Admissions
Research Students Admissions Criteria
GRADUATE ADMISSIONS CRITERIA FOR DEGREES in MUSIC
for entry in 2012-13
RESEARCH DEGREES
1. Criteria
Within equal opportunities principles and legislation, applications will be assessed in the light of a candidate's ability to meet the following criteria:
2. Academic ability
Proven and potential academic excellence.
Applicants are normally expected to be predicted or to have achieved a good pass or Distinction in a Masters course in Music or related fields.
Academic references/letters of recommendation, which support intellectual, performance and compositional ability as relevant, academic achievement, motivation, and research promise.
Written work and/or portfolio produced by the student.
Candidates applying for the research courses:-
For musicology should provide two pieces of written work of between 5-6,000 words in total (extracts of dissertations or other extended pieces of writing should be edited accordingly).
For composition, students should send three compositions accompanied by scores, as appropriate, and one piece of written work of 3-4,000 words.
For performance, students should send a CD or DVD indicating their own performance skills, and one piece of written work of no more than 3-4,000 words.
Writing samples will be assessed for understanding of the subject area; ability to construct and defend an argument; powers of analysis; powers of expression. Compositions will be assessed for their demonstration of invention, critical awareness of the field of contemporary classical composition, musicality, technical assurance, and for their clarity of presentation. All written work should be in English.
Research proposals should be no more than 2,000 words. Your proposal will be assessed for what it tells us about your reasons for applying; its coherence; the originality of the project; evidence of motivation for and understanding of the proposed area of study or composition; the ability to present a reasoned case in English; the feasibility of successfully completing the project in the time available for the course; preliminary knowledge of research or compositional techniques; it will be normal for your ideas subsequently to change in some ways as you develop your project. You should nevertheless make the best effort you can to demonstrate the extent of your research questions, sources and methods at this moment.
Performance at interview(s) Short-listed candidates will normally be interviewed. Shortlisting will be based on an assessment of written work or composition by a qualified panel, and on the candidate's references. Interviews will involve two interviewers from the Faculty of Music, and normally last around 30 minutes. Candidates will be asked to present their research plans and answer questions about them.
3. Availability of supervision, teaching, facilities and places
The following factors will govern whether candidates can be offered places:
- The ability of the Faculty of Music to provide the appropriate supervision, research opportunities, teaching and facilities for your chosen area of work.
- There are minimum and maximum limits to the numbers of students who may be admitted onto Oxford's research and taught programmes.
The provision of supervision is subject to the following points.
- The allocation of graduate supervision is the responsibility of the Faculty of Music and it is not always possible to accommodate the preferences of incoming graduate students to work with a particular member of staff.
- Under exceptional circumstances a supervisor may be found outside the Faculty of Music.
4. English language requirement
Applicants whose first language is not English are usually required to provide evidence of proficiency in English at the higher level required by the University. Find out more here
5. Deadlines and required full set of application materials
Please refer to the Graduate Admissions website
for information on the deadlines which must be met, and the full set of supporting materials required, in order for applications to be guaranteed to be considered.
6. Whether you have yet secured funding is not taken into consideration in the decision to make an initial offer a place, but please note that the initial offer of a place will not be confirmed until the college which gives you an initial offer of a place is satisfied that you have sufficient funding to cover your fees and living costs for the standard period of fee liability for your course.
7. Disability, health conditions and specific learning difficulties.
Students are selected for admission without regard to gender, marital or civil partnership status, disability, race, nationality, ethnic origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation, age or social background. Decisions on admission are based solely on the individual academic merits of each candidate and the application of the selection criteria appropriate to the programme of study. Further information on how these matters are supported during the admissions process is available here.
8. Other information
It would be expected that prospective applicants would be familiar with the interests and expertise of their proposed supervisors.
In the case of students who require specific help to adjust to acquire new skills, the supervisor will work with them to ensure that they have additional support.
9. Assessors
All applications will be assessed by more than one member of the academic staff with relevant experience and expertise.
10. Course webpage