so these figures do not make it an easier route.
How are Oxford Mathematics and Philosophy interviews marked?
Candidates have separate Maths and Philosophy interviews, each marked 1 to 9. The only linked release pools five MAT courses: for 2023 entry, 1 of 160 interviewees averaging below 6 got an offer, and 100 of the 105 averaging 7.5 or more did. Marks record how decisions went; they are no target.
Is it harder to get into Oxford Mathematics and Philosophy from outside the UK?
Slightly. Over 2023 to 2025 entry the offer rate was 12.9% for UK applicants (39 of 302) and 10.8% for non-EU applicants (18 of 167). For 2025 alone it was 15.5% for UK applicants, and EU applicants had 2 offers from 13.
Keep going
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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.