What is the Part II year?

The Part II year is the fourth year of the course. It is entirely devoted to a research project, with no additional teaching or examinations. Students benefit from being active members of their chosen research group and have the opportunity to make a real contribution to chemical research. This is when many students make up their minds to pursue a career in research.

What sort of research projects are available?

Have a look at our research website to find out about the research going on in the Department of Chemistry. The majority of supervisors in the Department will take Part II students in their group, although there are slight variations each year. Students also have the option to choose a project in a related field outside of the Department of Chemistry. Details of these options vary from year to year but in the past they have included: Biochemistry, Geography, History of Science, Materials, Medicine, Physiology and Plant Sciences.

Are there any opportunities for working in industry?

The Oxford MChem course does not have a formal “year in industry” option. Depending on the supervisor and project, there may be an opportunity for an industry collaboration in the Part II year. Students should discuss this with supervisors when making their choices in the third year. This kind of project is usually undertaken by one or two students each year.

Are there any opportunities to study abroad?

The Oxford MChem course does not have a formal “study abroad” option. Depending on the supervisor and project, there may be an opportunity for some or all of the Part II year to be undertaken abroad at an institution with whom the Oxford supervisor is collaborating on some of their work. There is currently also an arrangement for 4-5 students each year to complete their Part II at Berkeley (University of California).

Which colleges offer Chemistry?

Have a look here.

https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/colleges/which-oxford-colleges-offer-my-course?wssl=1

What are tutorials?

Tutorials are the College teaching system. A tutor (usually a fellow of the College) teaches undergraduates in very small groups (usually 2 or 3 students). Students attend, on average, one or two tutorials every week of approximately 90 minutes in length and must undertake a considerable number of hours of preparatory work for each tutorial, including background reading, essay-writing and problem-solving. Tutorials are a great opportunity for students to ask questions, work through problems with the tutor’s guidance, address specific areas of the work that they have found more difficult or delve deeper into topics of particular interest.

What are collections?

Collections are tests set by College tutors, usually at the beginning of each Term (starting from Hilary Term of the first year). They are usually made up of past examination questions or related problems, and allow students and their tutors to assess progress. They also provide an opportunity to practise attempting problems in an exam-style setting. Collections do not count towards the degree classification, but they are an important part of the tutorial teaching system.

Is there an admissions test for Chemistry at Oxford?

For the October 2022 application deadline there is no admissions test for Chemistry at Oxford.

What are you looking for in an application?

Our admissions criteria explains in detail what we are looking for. In short, we are looking for students who are interested in chemistry and have the potential to do very well on our course.

Does it matter if I haven’t done A-level Further Maths / Physics / Biology?

Our admissions criteria do not require students to study Further Maths, Physics, or Biology at A-level (or equivalent). The first year of the MChem assumes that students have only studied Chemistry and Maths to A-level. Given that the MChem does include some maths, physics and biology beyond A-level, taking a third science A-level may strengthen your application; for example, it may indicate that you are more interested in (and suited to) the course than a candidate who does not offer a third science. However we do make offers every year to candidates who are not taking a third science.

Does it matter whether or not I do a fourth A-level?

We will only make an offer on three A-levels; we appreciate that many schools are not able to offer a fourth A-level. However, we are interested in your ability to manage the academic demands of a challenging degree course, and there are instances where offering a fourth A-level can be argued to be an indicator of this ability. Typically just under half our A-level students have four or more A-levels and just over half have three.

Note that it is more important to achieve the three grades in the offer than to jeopardise your grades by over-extending yourself.

Will I get an offer if my predicted grades are below the standard offer?

When we assess your application, we only have limited real data to help. Your predicted grades are an important indicator in the assessment. We do not normally shortlist candidates who are not predicted to achieve the standard offer, but every year we do shortlist a few, as we are looking at your academic potential, which may be on an upward trajectory.

Can you suggest further reading?

We don’t have a recommended reading list, but we’d suggest reading A-level texts from other syllabuses and/or anything that particularly interests you in Chemistry or in other related subjects. Read what you enjoy reading!

How important is relevant work experience for selection?

We are aware of the difficulties of finding relevant work experience, and the nature of your work experience will have no impact on your application to the Chemistry course.

What should I write in my personal statement?

Make it personal! The personal statement is your opportunity to explain your own enthusiasm for the subject, why you want to spend the next 4 years studying it in great detail, and how your enthusiasm has already led you to find out about aspects of chemistry beyond the A-level syllabus, for example. But please don’t make things up! We might use something in your personal statement as a starting point for your interview, to put you at ease, and our attempts may have the opposite effect if you've not read the books you've listed. Note that personal statements are usually a relatively unimportant part of a candidate's assessment.

Further information

For additional details or queries relating to the undergraduate Chemistry course at Oxford, or about the undergraduate admissions process for Chemistry, please contact the Undergraduate Studies team.

Email: admissions@chem.ox.ac.uk