Oxbridge applications are surely one of the scariest things for students to deal with at Halloween. The numbers of applications to different Oxbridge colleges vary widely – as do your odds of getting into them. Some colleges are way more unpopular than others.
While the most famous and most snobby Oxbridge colleges get well over a thousand applications each, many others get less than half that. Students seem to be put off if colleges have ugly modern architecture like Robinson College in Cambridge, or aren’t so well known like Mansfield College in Oxford, or are really far out from the city centre like Girton College in Cambridge. Although, Girton is so far out that I’m not sure it really counts as being in Cambridge.
A few of the Oxford colleges mostly do research and don’t teach many students, which is why their application numbers seem so weirdly low.
This data comes from the Uni of Oxford and the Uni of Cambridge’s websites. It refers to people who applied this time last year and are freshers right now.
So, here are the thirty most unpopular Oxbridge colleges, which received the least applications in 2023.
30. St Edmund Hall, Oxford – 662 applications
=28. St Catharine’s College, Cambridge – 660 applications
=28. Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford – 660 applications
27. The Queen’s College, Oxford – 659 applications
26. St Hilda’s College, Oxford – 653 applications
25. Merton College, Oxford – 633 applications
24. Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge – 628 applications
23. Lincoln College, Oxford – 620 applications
22. St Peter’s College, Oxford – 610 applications
21. Newnham College, Cambridge – 572 applications
20. Oriel College, Oxford – 531 applications
19. Trinity Hall, Cambridge – 528 applications
Trinity Hall is right by the river and all the noisy annoying tourists
18. Corpus Christi College, Cambridge – 503 applications
17. Magdalene College Cambridge – 495 applications
16. Robinson College, Cambridge – 468 applications
15. Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge – 466 applications
14. Corpus Christi College, Oxford – 437 applications
13. Girton College, Cambridge – 435 applications
12. Peterhouse, Cambridge – 431 applications
11. Mansfield College, Oxford – 412 applications
10. Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge – 402 applications
Oxford looking vibey
9. Hughes Hall, Cambridge – 228 applications
8. Murray Edwards College, Cambridge – 225 applications
7. Wolfson College, Cambridge – 222 application
6. St Edmund’s College, Cambridge – 184 applications
=4. Harris Manchester College, Oxford – 137 applications
=4. Regent’s Park College, Oxford – 137 applications
3. Wycliffe Hall, Oxford – 9 applications
=1. Ripon College Cuddesdon, Oxford – 1 application
=1. St Stephen’s House, Oxford – 1 application
