AAA, or 38 IB points with 666 at Higher Level
The A-level requirement is AAA. The IB requirement is 38 points including core points with 666 at Higher Level.
Undergraduate · Oxford English Language and Literature
Oxford English Language and Literature: reading, written work and academic fit
Oxford's English Language and Literature degree has no admissions test. What it asks for is one marked analytical essay from your ordinary school work, evidence of wide and thoughtful reading, and an interview that may begin from a text you have not seen. Preparing well therefore means something quite specific, and it is not the same as building a portfolio. Oxford's wording below describes 2027 entry; nothing here is a confirmed 2028 requirement.
Official information · last verified for 2027 entry
What Oxford asks for in English Language and Literature
Taken from Oxford's English Language and Literature course page and read on 31 October 2026. For a normal 2028-entry application, made in 2027, every requirement below is last verified for the previous cycle and may change; Oxford's 2028-entry requirements and dates are awaiting publication.
English Literature, or Language and Literature, is expected
Candidates are expected to have English Literature, or English Language and Literature, at A level, Advanced Higher, Higher Level in the IB or an equivalent. Creative writing qualifications are not accepted and will not help meet the requirements.
No test; one piece of written work
You do not need to take a written test. All candidates submit one analytical essay in English Literature, written in the normal course of school or college work, marked by a teacher, not rewritten after marking and not more than 2,000 words, with a cover sheet.
An online interview, perhaps on an unseen text
Shortlisted candidates are invited to at least one online interview. They may also be asked to discuss an unseen piece of prose or verse given before or in the interview.
A broad degree across literary history
Oxford describes the course as one of the broadest in the country, covering writing in English from Anglo-Saxon England to the present, with a Shakespeare portfolio and a special options paper chosen from around 25 courses.
Official sources
Read on 31 October 2026 on Oxford's English Language and Literature course page, which describes 2027 entry. The UCAS deadline, the written-work submission deadline, interview dates, admissions statistics, fees and the English Faculty's own selection criteria and written-work guidance pages were not read and are not stated.
The course
Breadth across the whole of English literary history
Oxford says the English Faculty is the largest English department in Britain and that the degree covers writing in English from its origins in Anglo-Saxon England to the present. In the first year students take an introduction to the study of language and literature alongside early medieval literature, Victorian literature and literature from 1910 to the present. Later years extend the historical range to late medieval literature and Romanticism, with Shakespeare, a special options paper and a dissertation. This breadth is a feature to test yourself against: a candidate who reads only modern prose should ask whether early medieval and pre-modern writing will interest them.
Choosing between courses
This course, or a neighbouring degree?
Several Oxford and Cambridge degrees sit near this one. They are different programmes with their own rules, and Oxford's page for each should be read separately.
Choose English Language and Literature if
you want to study English literature across its full historical range, with the history of the English language as part of the course.
Look at History and English if
you want to share your time between literary and historical study. That is a separate joint degree, and this series has a guide to it.
Look at Modern Languages courses if
your literary interest is in other languages. English and Modern Languages is a separate programme.
Cambridge English is different again
Cambridge sets its own requirements, submitted work and interview. Do not transfer one university's rules to the other.
Reading the offer
AAA, with English as the subject that counts
The grade requirement is not unusually high for Oxford, but the subject rule is exact. You are expected to have English Literature, or English Language and Literature. English Language alone is not what Oxford names. A language or History can help, though neither is required, and creative writing qualifications are explicitly not accepted and do not count towards the academic requirement.
Written work
The essay Oxford asks for, and the one it does not want you to rewrite
Every candidate submits one piece of writing: an analytical essay in English Literature, written in the normal course of school or college work, marked by a teacher, not rewritten after marking, and not more than 2,000 words. Oxford says this could be a timed essay, a critical commentary, or an excerpt from coursework or an EPQ. A cover sheet, filled in by you and your teacher, describes the circumstances in which it was produced. The point of the rules is that the work shows your thinking as it was, so the right choice is your best marked essay, not one polished for the occasion. Nobody else may write or rewrite it.
Preparation
What preparation means when there is no test
Oxford says successful applicants give evidence of wide, engaged and thoughtful reading, and that the interview explores enthusiasm for literature, response to new ideas and capacity for independent thought. It adds that tutors are not looking for any particular reading or particular answers. That rules out reading lists as a strategy. It also means preparation has two parts you can actually do.
Read widely, and be able to say why
Keep a note of what a text made you think, not only what it was about. In interview you will be asked for ideas.
Practise close reading of unseen material
Oxford says you may be given an unseen piece of prose or verse before or during the interview. Practise reading a short passage slowly and saying what is happening in the language.
Choose your essay with the course in mind
An essay that makes an argument from the text will show more than one that summarises criticism.
Planning for 2028 entry
Planning for 2028 entry: what carries over and what is awaiting publication
Applying for 2028 entry means applying in 2027, under rules Oxford has not yet published for that cycle. Each item below carries one of two labels. Last verified for 2027 entry means Oxford published it for the previous cycle and it may change. Awaiting publication for 2028 entry means Oxford has not yet published it.
Grades, the English Literature rule, the single marked essay and the absence of a test: last verified for 2027 entry
These are the best guide to what to prepare. Oxford has not confirmed them for 2028 entry.
Application deadline, written-work submission deadline, interview dates and any change to selection arrangements: awaiting publication for 2028 entry
Check Oxford's English Language and Literature course page for the 2028-entry values when they appear.
What to do now
Keep your marked English Literature essays, read beyond the syllabus, and practise reading unseen passages aloud.
Support
Independent support with course choice and preparation
Avandy provides independent academic and admissions support. It is not affiliated with the University of Oxford or any of its colleges or departments. Preparation sits within the Avandy Trinity Advisory Model: a Strategic Admissions Consultant, a PhD-level Academic Mentor and a Subject-specific Tutor, working to the actual requirements of each course. Support with reading, close analysis and interview practice does not extend to writing, editing or rewriting any submitted essay, which must be the applicant's own marked work. No outcome is promised.
Questions
Questions applicants ask
What are the Oxford English Language and Literature entry requirements?
AAA at A level, or 38 IB points including core points with 666 at Higher Level, with English Literature, or English Language and Literature, expected. This is Oxford's wording for 2027 entry.
Is there an admissions test?
No. Oxford's page says no written test is part of the application. You do submit one piece of written work.
What written work do I submit?
One analytical essay in English Literature, written in the normal course of school or college work, marked by a teacher, not rewritten after marking and not more than 2,000 words, with a cover sheet.
Do creative writing qualifications help?
No. Oxford says they are not accepted and will not help meet the academic requirements.
Might I be given a text at interview?
Oxford says shortlisted applicants may be asked to discuss an unseen piece of prose or verse given before or in the interview.
Are these the rules for 2028 entry?
No. They are Oxford's wording for the 2027 application cycle. Check the course page again when Oxford publishes its 2028-entry requirements.
Students and families
Talk to us about Oxford English Language and Literature
Tell us about the student's curriculum, their reading, their English Literature work and their choice of written submission, the universities on the list, and the intended year of entry. A senior adviser will review the academic profile before recommending how to prepare.