Oxford and Cambridge Interview Dates 2026: The Timetable by Course and College

If you applied to Oxford or Cambridge by 15 October, the next fixed point in your year is an interview, and both universities have now published when those happen. Oxford goes further than most people realise: it publishes the days course by course, so you can block out your week before the invitation arrives.

This page puts both timetables in one place for 2027 entry (interviews in December 2026). Every date below was read on the universities' own pages on 13 November 2026, and they are linked under Sources. Your invitation is always the final word.

Oxford and Cambridge interview dates 2026 at a glance

Both decision dates sit either side of the main UCAS deadline of 13 January 2027, which matters only if you are still adding choices. The full calendar is in UCAS deadlines for 2027 entry.

Oxford interview dates 2026 by course

Oxford's timetable gives, for each course, the days when most pre-arranged interviews happen, the time by which you will be told about any additional interviews, and the days those can fall on. All dates are in December 2026 and all times are UK time (GMT).

Where Oxford's own page gives two slightly different windows for a course, the table shows the wider one. Check the line for your course on Oxford's interview timetables page once you are invited.

How to read the Oxford timetable

• You may be interviewed by more than one college. For many courses a second college sees you as a matter of routine, so two interviews say nothing about how the first one went.
• "Extra interviews" are decided during the fortnight. Where the table gives a time, that is when you find out whether another college wants to see you. Oxford says you should get at least 24 hours' notice.
• The window is not a guarantee. Oxford warns that candidates may be asked to attend outside the published days, and an interview moved for technical reasons can also fall outside them. Keep the days around your window as free as you can.
• Everything is online. Interviews run on Microsoft Teams, and some courses need more equipment than others (Oxford sorts courses into three technology tiers). Test your setup in the room you will use before the day.
• Times are UK time. If you are applying from abroad, convert every time in your invitation before you put it in a calendar.

For what happens inside the interview itself, see Oxford interview preparation.

Cambridge interview dates 2026

Cambridge does not publish days by course. Each college arranges its own interviews inside one shared period:

• Main interview period: 7 to 18 December 2026.
• Winter pool interviews: around mid to late January 2027.
• Mature applicants in the January round: mid-March to early April 2027.

Three rules from Cambridge's own guidance are worth knowing before the invitation lands:

1. Keep the whole period free. Cambridge cannot reschedule interviews except in exceptional circumstances (it gives illness, hospital appointments, religious observance and exams as examples). If you do not attend, you are not considered for a place. Tell your school now if mock exams or trips fall in those two weeks.
2. Expect one or two interviews, 35 minutes to an hour in total. Some applicants have three or four, depending on subject and college, and you are told in advance how many.
3. The day and the number mean nothing. Cambridge says the timing of your interview does not reflect your perceived strength, and neither does the number of interviews.

If you are placed in the winter pool, another college may interview you in January before decisions are released. Everyone who receives an offer from Cambridge will have been interviewed.

Cambridge interviews online or in person, by college

The format depends on the college assessing your application, and you cannot normally request a different one. For 2027 entry Cambridge lists the following:

If your college interviews in person, Cambridge offers travel support for UK students eligible for Free School Meals, and colleges can help with technology for online interviews on the same basis. Ask the college, not the central admissions office.

The preparation itself is covered in Cambridge interview preparation. If you have not finished My Cambridge Application, that comes first.

When do interview invitations come out?

• Oxford: every applicant gets a letter or email saying whether or not they have been invited, usually between the middle of November and early December. Shortlisting leans heavily on the admissions test for most courses, alongside your grades, statement and reference.
• Cambridge: most invitations go out in November, with some in early December. The invitation gives the date, the format, what you need on the day and any reading or task to do beforehand.

Check that the email address in your UCAS Hub is correct, and look in your junk folder daily from mid-November.

When are Oxford and Cambridge decisions for 2027 entry?

• Oxford: 12 January 2027. Shortlisted candidates are told through UCAS, and colleges follow up directly later that day.
• Cambridge: 27 January 2027. Colleges email decisions in the morning, and the outcome appears in UCAS Hub by mid-afternoon. An offer can come from a college you did not apply to.

Your other four choices run on their own timetable in the meantime. What each status in UCAS Hub means, and when the other universities have to reply, is in what happens after you submit your UCAS application.

What to do between now and your interview

1. Block out the window for your course or college today, including the days when Oxford may add interviews.
2. Re-read what you sent. Your personal statement and any written work cannot be changed now, and interviewers in some subjects draw on them. Know which claims you would be asked to defend. If you want an outside view of where a reader will push, Statementory marks every line of your statement and scores it out of 100, back in 5 to 10 minutes.
3. Practise thinking aloud on material you have not seen. Oxford describes its interviews as exploring unfamiliar ideas and thinking through problems aloud, and Cambridge says it is looking for critical, independent thinking. The two preparation guides above show how to practise.
4. Sort the practical side early: a quiet room, a stable connection and a webcam for online interviews; travel and somewhere to stay for in-person ones.

If you are not invited to interview

It happens to many strong applicants: Cambridge alone has around six applicants for every place. An application that is not shortlisted ends there for this year, but nothing else changes:

• Your other four UCAS choices are unaffected and are decided separately.
• If you applied with fewer than five choices, you can usually add more until 30 June 2027. Universities only have to give equal consideration to applications that arrive by 18:00 on 13 January 2027.
• If you have used all five choices and hold no offers, UCAS Extra opens on 25 February 2027.
• You can apply again next year. Cambridge states that a previous application does not make you less likely to be accepted. See reapplying to university.

Related guides

• Oxford interview preparation
• Cambridge interview preparation
• My Cambridge Application explained
• Can you apply to both Oxford and Cambridge?
• How hard is it to get into Oxford?
• How hard is it to get into Cambridge?
• UCAS deadlines for 2027 entry

Sources

All read on 13 November 2026.

• University of Oxford, Interview timetables (2026 timetable by course)
• University of Oxford, Interviews and Decisions
• University of Cambridge, What to expect at your Cambridge interview (interview dates, formats by college for 2027 entry)
• University of Cambridge, Outcome of your application and what to do next