Visiting and Recognised Student form guidance
About
These instructions are provided to help you complete the data entry form for visiting students or the application form for recognised students and to explain the purpose of the questions.
The information below is intended only for those applying for Visiting Student status or Recognised Student status. If you are applying to be postgraduate student, please refer to the Application Guide.
It is important that you read these instructions before completing the form. Please type your answers in the fields provided.
The information collected will form the basis of your student record in the University’s student system and will be held for the purposes of student administration in accordance with the University’s Postgraduate Applicant Privacy Policy or the University’s Undergraduate Applicant Privacy Policy as appropriate and subject to the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
We are obliged by law to make annual returns to the Higher Education Statistics Agency for each student and the information will be used for that purpose also. HESA regulations state that they will only use the data for statistical purposes and will not identify any individual to any third party.
Section A: Programme details
Visiting only
Student status
Please indicate whether you have been accepted as an undergraduate or graduate student.
College, Society or Permanent Private Hall
Please enter the name of the Oxford College, Society or Permanent Private Hall that has agreed to admit you.
Recognised only
You are required to contact the department to ensure that they have capacity to offer a place in the event your application is successful.
Section B: Personal details
Please enter your full name in the format indicated. If you are from outside the UK or Ireland, your name details must exactly match your name as it appears on your passport, including any middle names and the correct order of names, otherwise you risk your visa application being delayed.
Please note that this is the name that will be recorded for all official correspondence, records, and used on certificates, transcripts and references that the university may provide. If at any time you wish to change any part of your name please notify your college to progress this.
Preferred name
If you are normally known by a name other than your first name, please indicate the name you wish to use in the box provided.
Section C: Contact information
Home address
Enter the address of your permanent home before starting your course at Oxford. If you have been in full-time education then give your parental home address.
Correspondence address
Enter the address to which any correspondence should be sent before starting your course at Oxford (if different to your home address).
Telephone number
Enter a contact telephone number which will be valid until you start your course at Oxford.
E-mail address
Enter a contact e-mail address which will be valid until you start your course at Oxford.
Section D: Nationality and citizenship
Country of nationality/citizenship
Please confirm all countries that you have nationality of and give an effective date if you have not been a national of that country from birth. If you are not a national of the UK or Ireland, please give the number, country of issue, issue date and expiry date of the passport that you intend to use to enter the UK.
Country of ordinary residence
Your country of ordinary residence is the country in which you are normally resident, out of choice and for a settled purpose, apart from temporary or occasional absences. It is not a country in which you are studying, working or living temporarily.
If you have been ordinarily resident in a single country since birth, please enter your birth date in the 'From:' field for the 'current country of ordinary residence' question.
If you have been ordinarily resident in more than one country, your dates of residence must not overlap. You must include an end date for your previous country of ordinary residence, which must be at least one day before the start date of your current country of ordinary residence.
Section E: Details of current and previous education
Please provide details of your current course (if applicable) and the highest qualification completed before entry to Oxford.
Please give the name of the institution(s), dates of attendance, qualification, subject and result. If the location does not form part of the institution’s name, please show this also, and the country if outside the UK.
Section F: English language requirements
The English language requirement for students should reflect the language requirement for their area of study (either standard or higher). Our Application Guide for graduate applications provides further information about English language proficiency, including information on English-speaking countries, accepted English proficiency tests and minimum requirements.
Please note that you are required to submit evidence of results (test certificate) that should be no more than two years old at the time of starting your study at Oxford, unless one of the following conditions apply:
- you are a national of a majority English-speaking country, as defined by the UK Home Office;
- you have been educated full-time in English during the last two years; or
- you are a graduate applicant who has completed a full-time degree-level course of a minimum of nine months, taught and assessed entirely in English within the last two academic years of when your study at Oxford would commence.
This level achieved should be that normally required by the area of study you will be undertaking (either standard or higher), from one of the language tests that the University approves. This will then enable you to meet UK government regulations regarding the English language requirement to obtain a UK Student visa.
We will then include a statement on your CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies) for your visa confirming that you have met the minimum UK Home Office requirement.
Additional questions
Before completing the data entry form, you will be asked for some additional information. Only the criminal convictions question is mandatory for students completing the visiting data entry form.
Questions 1-4: Ethnicity, religion and belief, sexual orientation and gender identity
The information you provide in the sections below will not form part of the course selection process and will not be seen by anyone involved in assessing your application for the course except as set out below. Your personal information will be treated in accordance with the UK GDPR and related UK data protection legislation. Full details are set out in the University's Postgraduate Applicant Privacy Policy.
The University of Oxford embraces diversity and seeks to achieve equity in the experience, progression and achievement of all our students. The personal data we collect from applicants and current students enables us to meet our statutory obligations under the Equality Act, and assess the impact of our policies and practices on people from different equality groups and put in place appropriate provision and support for all students. We recognise that these are sensitive questions, but hope you will feel able to provide this information, in confidence, to support our efforts to create a more inclusive, diverse and equitable Oxford. Please see the University's Equality Policy for more information about equality at Oxford.
Question 5: Disability
We welcome applications from disabled people. Please tell us if you have a disability, including sensory or mobility impairments, long-term mental health conditions, longstanding illnesses or health conditions, autism spectrum conditions, or specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADHD.
We will not take this information into account when assessing your application, which will be judged on academic merit and potential alone. The information you provide to the University will be treated in line with the Data Protection Policy. If you accept a place here, information about your disability will only be shared on a strictly limited basis with key individuals in academic, administrative and support roles in order to provide effective support, e.g. your tutor, supervisor etc. This will include sharing your information with our Disability Advisory Service so that they may work with you to put in place any necessary adjustments or provide study support.
You should contact the Disability Advisory Service as soon as possible if you wish to discuss this section, or anything to do with provision for disability-related support for your course.
Question 6: Criminal convictions (visiting data entry form only)
Please note that you must answer this question.
In accordance with the University’s obligations towards students and staff, we will request information about relevant, unspent criminal convictions during the offer-stage process for visiting students so that appropriate steps can be taken to facilitate effective support and/or assess whether a prospective student poses an unacceptable risk to students and staff.
The University has adopted a policy for any case where an applicant with an offer for a visiting student place has a relevant, unspent criminal conviction which has either been declared by an applicant to the University or which has otherwise come to the University’s attention (such as where information is disclosed by a third party).
What has to be declared?
We ask you to declare 'any relevant unspent criminal convictions' on the data entry form.
'Relevant' convictions are:
- any kind of violence including (but not limited to) threatening behaviour, offences concerning the intention to harm or offences which resulted in actual bodily harm;
- offences listed in the Sex Offences Act 2003;
- the unlawful supply of controlled drugs or substances where the conviction concerns commercial drug dealing or trafficking;
- offences involving firearms;
- offences involving arson; and
- offences listed in the Terrorism Act 2006.
Convictions that are 'spent' (as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974) or will be spent at the point of starting the matriculated non-award student placement do not need to be declared. If you are not sure whether your conviction is spent, please seek independent advice.
Full details of the University’s process for prospective graduate students declaring a criminal conviction can be found in our University Policies pages. The Undergraduate Admissions website provides full details of the University’s process for prospective undergraduate students declaring a criminal conviction.
If you require a visa or you are extending your visa, then you must declare any unspent criminal convictions, including driving offences, when you apply to the UK Home Office. Please see the relevant sections of the Home Office document 'Grounds for refusal' for information regarding possible circumstances under which a visa application may be refused.
Declaration
Please read the declaration carefully before signing and submitting your form.
University card form
Attach a recent passport sized photograph to the University Card form. This may be in colour or black and white. Please ensure that you are not wearing a hat or sunglasses in the photograph and that your face is clearly visible. If you are unable to upload it to the form, please send your photo as an attachment with your name as the file name. The image must be a true likeness and must not include image manipulation, such as filters, photoshopping, or use of AI.
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