University of Oxford UNIQ Summer Schools English Residential Course

You need to be in your first year of sixth form at a UK state school or college, or home-educated, and that means Year 12 in England and Wales, Year 13 in Northern Ireland or S5 in Scotland. On top of UNIQ's general rules, the English course asks that you're taking English Literature, or English Language and Literature, at A level, Advanced Higher, IB Higher Level or an equivalent, and UNIQ won't accept you for a course whose required subject you aren't studying.

UNIQ normally expects at least six GCSEs with one or more at grade 7 or A, or six National 5s with at least one A, and it says its grade bar may be lower than you'd think. Students at independent or private schools can't apply, even on a bursary, and neither can anyone who has already been on UNIQ or holds more than one completed A level. Past the minimum rules, selection weighs your grades in context and gives priority to:

• Care experience

  UNIQ strongly prioritizes students who are or have been in care, including foster and kinship care.

• Free school meals

  Current or past eligibility counts, and UNIQ checks it with your school.

• Socioeconomic background

  This can include checking your home postcode against the Index of Multiple Deprivation, the UK's official measure of local deprivation.

• Extenuating circumstances

  The form has a section for anything that held back your results.

You arrive on a Monday and leave on Friday, with the teaching held during the day on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. UNIQ doesn't publish class hours, but the English days mix lectures and seminars on the set texts, discussion with tutors and other students, activities around the literature, writing your essay and a tutorial where you get feedback on it. The material is pitched at a first-year Oxford undergraduate, with academic and graduate teaching staff and student ambassadors there to help.

Evenings are looser. There are optional social activities with your college group, chances to explore Oxford and other colleges, and time in the common room asking ambassadors questions. On the last day everyone on your week comes together for a mini conference with more information and guidance about applying.

Yes. UNIQ charges no fees to you or your school, and it pays for your travel, accommodation, meals and teaching. The catch is that travel cover depends on sending information back on time, so if you miss UNIQ's deadlines or lose your ticket you may have to buy your own, and fuel for a car journey isn't reimbursed. Snacks, souvenirs and anything you forget to pack are also on you. UNIQ asks families with worries about paying for something during the visit to get in touch.

Each college is run for the week by a Site Manager, a senior student ambassador who organizes drop-ins, tours and evening activities, and the ambassadors who take you to lectures also stay with you in college. UNIQ doesn't publish a staff-to-student ratio. Staying overnight is compulsory for everyone, and you won't know which college you're in until you arrive.

• Rooms

  You get your own lockable bedroom, and shared bathrooms sit on gender-segregated corridors, although students in ensuite rooms may be on mixed corridors.

• Food

  Every college offers a vegetarian option, but halal, kosher and other religious diets can't be guaranteed, so tell UNIQ your needs as soon as you're offered a place.

• Faith

  There are chances to pray through the day, and fasting can be accommodated, though UNIQ will ask a student whose health suffers to break the fast or go home.

• Access needs

  UNIQ makes reasonable adjustments for disabilities and other needs, which you share after being offered a place.

Applications go only through the UNIQ website, and the form needs JavaScript, so a school laptop with locked-down settings may not let you in.

1. 1

   From 15 December 2026, fill in the online form with English as one of your two course choices, your GCSE or National 5 grades, your background details and a teacher to nominate.

2. 2

   Submit the whole form before 13:00 on 19 January 2027, because unfinished applications and late ones aren't considered, and look for the submitted screen since no confirmation email arrives.

3. 3

   If you spot a mistake, email uniq@admin.ox.ac.uk, with roughly three days after the deadline to make changes.

4. 4

   Watch for a decision by email by early March 2027 and accept any offer within one week.

5. 5

   If you're in, attend a regional event in spring, an online preparation meeting in May or June, and the residential in late June or July 2027.