Your chances of getting into Oxford PPE, and the TARA score you need
For 2025 entry, 1,895 people applied for PPE at Oxford, 692 were interviewed and 274 received offers: 14%. Built from the test scores and outcomes of 15,373 past applicants, released by Oxford.
Your chances
Answer the questions, then see your chances
- Your estimate from the scores and outcomes of 15,373 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
- 1,895
- Interviewed
- 692
- Offers
- 27414%
PPE selection in 2025
How many reached each stage in 2025. Your own chances appear here once you have answered.
| Stage | Students | AVG | You |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apply | 1,895 | ||
| Interview | 692 | 37% | ? |
| Offer | 274 | 14% | ? |
How the offer rate rises with TARA score
Show as a table
| TARA | Offer rate | 80% confidence range |
|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | 2% | 1% to 5% |
| 4.5 | 5% | 2% to 16% |
| 5.0 | 8% | 3% to 20% |
| 5.5 | 12% | 5% to 27% |
| 6.0 | 17% | 7% to 34% |
| 6.5 | 23% | 10% to 44% |
| 7.0 | 30% | 15% to 53% |
| 7.5 | 36% | 20% to 59% |
| 8.0 | 44% | 26% to 65% |
| 8.5 | 51% | 34% to 70% |
| 9.0 | 60% | 42% to 73% |
Why you can trust this
15,373past applicants
3 yearsheld back in turn to test the curve (2018, 2019, 2020 entry)
88%of their score bands inside our range
Method and sources
Applicants are ranked by test score within each year, offer and shortlisting rates are fitted from 2014 with recent years weighted most, 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.
GCSEs, A-levels and school type are added on top of the score, allowing for the overlap between them: applicants with stronger grades tend to score higher on the test. Among applicants with the same score, those from state schools receive offers slightly more often than those from independent schools.
- University of Oxford, FOI 202508/826 and FOI/20210112/10. PPE TSA scores by outcome, 2009 to 2021.
- University of Oxford, FOI/202411/1005 and FOI/202509/988. PPE applicant TSA distributions, 2024 and 2025.
- University of Oxford, FOI/2016/Oct, FOI/2016/Sep, FOI/2016/Jan, FOI/202201/57, FOI 202301/87. Interview marks and GCSE results by outcome.
- University of Oxford, Undergraduate Admissions Statistics 2025, including offers by school type; FOI 202508/826, mean TSA by school type; FOI 202407/675, places by number of top GCSE grades, 2023.
- University of Oxford, FOI/202510/1069, Economics and Management shortlisted applicants with TSA, GCSEs and A-levels, 2014 to 2024; FOI/202403/257 and FOI/202502/220, offers by predicted A*s.
- University of Oxford, FOI/202405/449, and University of Cambridge, FOI-2025-821. Test scores and GCSEs for the same applicants.
- 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, PPE entrance requirements.
- GhostPrep, TSA to TARA score conversion, published guide.
This estimate cannot see your personal statement, reference or college choice. Predicted and achieved grades are treated the same, and the GCSE, A-level and school effects come from separate tables, so they may overlap slightly.
Oxford PPE admissions statistics
What the numbers Oxford has released say about getting into PPE: how many people apply, what the test and interview count for, and how the odds differ by where you apply from, your school and your grades.
1 in 7
applicants got an offer
More detail
274 offers from 1,895 applicants for 2025 entry. Oxford makes 256 to 284 PPE offers every year.
94%
got an offer after an Excellent interview
More detail
Interviews are marked out of 100. For 2022 entry, candidates averaging 70 or more got offers 94% of the time, against 8% for 60 to 64.9.
18% vs 11%
UK vs non-EU offer rate
More detail
2025 entry. The gap opens at the interview invitation: once interviewed that year, both converted at about 40%.
199 of 341
top scorers got no offer
More detail
For 2021 entry, applicants scoring 80 or more on TSA Section 1 (the top 16% that year). The test opens the door; the interview decides.
Oxford PPE acceptance rate
For 2025 entry, 1,895 people applied for PPE at Oxford, 692 were interviewed and 274 received offers.
That is an offer rate of 14.5%, or about 1 in 7.
Oxford's own published acceptance rate counts only those who took up a place: 235 of 1,895, or 12%, for 2025 entry.
Oxford makes almost the same number of offers every year: between 256 and 284 in every year from 2007 to 2025. So the offer rate rises and falls with the number of applicants.
- Applied
- Interviewed
- Offered a place
Applications peaked at 2,338 for 2019 entry, and the offer rate reached its low of 11.3% two years later.
If you are interviewed, your chance of an offer is about 2 in 5: 274 offers from 692 interviewees in 2025.
Preliminary figures from the PPE department for 2026 entry show 1,885 applicants, 681 interviewed and 261 offers.
Show the data as a table
| Entry | Applicants | Interviewed | Offers | Offer rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1,895 | 692 (37%) | 274 | 14.5% |
| 2024 | 1,774 | 673 (38%) | 270 | 15.2% |
| 2023 | 1,864 | 718 (39%) | 265 | 14.2% |
| 2022 | 1,997 | 736 (37%) | 268 | 13.4% |
| 2021 | 2,300 | 710 (31%) | 259 | 11.3% |
| 2020 | 2,233 | 742 (33%) | 274 | 12.3% |
| 2019 | 2,338 | 724 (31%) | 276 | 11.8% |
| 2018 | 2,220 | 733 (33%) | 274 | 12.3% |
| 2017 | 1,984 | 707 (36%) | 275 | 13.9% |
| 2016 | 1,824 | 719 (39%) | 284 | 15.6% |
| 2015 | 1,691 | 701 (41%) | 272 | 16.1% |
| 2014 | 1,651 | 716 (43%) | 267 | 16.2% |
| 2013 | 1,643 | 754 (46%) | 268 | 16.3% |
| 2012 | 1,728 | 792 (46%) | 269 | 15.6% |
| 2011 | 1,677 | 766 (46%) | 270 | 16.1% |
| 2010 | 1,667 | 778 (47%) | 271 | 16.3% |
| 2009 | 1,504 | 896 (60%) | 269 | 17.9% |
| 2008 | 1,219 | 931 (76%) | 259 | 21.2% |
| 2007 | 1,319 | 923 (70%) | 256 | 19.4% |
What TARA score do you need for Oxford PPE?
A TARA score of about 7.3 gave a 1 in 3 chance of an offer, and past offer holders averaged an estimated TARA 7.6.
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 7.6, converted from their TSA scores. Oxford's own figure for 2025 entry: PPE offer holders averaged 73.5 on TSA Section 1, against 62.0 for all applicants.
On that basis, a TARA score of about 7.3 gave a 1 in 3 chance of an offer, more than double the average. That TARA score converts from a TSA Section 1 score of about 69 to 74. The 80% confidence range around the estimate runs from 18% to 57%.
Which Oxford courses require TARA for 2027 entry is in our guide to TARA for Oxford.
- Interviewed
- Offered a place
The TSA data shows how the score works in practice. For 2024 entry, 96% of applicants scoring 70 or more on Section 1 were interviewed, against 16% of those scoring 50 to 59.
A top score is still no guarantee. For 2021 entry, 199 of the 341 applicants scoring 80 or more (the top 16% that year, when scores ran higher) got no offer.
A modest score can still succeed: the lowest-scoring offer holder for 2024 entry scored 49.1, below that year's applicant average of 59.3.
Show the data as a table
| TARA score | From TSA | Applicants scoring below | Interviewed | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | 55 to 60 | 39% | 18% | 2% |
| 5.0 | 62 to 66 | 60% | 42% | 8% |
| 6.0 | 65 to 69 | 71% | 59% | 17% |
| 7.0 | 68 to 73 | 81% | 74% | 30% |
| 8.0 | 72 to 78 | 87% | 84% | 44% |
| 9.0 | 75 to 83 | 93% | 92% | 60% |
How much does the interview matter?
Shortlisted candidates normally have at least two interviews, and tutors record two or three marks for each candidate on a scale of 1 to 100. The 2022-23 PPE admissions manual reads 70 to 100 as Excellent, 65 to 69 Positive, 60 to 64 Neutral and 50 to 59 Weak.
The figures below use each candidate's average mark. Once you are shortlisted, that average decides most outcomes: for 2022 entry, candidates averaging 70 or more got an offer 94% of the time (102 of 108).
- 2022 entry
- 2023 entry
Below 60, fewer than 5 candidates got an offer in either year. The manual describes a mark above 70 as "a strong indicator for admission".
The pattern has held for a decade: for 2014, 2016 and 2017 entry, 94 to 98% of candidates averaging 70 or more got offers.
A strong interview can outweigh a stronger test. For 2017 entry, candidates with a TSA of 70+ but an interview below 65 got offers 21% of the time, against 93% for a TSA of 65 to 69.9 with an interview of 70+.
Show the data as a table
| Average interview mark | 2022 entry | 2023 entry |
|---|---|---|
| 70 or more | 94% (102 of 108) | 98% (96 of 98) |
| 65 to 69.9 | 44% (142 of 321) | 53% (154 of 290) |
| 60 to 64.9 | 8% (19 of 225) | 5% (12 of 224) |
| Below 60 | Fewer than 5 of 79 | Fewer than 5 of 104 |
UK and international applicants
UK applicants are more likely to get an offer: 18.2% for 2025 entry, against 11.3% for non-EU and 5.8% for EU applicants.
- Interviewed
- Offered a place
The gap opens at the interview invitation. Once interviewed in 2025, UK and non-EU candidates converted at about the same rate, 40%; over 2023 to 2025 it was 39.7% for UK and 36.6% for non-EU interviewees.
UK applicants were just over half of all applicants in 2025 but received 68% of the offers.
EU applications have fallen by 64% since 2019 entry, from 532 to 191.
Show the data as a table
| Applying from | Applicants | Interviewed | Offers | Offer rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | 1,024 | 463 (45%) | 186 | 18.2% |
| Non-EU | 680 | 194 (29%) | 77 | 11.3% |
| EU | 191 | 35 (18%) | 11 | 5.8% |
State and independent schools
Among UK applicants, state-school students now get offers at a higher rate: 19.6% against 16.4% for independent schools over 2023 to 2025 entry.
It used to run the other way. For 2007 entry the rates were 24.8% for state and 31.9% for independent schools.
- State
- Independent
Across all applicants, UK and overseas, state and independent school applicants are interviewed at almost the same rate (47% and 45%, 2023 to 2025). The difference comes after interview: state-school interviewees converted 41.6% of the time against 35.3%.
Applicants eligible for free school meals got offers at 29.2% over 2023 to 2025 (49 of 168), though they were under 6% of UK applicants.
Show the data as a table
| Entry | State | Independent |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 19.6% (131 of 670) | 15.7% (47 of 300) |
| 2024 | 20.5% (122 of 596) | 16.2% (46 of 284) |
| 2023 | 18.8% (119 of 633) | 17.3% (51 of 295) |
| 2022 | 16.9% (108 of 639) | 18.0% (52 of 289) |
| 2021 | 17.6% (114 of 648) | 13.2% (44 of 333) |
| 2020 | 18.3% (113 of 617) | 18.0% (60 of 333) |
| 2019 | 19.9% (121 of 608) | 19.4% (66 of 340) |
| 2018 | 18.9% (107 of 565) | 19.0% (66 of 347) |
| 2017 | 20.9% (106 of 507) | 20.7% (72 of 348) |
| 2016 | 22.8% (109 of 479) | 26.7% (76 of 285) |
| 2015 | 25.4% (104 of 410) | 27.7% (76 of 274) |
| 2014 | 22.9% (101 of 442) | 28.7% (74 of 258) |
| 2013 | 24.5% (108 of 441) | 29.0% (82 of 283) |
| 2012 | 23.8% (105 of 441) | 26.4% (80 of 303) |
| 2011 | 22.7% (111 of 490) | 24.4% (76 of 312) |
| 2010 | 20.0% (95 of 476) | 24.6% (82 of 334) |
| 2009 | 25.5% (112 of 440) | 23.7% (80 of 337) |
| 2008 | 27.5% (106 of 385) | 32.9% (95 of 289) |
| 2007 | 24.8% (102 of 411) | 31.9% (102 of 320) |
Do GCSEs and A-levels matter?
A-level grades track offers closely. For UK applicants over 2022 to 2024 entry, those whose A-level results read A*A*A*A* got offers 47.7% of the time, against 9.4% for AAA.
Maths stands out. For 2026 entry, 96% of offer holders taking A-levels had A-level Maths, and applicants with it got offers at 18.3% against 7.7% without.
GCSEs count too: 2026 offer holders averaged 9.3 top grades (9, 8 or A*), against 7.5 across applicants with GCSE results.
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
| A-level grades | Applicants | Offers | Offer rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| A*A*A*A* | 107 | 51 | 47.7% |
| A*A*A* | 224 | 60 | 26.8% |
| A*A*A | 311 | 66 | 21.2% |
| A*AA | 295 | 45 | 15.3% |
| AAA | 180 | 17 | 9.4% |
Questions about Oxford PPE admissions
What is the acceptance rate for Oxford PPE?
About 14.5% of applicants got an offer for 2025 entry: 274 offers from 1,895 applicants. Oxford's own published acceptance rate, which counts only those who took up a place, was 12% (235). Around 37% of applicants are interviewed, and about 40% of those interviewed get an offer.
What TARA score do I need for Oxford PPE?
Oxford sets no pass mark. Based on past applicants' scores converted to TARA, a score of about 7.3 gave a 1 in 3 chance of an offer, and offer holders averaged an estimated 7.6. Oxford has released no TARA results yet, so treat these as estimates.
Is it harder to get into Oxford PPE from outside the UK?
Yes. For 2025 entry the offer rate was 18.2% for UK applicants, 11.3% for non-EU and 5.8% for EU applicants. The difference is mainly in who gets interviewed; once interviewed in 2025, UK and non-EU candidates did about equally well.
How are PPE interviews marked?
Candidates normally have at least two interviews, and tutors record two or three marks on a scale of 1 to 100. The 2022-23 PPE admissions manual reads 70 to 100 as Excellent, 65 to 69 Positive, 60 to 64 Neutral and 50 to 59 Weak.
How important is the PPE interview?
Very. For 2022 entry, 94% of candidates averaging 70 or more at interview got an offer, against 8% of those averaging 60 to 64.9.
Do state school applicants have a better chance at Oxford PPE?
Recently, yes. Over 2023 to 2025 entry, UK state-school applicants got offers at 19.6% against 16.4% for independent schools.
Do I need A-level Maths for PPE?
Oxford does not require it: the PPE department calls Maths a useful background but not essential. In practice, 96% of offer holders taking A-levels had it for 2026 entry (172 of 180), and applicants with A-level Maths got offers at 18.3% against 7.7% without.
Keep going
- Same testOxford Economics and ManagementAlso TARA, with a smaller intake and a 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.