Oxford and Cambridge Universities have disclosed their latest admissions data, revealing which courses are the most accessible for prospective students.
Subjects such as modern languages, classics, and music stand out, with more than half of applicants securing a spot at these esteemed institutions.
Success rates are also notably higher for applicants pursuing studies in Asian and Middle Eastern languages, as well as linguistics.
At Cambridge, the admission success rate for modern and medieval languages reached 69.7% in 2024, marking it as the subject with the highest acceptance rate. This figure has risen from 48.8% just ten years ago, according to The Times.
Engineering emerged as the most popular choice at Cambridge, attracting 2,654 applications. However, only 13.9% of these applicants, equating to 371 individuals, received offers.
In comparison, at Oxford, 50% of applicants for European and Middle Eastern languages were successful, a significant increase from just 8.1% in 2014.
Philosophy and modern languages (42.6 per cent), and geography (33.8 per cent) are also ranked among the highest success rates for applicants.
However, wannabe Oxbridge alumni have been warned they could face a ‘miserable’ time if they opt for an ‘easier’ option rather than a degree that they care about.
Tom Moon, head of consultancy at Oxbridge Applications, an admissions consultancy, warned students against applying for any course in their obsession with grabbing a place.
He said: ‘A student at Oxford or Cambridge is typically working harder than they have ever done in their life, and if they’re doing this studying a subject they don’t care about, they’re likely to have a miserable time,’ he told The Times.
It comes at a time when the chance of getting into Oxford and Cambridge has fallen in the past ten years.
For Oxford, there is a 16 per cent chance of being accepted into the university compared to 20 per cent a decade ago with applications rising from 17,500 to 23,000.
At Cambridge, 22 per cent of students in 2024 received an offer compared to 25 per cent in 2014. Applicants rose from 16,750 to 22,150 during the same period.
Mr Moon said that applying for Oxford and Cambridge should not be ‘just an exercise in data analysis’.
‘It should be a process where bright, ambitious students apply to study a subject they love at one of the world’s pre-eminent universities,’ he said.
With a rise in competition for places, Ariana Azad, founder of the educational consultancy Figtree Learning, said that students are being tempted to apply for courses with better odds.
Pictured here is an aerial view of the King’s College chapel at the University of Cambridge
‘We do see a subset of students who are primarily focused on “getting into Oxbridge”, with the course or college sometimes treated as secondary,’ she said.
A spokesman for Cambridge University told the Mail: ‘Like many universities Cambridge has seen a steady rise in the number of applications over the last decade.
‘While some of this will be down to demographic changes and social attitudes, the university has put a lot more effort into outreach activities across the nation over the same period.
‘Cambridge has a high graduate employability rate and the highest continuation rate of any UK university. These factors also play their part.’
The Daily Mail has contacted the University of Oxford for comment.
We revealed last September which state schools and sixth form colleges sent the most pupils to Oxbridge in 2024.
We also trawled Government statistics and spoke to experts at the Good Schools Guide to produce definitive profiles of the top 30 state schools for Oxbridge acceptance.
