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Complete Admissions Guide

Religion and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at University of Oxford

Our students' Oxford acceptance rate

65%

Overall Oxford offer rate (latest published cycle)

17%

Religion and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Oxford is among the most selective courses in the UK. Get 1-to-1 admissions coaching from Oxford graduates who have been through the process themselves.

Last updated: June 2026

Key Facts

  • AAATypical Offer
  • 7:1Applicants / Place
  • #2026UK Ranking
  • 2Places / Year
  • VT69UCAS Code

Overview

Religion and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Oxford

Religion and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Oxford is a 3-year BA, UCAS code VT69, with a typical A-level offer of AAA. For 2027 entry, the course has no admissions test, requires one English written-work piece, and combines religion with original-language study in Asian and Middle Eastern traditions.

Why study Religion and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Oxford?

This is a joint Oxford BA, not a single-subject Theology course or a single-subject Asian and Middle Eastern Studies course. The course combines Religion with Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and uses original-language primary texts as a central part of the degree.

A university lecture hall from the back, students taking notes

Section 01

International Applicants

Click your country on the map below for country-specific entry guidance — accepted qualifications, expected scores, English-language requirements, and any local context worth knowing before you apply.

International Applicants

Country-specific admissions requirements

CanadaUnited States of AmericaSouth KoreaIndiaChinaUnited KingdomMalaysiaJapan

Pick a highlighted country to see the admissions-test, score, and English-language requirements that apply for applicants from that country.

Section 02

Entry Requirements

  • A-LevelAAA
  • IB Diploma38 (including core points) with 666 at HL
  • Advanced Placement (AP)For an AAA course: either four APs at grade 5, including any subjects required for the course, or three APs at grade 5 plus ACT 31+ or SAT 1460+.
Admissions test
No pre-registered admissions test for 2027 entry. Oxford retired the legacy written test for this course family, applicants are assessed on UCAS application, predicted grades, personal statement and interview alone.
Written work
Submit one or two pieces of recent marked school work in the subject (or a closely related humanities subject), normally with the teacher's comments visible. Standard Oxford written-work deadline is 10 November 2026, each course's admissions page confirms the exact rules.
Interview
Two college interviews of around 25 minutes each. Subject-specific discussion or problem-solving interviews typical of Oxford tutorial teaching. Most interviews are in person at the college; many colleges still offer online interviews for international applicants.

Section 03

Application Process & Key Deadlines

  1. MAY to AUG 2026

    Build your academic fit

    Confirm course fit, choose a college or open application route and draft an academically focused personal statement.

  2. 1 SEP 2026

    UCAS submission opens

    Completed undergraduate applications can be submitted to UCAS from 1 September 2026.

  3. 15 OCT 2026

    Submit UCAS

    The Oxford UCAS deadline is 6pm UK time on 15 October 2026.

  4. 10 NOV 2026

    Submit written work

    Submit one English written-work piece by the college deadline.

  5. MID NOV to EARLY DEC

    Watch for shortlisting

    Shortlisting begins from the end of November.

  6. EARLY to MID DEC 2026

    Attend online interviews

    Shortlisted applicants attend online academic interviews.

  7. 12 JAN 2027

    Receive Oxford decision

    2027-entry applicants are informed on 12 January 2027.

  8. 5 MAY to 2 JUN 2027

    Reply to offers

    UCAS reply deadlines depend on when all decisions arrive.

  9. AUG 2027

    Results and confirmation

    Offer holders meet conditions through A-level, IB or equivalent results; exact 2027 JCQ results day not verified.

Section 04

Admissions Test

Student working through problems at a desk with timed papers

Religion and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at University of Oxford does not require a written admissions test for 2027 entry. Applications are assessed on academic record, personal statement, submitted written work (where requested), and interview performance.

Always verify on the official Oxford admissions tests page.

Section 05

The Interview: What to Expect

Invitation → Decision: the interview timeline

Interview Invitation

Late Nov

Arrival to Interview

Early Dec

Technical Question

Mid Dec

Decision

Early Jan

Question Types You’ll See

Religious/philosophical/ethical promptBrief unseen text or imageSample-language or pattern-recognition exerciseWritten work/personal statement discussionCounterargument or new-information task

The interview is a tutorial-style academic conversation, not a performance test. Tutors may use unseen material, a sample-language or pattern-recognition task, text or image analysis, and discussion of written work or the personal statement.

What matters is how you think when the material changes. The recorded selection criteria include academic potential, motivation, linguistic aptitude, clear argument, engagement with unfamiliar material and close textual reading.

Practise short explanations out loud. A good answer does not need to be instant; it needs to show what you noticed, why you noticed it, and how you revise your view when a tutor adds a complication.

Practise with realistic questions from our free mock interview question bank.

Free Mock Questions
Two people in academic discussion across a table

Section 06

How Decisions Are Actually Made

Oxford’s verified record for this course does not use numerical admissions weights. The decision is holistic across the full application, written work and interviews.

The recorded criteria are interview performance, academic record and predicted or achieved qualifications, written work, and the UCAS form with personal statement and academic reference. There is no admissions-test criterion because no written admissions test is required.

Consistency matters. Your academic record, essay, personal statement and interview should all point to the same underlying strengths: close reading, language readiness, intellectual curiosity and careful argument.

Our recommendation · weighting of admission factors

0102030405041%
Interview
27%
Predicted grades
14%
Personal statement
11%
Submitted written work
7%
Contextual factors
% of decisionFactor

Oxbridge Mentors recommendation, drawn from observed offer patterns. University of Oxford does not publish official weightings — exact balance varies by college, course and year.

Section 07

Personal Statement Tips

Handwritten notes and a laptop open to a draft document

For this course, the personal statement should not read like a generic Theology statement. It should show why you want the combination of religion, language, culture and primary texts.

Choose two or three academic threads rather than listing everything you have read. A RAMES-specific structure could link one religious tradition or question to the language route that would let you study primary texts, then connect that to a historical, philosophical or cultural problem you have explored independently.

Do not overclaim prior language knowledge. Oxford does not expect prior study of the course languages, so it is better to show realistic commitment to learning one from the beginning.

See a full annotated example with line-by-line expert commentary.

Religion and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies PS Example

Section 08

Projects

  1. 01Justification
  2. 02Project Brief
  3. 03Explain Exactly What You Did
  4. 04Difficulties
  5. 05Solutions
  6. 06Reflection

How to build supercurricular depth

Oxford defines strong supercurricular preparation as three connected habits: explore material beyond class, engage critically with it, and reflect on what changed your thinking. For Religion and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, that means combining religious studies, textual interpretation, history, philosophy and language work rather than listing unrelated activities.

  • Primary-text comparison: choose a short translated passage from a religious tradition you may study, read it alongside introductory scholarship, and write a one-page reflection on how translation, context and interpretation change the argument.
  • Religion, ethics and public life: follow one question such as religious ethics, science and religion, ritual practice or law, then compare how two traditions approach it.
  • Language and culture log: begin structured work in a relevant language such as Arabic, Hebrew, Hindi, Pali, Sanskrit or Tibetan, keeping notes on grammar, script, vocabulary and what the language reveals about religious or historical context.

Other Supercurriculars

  • Use Oxford's Supercurricular Hub, Oxplore, Oxford Impacts videos and departmental resources as starting points, but focus on one or two items in depth.
  • Explore the Faculty of Theology and Religion's blog, podcasts and YouTube lectures, including resources from the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion.
  • Use the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies' subject introductions, language tasters and lecture videos to understand the regions, languages and traditions taught at Oxford.
  • Make use of museums and digital collections such as the Ashmolean Learning Resources, Cabinet and relevant Bodleian-linked materials to practise interpreting objects and manuscripts as evidence.
  • Read and listen critically through resources such as BBC Radio 4's In Our Time, Very Short Introductions, open-access JSTOR Material and the Imagining the Divine blog.

Competitions and outreach

Academic competitions, essay prizes, open days, online talks, UNIQ and faculty outreach can all support preparation, but none is required. Prioritise activities that leave you with something specific to discuss: a passage, object, lecture, language problem or argument that you can analyse in interview.

Open books, a notebook, and a coffee on a wooden desk

Section 09

Course Structure

  1. Year

    01 / 03

    1

    Preliminary Examination

    Foundations in religion and language

    Students take Religion and Religions and devote the rest of the year to language-focused study in Arabic, Hebrew, Hindi, Pali, Sanskrit or Tibetan.

    Language study begins from the first year; prior study is not expected.

  2. Year

    02 / 03

    2

    Honour School development

    Building Theology and AMES options

    Students begin Final Honour School work, combining Theology and Religion with AMES papers.

    Combines comparative religious study with original-language textual work.

  3. Year

    03 / 03

    3

    Final Honour School and thesis

    Specialisation and independent research

    Students complete the eight-paper Honour School pattern and produce a 12,000-word thesis/dissertation.

    Every student produces a 12,000-word thesis/dissertation.

Section 10

Written Work Requirements

A bound essay on a tutor desk beside a fountain pen

Written work is required for this course according to the controlling course-page and written-work guidance. The requirement is one English piece, normally from a current or recent course of study, not exceeding 2,000 words.

The deadline recorded for 2027 entry is 10 November 2026. This requirement is verified with an official-source conflict: the Oxford summary table says “None”, while the course page and written-work page both say written work is required. Applicants should verify the current course page before submitting.

Choose a piece that shows argument rather than just information. A strong essay gives tutors material to discuss: structure, evidence, interpretation, counterargument and your own judgement.

Section 11

Building Religion and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Knowledge

Start with the official Oxford course page, because it is the primary source for entry requirements, written work, interviews, course structure and statistics.

Use the Faculty of Theology and Religion undergraduate admissions FAQs to understand course structure, colleges, interview count, interview duration and admissions process details. Keep the Oxford admissions timeline open while planning, because the verified resource set uses it as the official 2027-entry dates source.

For subject preparation, turn the course structure into a reading-and-language plan. Pick one possible language route, one religious tradition or question, and one primary-text problem you want to understand better; that keeps your preparation specific to this joint degree rather than drifting into a generic humanities reading list.

The World's Religions By Huston Smith provides a sympathetic survey of Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Islam, Judaism and Christianity that treats each tradition on its own terms, useful for understanding the range of this joint degree.

For video lectures, Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford And SOAS University of London Both publish academic talks directly relevant to this degree’s combination of religious studies and area studies.

For structured study, Introduction to the Hebrew Bible from Yale Open Courses provides a rigorous academic treatment of biblical texts, their composition and historical context. In Our Time Has authoritative episodes on Islam, Sufism, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism that build the comparative vocabulary Oxford interviews expect.

A study planner, highlighters and a stack of revision cards

Section 12

College Choice & Reallocation

38 colleges offer this subject. 15.4% of applicants submit an open application. Around a third may be reallocated or receive an offer from a college other than the named college, per course-page wording of places come through the pool.

Oxford applicants can choose a college or make an open application, and they may still be interviewed by or offered a place at another college. Oxford uses this process to reallocate candidates between colleges where needed.

Reallocation exists so that strong candidates are not disadvantaged by applying to a particularly oversubscribed college. For this course, the course-page wording suggests that around a third may be reallocated or receive an offer from a college other than the named college; treat this as a partial-confidence course-page indication rather than a guaranteed annual rate.

College choice affects community, accommodation and initial handling, but it should not be treated as a way to game the course. Choose a college you would be happy to live and work in, then prepare as if the academic assessment could happen across more than one college.

Stone college quadrangle viewed through an archway

Section 13

Career Prospects

The official course-page destinations list includes law, social work, media, journalism, publishing, banking, management consultancy, accountancy, personnel management, teaching, the police force and the arts.

This is a degree for students who can handle language learning, written argument and cultural interpretation. Those skills support flexible graduate routes across research, communication, analysis and people-focused work rather than one narrow vocational pathway.

Section 14

Contextual Circumstances

Oxford considers grades in context wherever possible. Contextual data helps tutors understand achievement against school, neighbourhood and personal circumstances.

For this course, the absence of required subjects and prior language study matters. Applicants should not be penalised because their school did not offer AMES languages, Theology or Religious Studies.

Use the reference or extenuating-circumstances routes for disruption or limited subject availability. Applicants without GCSEs can be assessed through the selection criteria and accepted equivalent qualifications.

Watch & Learn

Helpful Videos for Religion and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Oxford

Student vlogs, mock interviews, lecture tasters, and admissions advice.

Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Oxford

Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford - Undergraduate Admissions Video

Language Taster: Arabic | University of Oxford Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

All videos are the property of their respective creators.

Further Reading

Recommended Resources

Super-curricular reading, websites, and tools recommended by our expert tutors.

Frequently Asked Questions

VT69.
No.
Yes, Oxford's course page and written-work guidance require one English-language piece, due 10 November 2026. An official summary table currently says “None”, so applicants should verify the requirement on the official course page before submitting.
No; language and essay-writing subjects can help but are not required.
AAA at A-level, Advanced Highers AA/AAB, or IB 38 with 666 at HL.
Course page: 45% interviewed, 15% successful, average intake 2. AMES 2025/26: 14 applicants, 8 shortlisted, 4 with offers.
Applicants can choose a college or make an open application; Oxford may reallocate.
Yes.

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