University of Oxford UNIQ Summer Schools Human Sciences Residential Course

You need to be in your first year of sixth form at a UK state school, which means Year 12 in England or Wales, Year 13 in Northern Ireland, S5 in Scotland or the first year of the IB Diploma. Grammar schools count as state schools and home-educated students can apply, but students at independent or private schools can't, even with a bursary. UNIQ also requires you to be eligible for home fees status, which normally means settled status and three years' residence in the UK or Islands, and you must be under 18 at the residential, with narrow exceptions for some Northern Ireland students and those in an offset year.

Beyond those rules, UNIQ normally expects six GCSEs with at least one at grade 7 or A (or six National 5s with at least one A) and reads your grades in context. It strongly prioritizes students who have been in care, and it also weighs Free School Meals eligibility and how deprived your home postcode is. For Human Sciences, Biology or Math at A level or equivalent helps but isn't required, and UNIQ says arts and science backgrounds both suit the course, especially a mix of the two.

• Been on UNIQ before?

  You can only attend once, and a repeat application is automatically disqualified.

• More than one A level already?

  Students with more than one completed A level aren't eligible.

• Scale

  UNIQ works with over a thousand students a year across all its courses, though it doesn't give a figure for Human Sciences alone.

Teaching runs during the day on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with you arriving on Monday and leaving on Friday after four nights in an Oxford college. Human Sciences is taught through lectures backed up by discussion-based classes, designed by Oxford lecturers and tutors and pitched at first-year undergraduate level, and recent courses have covered human ecology, anthropology, human evolution, sociology, physiology, genetics, and health and disease.

Evenings bring optional social activities with your college group, time to explore Oxford and other colleges, and plenty of contact with current undergraduates. The week closes with a mini conference that brings together everyone on your week for more guidance about applying.

Yes. UNIQ charges nothing to you or your school and pays for your travel, college room, meals and teaching. What you cover yourself is small: snacks, souvenirs and anything you forget to pack.

Travel comes with one condition. UNIQ arranges it from the details you send back, and students who miss its deadlines or lose their ticket may have to pay for their own, while fuel for a car journey isn't reimbursed. UNIQ asks anyone worried 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-in sessions, tours and evening activities, and current undergraduate ambassadors stay in college with you and take you to lectures and seminars. UNIQ assigns your college, usually one that offers your subject, and you find out which one when you arrive.

• Rooms

  You get your own lockable bedroom. Shared bathrooms are common in the older buildings and sit on gender-segregated corridors, while students with 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 because each college runs its own catering, so tell UNIQ your needs as soon as you have a place.

• Faith and health

  UNIQ provides chances to pray through the day and has some prayer mats to lend. Students who fast are asked to break their fast or go home if their health starts to suffer.

• Access needs

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

Applications are made online only, through the UNIQ website.

1. 1

   Applications for UNIQ 2027 open on 15 December 2026.

2. 2

   Choose a first and second choice of course in a week you can attend in full, because UNIQ can't switch your subject once places are allocated.

3. 3

   Complete every section, including your grades, a teacher to nominate and any extenuating circumstances, since UNIQ ignores applications that are started but not submitted.

4. 4

   Submit by 1 p.m. on 19 January 2027, and look for the "application submitted" screen, because UNIQ sends no confirmation email and applying early gives no advantage.

5. 5

   Decisions arrive by email by early March 2027, and you have one week to accept an offer.

UNIQ keeps supporting you online from August to December, with guidance on each stage of an Oxford application, from the UCAS form to admissions tests and interviews. Many Oxford departments also run workshops during the residential to help with applying. Above all, you leave with a clear sense of whether Human Sciences, a subject UNIQ notes many students have never heard of, is the degree you want to apply for.