V3.

2 August 2017

University of Oxford Graduate Application Form:

Technical Help

This is a technical guide to how the online application form works. For information on the
wider application process, see our Application Guide. Once you have submitted your
application, you will be able to manage it via Graduate Applicant Self Service.

Courses run by the Saïd Business School and a small number of other courses use
separate application forms; details of these are available on the relevant course page.

Contents

1. Overview
2. Technical specifications
3. Creating an account
4. Selecting a course
5. Application type
6. Course
7. Contact details
8. About you
9. Referees
10. Qualifications
11. Funding
12. Supporting documents
13. Paying the application fee
14. Submitting your application
15. Troubleshooting

1. Overview

To apply for a graduate course at the University of Oxford, you will need first to create
an application account, in which you can create as many applications as you wish. The
online application system then comprises:

 a series of sections (on separate tabs) where you will enter a range of essential
data
 a tab with the functionality for you to upload the required supporting materials
 a reference system requiring you to register your referees' official e-mail
addresses and other details, which then allows your referees to submit online
references
 a declaration for you to read and sign regarding the information and
documentation provided in your application

The currently active page is highlighted in yellow and each tab heading has a symbol
indicating whether all mandatory fields have been completed:

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 a blue 'tick' indicates that all mandatory fields are complete
 a red 'cross' indicates that one or more mandatory fields is incomplete
 a blank square indicates that you have not yet visited, or are currently working
on, that tab

Note that the visibility of, and possible responses to, some questions on the form are
determined by previous answers. If you cannot see a particular question or response,
please check that your previous responses are correct.

Mandatory questions are indicated by an asterisk (*).

On each page you have the option to ‘save and proceed’ (to the following page) or ‘save
and close’ (to return to the ‘my applications’ screen).You can also click directly on the
page title to move directly to that page. If you encounter an error message, you can
select ‘cancel’ to remain on the page and correct any errors (which will be highlighted in
yellow) or ‘OK’ to advance to the next page (you can then return later to correct the
errors).

2. Technical specifications

The application form is compatible with most internet browsers, including Chrome,
Firefox and Safari. If you are using Internet Explorer, you will need to use version 9 or
later (you can check which version you have by selecting ‘about Internet Explorer’ on
your browser’s Tools menu). If your version of Internet Explorer is older than version 9,
you can download another browser (e.g. Chrome or Firefox) for free.

The application form is compatible with most tablet devices, but some may not display it
correctly.

3. Creating an account

Application accounts created since September 2015 will carry over from previous cycles
enabling you to log in with your existing details and start new applications. Accounts
created before Sep 2015 will not be accessible, so a new account would be required
(although you will be able to use the same email address). Current Oxford graduate
students will need to create a new application account rather than logging into your
existing one. In this case, you can use the same personal email address as for your
previous account, and any applications you submit will be merged onto your existing
student record.

Selecting ‘create account’ on the log-in page will bring up the following form - all fields
are mandatory. The password must be 8-12 characters long and contain at least one
number and letter. Read the Data Protection statement before ticking the box. Please
ensure you use an email address that you will still be able to access until the end of the
application process.

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Once you have created an account, you

will be able to log in by entering your
email address and password in the log-in
box. If you forget your password, you
can request a new one via the ‘forgotten
password’ link on the log-in page.

Please avoid using an email address that

will expire before the start of the course
to which you are applying. If you can no
longer access the email account in which
you registered the account, you will
need to contact Graduate Admissions.

NB: if you later enter a different email address in the ‘home address’ field of the ‘contact
details’ page of the application form, this change will also apply to the email address in
which the account is registered, so you will need to use the new address to log in.

4. Selecting a course

There are two ways of searching for your course:

 Entering a keyword from the course title - the search tool will attempt to match
any of the words you enter with available course titles, so if you enter more than
one word, you may get too many results for them all to be displayed.
 Typing in the course code (available on the course page).

Once selected, it is not possible to change the course, but you can start another
application (in which much of the data you have already entered will be pre-populated) if
you need to choose a different one. To start another application, click ‘save and close’ for
the current application and then select ‘start new application’ on the ‘my applications’
screen. You can safely leave unsubmitted any applications that you do not intend to
submit; these will not be visible to departments and will be deleted automatically at the
end of the following admissions cycle.

If the course you wish to apply for is not listed as an available option, it may use a
separate application process (see Application basics) or it may have closed to
applications. The admissions status of each course is provided via individual course
pages.

It is not normally possible to apply for the same course twice in an application cycle (see
the Application Guide for details of exceptions).You must correct any data in an
application you have started rather than beginning a second application for the same
course.

5. Application type

You must select the appropriate application type before you can proceed to the rest of
the form (although you can later change this).

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 Standard: Your application is standard unless it falls into one of the types below.
The graduate application fee is £75 per application. For further information please
see the Application Guide.

 Standard - application fee not paid online: Standard graduate applications where
the application fee will be paid offline. To access this version of the application
form, you will need to enter an access code, which you will have been given by
Graduate Admissions or the academic department.

 Readmission: Currently enrolled in the final year of one of a subset of Oxford

graduate courses, and applying to enrol next academic year on an eligible
research course. For further information, see the guidance for continuing Oxford
students.

 Rhodes Scholar – newly selected: Newly-selected Rhodes Scholars making a

graduate application to Oxford.

 Rhodes Trust – enrolled: Rhodes Scholars currently enrolled at Oxford applying

for a further taught or readmissions programme with confirmed Rhodes funding.

6. Course

This section allows you to enter any details about the course you have selected. The
character limits for these fields are indicated at the end of the field.

You must either indicate that you have no college preference or select a preferred
college. Colleges do not necessarily accept applications for all courses, so you may only
see a subset of the full list. You should select the same college for all applications (where
possible). It is not possible to change your college preference after submitting your
application.

7. Contact details

Your name will form the basis of your applicant record, so please ensure it is full,
accurate and in the correct order. If you hold a passport or other official document, you
should state your name exactly as it is printed there. If you have only one name, please
enter your given name (first name) as ‘-’ and enter your name as the family name
(surname). Any changes after you have submitted an applicant can be requested via
self-service with accompanying proof of identity.

8. About you

Nationality and ordinary residence

The details you enter in this section are used to determine your fee status and eligibility
for many scholarships, so please follow the instructions both here and on the form
carefully.

If you hold dual nationality, please enter details for both, but do not include details of
nationalities that are no longer current. If you do not hold nationality of an EEA country
(including UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man) or Switzerland, please provide details of
the passport that you intend to use to enter the UK.

A description of ordinary residence and an explanation of how to complete the questions

relating to it are both given on the form. It is up to you to determine where your
country of ordinary residence is, based on the definition given on the form.
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The dates for your current and previous country of ordinary residence must not overlap,
as outlined in the below scenario:

Ordinary residence scenario

Amy was born and grew up in the United Kingdom. She spent a year living in France
between 1 October 2013 and 30 September 2014 before returning to the UK. This
should be recorded as:

Note that the period before her residence in France is correctly omitted (because the
form only requires the current and most recent previous residence) and that the
transition from one residence to the next takes place on consecutive (rather than the
same) days. Had the data been entered as below, the form would show this as incorrect
(and therefore highlighted in yellow) because it suggests that Amy was resident
in two countries simultaneously during 2013-14:

9. Referees

You must register three referees to be able to submit your application form, even though
it will be treated as ready for assessment with two references. Professional (institutional
or organisational) email addresses should be used whenever possible; if a referee
submits a reference from a personal address, they will need to explain the reason for
this in the reference letter (e.g. they have retired).

You can set the date by which the referee should submit their reference, either by
picking one of the standard deadlines or selecting ‘other’ and entering your own date.
The referees will be informed of this deadline in the reference requests we send to them.
Your references must be received by the application deadline to which you are applying,
so make sure that you do not choose a date later than this.

In the ‘role’ field you should enter the referee’s position during the time covered by the
reference. This may be their job title (eg Director or Head of Department) or their
position relative to you (eg Line Manager or Tutor).

If you tick the box for the notification to be sent, an email will be sent to your referee as
soon as you navigate away from the page. Please check your referees’ details carefully
before doing so. You will receive an email notification each time a referee submits, so
can contact a referee if they are yet to do so as the deadline approaches (the University
will not send reminders to your referees).

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If you discover before submitting your application form that one of your referees is
unavailable or you have incorrectly entered their details, you can complete the additional
referee slot on the application form. This will appear when you return to the Referees
page after registering your three referees. After submitting, you can edit your referees’
email addresses, add a new referee or re-send the reference request emails through
Graduate Applicant Self Service.

If you register a 4th referee and revisit the referees page of the form, you may get an
error message on attempting to navigate away from the page. In this event, please
select ‘cancel’ from the pop-up, after which you will be able to navigate away normally.

Note that email addresses with apostrophes cannot be used; if your referee does not
have an alternative email address, please contact Graduate Admissions for guidance. Do
not use your browser’s ‘auto-fill’ function to complete the referee email address fields,
but make sure you type in the address, as the form may not then be able to validate
that the same address has been entered twice.

10. Qualifications

Please enter details of all qualifications and periods of study undertaken at university
level.

Institution search tips

 Enter a keyword from the institution’s name and let the search tool return
relevant matches – do not type in the field and then move on before the search
has completed.
 If there are too many results (more than 40) to display, you may need to add an
additional search word to refine the results
 The search looks for exact matches for any text you enter, so you may need to
try more than one variation for it to pick up the correct institution (e.g. ‘The
University of Oxford’ rather than ‘Oxford University’).

If you still cannot find your institution, please select ‘not listed’ and enter the country
and institution name in the free-text field that will appear.

When entering the main subject of your qualification, you should enter a keyword and
let the search tool return matches. You may need to change the keyword you enter
and/or choose a more generic subject from the list of matches if the exact subject of
your qualification is not listed; this will not affect the assessment of your application, as
assessors will be able to see your transcript(s).

You do not need to convert your qualification into the UK system or provide an official
statement of comparability from NARIC. If your qualification uses different grades from
those offered by the form, please select ‘other’ and use the free-text field to enter
details. You need only enter a GPA score if your qualification uses this grading system.

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If you are currently studying towards a qualification, please enter the date of completion
as the date when your final results (official transcript) will become available.

Languages

Please only enter the results of language tests taken less than two years before the start
date of the course you are applying for, and do not enter the details of tests that you
have not yet taken. Enter your scores on this page and upload a scanned copy of the
certificate later in the application.

You do not have to supply your English language test results to submit your application;
this can be done later via Graduate Applicant Self Service once your test results are
available. The test results will then be added to your application record.

11. Funding

For over two thirds of Oxford scholarships, nothing more than the standard course
application is usually required. If you fulfil the eligibility criteria, you will be automatically
considered. Full details on scholarships are available via the Fees, funding and
scholarships search. In the University of Oxford scholarships section of the form, you will
see that there are a small minority of scholarships which require you to tick a box in
order to apply. You can click on the scholarship name to find out more about the
scholarship. If the scholarship is marked with an asterisk (*), you will also need to
submit additional supporting material. Please do not tick the box to apply for the
scholarship if you are not eligible for it.

12. Supporting documents

All graduate courses require supporting documents to be uploaded with the application.
The documents required differ depending on the course to which you are applying.
Please ensure you have checked the course page to confirm which documents are
required for your course.

Click the ‘browse’ button to find the relevant file. Once uploaded, you will be able to view
the document via the ‘view document’ link.

Some supporting documents must be uploaded with the application (e.g. CV and
statement of purpose/research proposal). Other documents that you may not yet have
(e.g. transcript) may be submitted separately and are, therefore, not mandatory on the
application form.

The online form can only handle documents of less than 4MB. If your document cannot
be made to meet this (by, for example, reducing the resolution of a scan), please submit
it separately via our upload tool after you have submitted your application. If the
oversized document must be submitted at the time of applying, please upload a
document with the following statement:

"My document is over 4MB and will be sent separately."

Permitted file types are: .pdf, .png or .jpg. Word documents (.doc or .docx) are
not permitted - you can convert them to PDFs by selecting ‘save as’ on the ‘File’ menu
and then choosing PDF as the file type.
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13. Paying the application fee

The fee is £75 per course application, unless you are applying under a CDT waiver or for
readmission as a continuing Oxford graduate. You must pay in British Pound Sterling (£)
as part of submitting your application, and payment must be made for each individual
application submitted. Payment may be made using a card displaying the Mastercard or
Visa logo.

If you experience an issue making the payment, please see our troubleshooting tips or
contact Graduate Admissions for further advice. You will not be able to submit your
application without making the payment, so please ensure you contact us in good time
to help you resolve the issue.

Declaration

Before submitting the form, you must accept the terms and conditions and enter your
name. You will then be able to click on the ‘submit’ button and will receive a
confirmation email.

If you cannot access these fields, this indicates that a mandatory question elsewhere on
the form has not been completed or that there is an error. Please check that all pages
are showing a blue tick in the header and re-visit any pages that do not. Empty or
incorrectly-completed fields will be highlighted in yellow. Note that the system will not
assess the content or type of any documents that you upload.

14. Final pre-application checklist

The system will check that you have provided all mandatory data in the application form
before you can submit the application and that none of the options you have selected
have since become invalid.

Review your application very carefully before you submit it, because you cannot later
remove any attached documentation or change your course or college preference, In
particular, make sure you have:

 Supplied both the original document and a suitably certified translation where any
transcript is not in English
 Arranged for the University of Oxford to receive your electronic or hard-copy
transcript if you are not submitting a scanned copy with your application
 Registered your referees under the correct email addresses. If not, you will be
able to amend their addresses through Graduate Applicant Self Service after
submitting your application.
 Ensured your statement of purpose and/or research proposal and any necessary
written work meet the department’s requirements
 Included the required additional documents for any scholarships for which you are
applying

After submitting your application

You will be sent an automated confirmation of submission via e-mail by the online
application system immediately after submitting your application. Please note that this is
not a confirmation that your application includes all the required materials. After
submitting, you are advised to review your application (via the ‘view’ button on the ‘my
applications’ screen) to ensure that everything has been submitted correctly.

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Once your submitted application has been transferred to our application system (which
may take a few days), you will be able to manage it via our Graduate Applicant Self
Service.

15. Troubleshooting

Why can’t I advance from the ‘Application type’ page?

If you have selected an application type other than ‘standard,’ you cannot proceed to
complete the form until you have entered a valid authorisation code.

Why isn’t my course returned in the course search?

The course search is based on keywords, so only enter one or two words rather than the
full title. The course search will only show open courses, so make sure your course is not
closed for the current cycle.

I have chosen the wrong course. How can I change this?

You cannot select a new course within your current application. You will need to start a
new one by selecting ‘save and close’ and then ‘start new application’ from the ‘my
applications’ screen. You can leave unsubmitted any applications that you have
mistakenly started.

Why does it not accept the dates I have entered?

Make sure you select dates, where applicable, using the calendar tool - manually entered
dates may not be in the correct format. The form also checks that dates are feasible and
do not conflict with each other (e.g. being before your date of birth or in the future).
Some old versions of browsers may also be incompatible with the form, causing errors
with dates; if you are using Internet Explorer 8 or earlier, please use an alternative (e.g.
Firefox or Chrome, which can be downloaded for free).

Why will the form not accept my referee’s email address?

Please ensure that the email address is in the correct form ([email protected]) and that you are not
re-using an email address entered elsewhere on the form (you cannot register a referee
using your own address and upload a reference they have already given you).
Addresses containing apostrophes cannot be used.

I’ve entered my referee’s address incorrectly. What should I do?

If you have not yet submitted, you can use the additional referee section on the
application form to enter the correct details – simply return to the Referees page to
access this. If you have submitted your application, you will be able to correct this via
Graduate Applicant Self Service.

How do I register a different referee if one cannot provide a reference?

If you have not yet submitted, you can use the additional referee section on the
application form to enter their details. If you have submitted your application, you can
add a new one via Graduate Applicant Self Service.

Why hasn’t my referee received the notification email?

Please check that you have correctly entered their email address and that you have
ticked the box for the notification to be sent. Otherwise, please ask your referee to check
their spam folder, in case the notification has ended up there. Once you have submitted
your application, you can re-send the notification via Graduate Applicant Self Service.

Why can’t I find my institution on the qualifications page?

When entering multiple words in a search, the tool will only search for them in that
precise order (eg ‘The University of Oxford’ rather than ‘Oxford University’). If you
cannot find your institution using a single search word, you may need to try other
possible variations of the words in its name. If you still cannot find it, select ‘others’ and
enter the country and name of the institution.
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Why is there an error showing for my institution/qualification/main subject?

Please ensure you allow the search tool to return results and then pick the appropriate
one rather than leaving the field before the results are displayed. If you cannot find your
institution, please select ‘not listed’ and enter the country and name of the institution. If
you cannot find your subject, you may need to enter a different keyword or choose a
more generic subject from the list.

Why will the form not accept the supporting materials I am attempting to upload?
Please check that your files are of the right type (.pdf, .png or .jpg) and size (less than
4MB). Larger files can be submitted instead via our upload tool.

Why can’t I complete the declaration at the end?

These fields only become active once the form is ready for submission. If any mandatory
fields are incomplete or there are any errors, you will not be able to complete these
fields. Please check that each tab of the form shows a blue tick in the header.

Contact us
If the information in this guide does not resolve your question, please contact us via:
www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ask or +44 (0)1865 270059 (9am-5pm UK time Mon-Fri)

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