In common with most British universities, prospective students apply through the UCAS application system; but, prospective applicants for the University of Oxford, along with those for medicine, dentistry, and University of Cambridge applicants, must observe an earlier deadline of 15 October.
与英国大部分的大学一样，预申请牛津大学的学生在大学和学院招生服务中心的申请系统上提交申请，另外，预申请牛津大学的学生，和其他医科、牙科以及剑桥大学的申请者的申请时间截止到10月15日。
Undergraduate applicants are not permitted to apply to both Oxford and Cambridge in the same year. The only exceptions are applicants for Organ Scholarships and those applying to read for a second undergraduate degree.
本科生不允许在同年同时申请牛津和剑桥两所大学。除非是申请机构奖学金的学生和那些申请读本科第二学位的学生。
Students from all backgrounds are encouraged to apply. Most applicants choose to apply to one of the individual colleges, which work with each other to ensure that the best students gain a place somewhere at the University regardless of their college preferences. Shortlisting is based on achieved and predicted exam results and school references; and, in some subjects, written admission tests or candidate-submitted written work. Approximately 60% of applicants are shortlisted, although this varies by subject. If a large number of shortlisted applicants for a subject choose one college, then students who named that college may be reallocated randomly to under-subscribed colleges for the subject.
不同背景的学生们都被鼓励申请，大多数学生选择申请某个特色学院，这些学院相互协作，以保证最好的学生不论选择了哪所学院都能在牛津大学有一席之地。最终的候选人名单是以学生的考试结果、预计得分结果以及其毕业学校的推荐信为基础来进行筛选的；还有一些学科是以书面的入学考试或者候选人提交的书面作业为基础确定候选者的。尽管每个学科招收的学生人数不同，但大约60%的申请者都会被列为候选人。如果某一学科有很多入围的申请人都报了同一所学院，那么申请该所学院的学生则可能会被任意调剂到招收人数不足的学院。
