Before you Arrive – Graduate Offer Holders
As an offer holder, you may have a number of questions before you arrive and there are some actions you could take in advance which will make your arrival at College go more smoothly. This page has a variety of useful information https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/new/arrive but we’ve tried to break it down for you a bit here too.
Graduate Fresher Timeline
Becoming a Graduate Fresher – Timeline
Graduate admissions have a really useful timeline charting the stages of your application here: https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/after-you-apply/decision-timeline
Receiving and accepting your College offer
Once your application has been accepted by the University you will receive your College offer.
Please read through your letter carefully and follow the checklist below.
Decide whether to accept your College place and let us know by the date stated in the letter.
Decide whether or not you would like to apply for College accommodation (if applicable) and if so, complete and submit the accommodation form.
Complete your Financial Declaration Form (if applicable) and return this by the deadline on the form.
- Financial Declaration Form
Along with your College offer letter you will have received a financial declaration form. This isn’t applicable to all courses as some will be handled centrally. Your College offer letter will explain this in more detail. Please make sure you return your form by the 30th June deadline – if you anticipate problems meeting this deadline please contact Caroline Barnes.
- Accommodation
We offer College accommodation to all full-time graduate freshers during their first year, though some may choose to live out. Please note the University has rules around where you live whilst studying Residence requirements for students.
Please take a look at our webpage https://www.pmb.ox.ac.uk/accommodation-graduates and complete the accommodation form (link sent in your offer letter email). It’s a good idea to do this as early as possible, though your room won’t be allocated until you have met all conditions associated with your offer.
Next steps
- Completion of Conditions
These will be both academic and financial and will have been set by the department and College. Your offer letters from each will explain what those conditions are. Generally all academic conditions will be set by your department and College will set financial conditions – though in some cases this is handled by the department instead of College. Once both sets of conditions have been met your offer will be made unconditional and you will receive a completion of conditions letter from both your department and College.
- Accommodation
Your Completion of Conditions letter will be copied to our Accommodation team who will then contact you regarding your room allocation.
- Fresher’s information
Later in August, you will receive Freshers’ Welcome Information, which provides all of the details you will need prior to joining the College, including various forms to complete and return, College contractual documents, arrival information, and what to expect during Freshers’ week! (7th – 13th October.) We will offer welcome sessions for part-time graduates starting before October, such as those enrolling on EMBA and MMPM courses.
Keep us informed!
To make sure that you receive important documentation promptly, please notify us of any changes to the contact details and email address you supplied during the admissions process. Don’t forget your current University email address may be terminated once you complete your current course.
University processes
The following processes are handled centrally and/or by your department (and not by College).
- University card form (Forms are issued by departments in all cases. You will collect your card from Pembroke on enrolment (with the exception of some Business School courses who will issue these to you directly).)
- CAS letters, Visa applications
- English language requirements
- Specific course dates
Other useful information
The fees and funding pages provide advice on support available to students, including those who are parents, who have a disability or who experience financial difficulty during their studies. You can also look at https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/fees-and-funding for more information.
When budgeting you should be aware that your first few weeks of term are likely to be more expensive as you prepare and settle into life at the University. There is also useful information on managing your finances and if you are from outside the UK, see the Oxford bank guide for European and International Students with tips and guidance about how to open a bank account.
Once you have enrolled on your course you can obtain your student enrolment certificate via Student Self Service https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/selfservice
You must apply for a Student Visa in your home country before travelling to the UK and allow sufficient time for the visa to be processed. You cannot come as a visitor and switch status, so you must attend your visa appointment and obtain your Student visa before coming to the UK.
Students who require a visa (those from outside the UK or Ireland, or do not have indefinite leave to remain or pre-settled or settled status) will need to pay the immigration health charge when they apply for their visa, in order to access NHS services free of charge.
Further information for international students can be found here. Visa queries should be directed to student.immigration@admin.ox.ac.uk
It is really important for you to register with a GP whilst living in Oxford. The college works with an NHS doctors’ surgery at 19 Beaumont Street, Oxford and you can register with them via their website. If you were to become ill at Oxford, changing/registering with a doctor at the same time may add to your stress, so please do not put off registering. If you need to, you can still see your previous GP during the vacation as a temporary patient.
Important note: You will need a UK mobile phone number to receive calls from NHS practitioners, it is not possible to use an overseas mobile phone number, so we advise all international students to arrange a UK phone on arrival.
- Vaccinations
New students (aged under 25) are recommended to have the Meningitis ACWY vaccine. Please make an appointment with your local doctor to have this vaccine before coming to Oxford if you have not yet had the vaccine.
The UK Health Protection Agency recommends that young adults are protected against mumps by receiving two doses of MMR vaccine. If you have not had both the normal doses of MMR vaccine, it is strongly recommended that you are immunised before coming to Oxford.
You can, if you prefer, be immunised once you have arrived in Oxford with the College doctor.
Discussing your needs in advance of starting your study will mean that support systems may be established before you begin your course.
The Disability Advisory Service can help students diagnosed with medical, physical or learning disabilities by liaising with College and your department to organise your support needs.
All full-time and part-time graduates become members of the MCR upon joining the College in October. The MCR is Pembroke’s community of postgraduate students and mature undergraduates as well as being a physical common room in College where members can hang out, work and relax. Please do take a look at the MCR Instagram, Facebook and website.
The library is open for use by all members of College 24/7. In-person inductions will be available during Freshers' Week, however, online inductions, including how to find reading material online and how to use Pembroke Library can be found on the Library website.
Caroline Barnes
Hi, I’m Caroline and I’m the Acting Academic Registrar and Director of Admissions at Pembroke College. By the time you embark on your studies you will already have seen my name in your inbox many times as I run the graduate admissions process in College and I will also be your main point of contact while you’re on course too!
I studied English Language and Literature as a mature student at Harris Manchester College so understand what it’s like to be a student here at Oxford University. I worked at Pembroke as Tutorial and Graduate Secretary from 2003-2009 and then moved to the Proctors’ Office for 11 years before realising I missed the family atmosphere of College and returning to my old desk in 2020! I’m passionate about supporting our amazing graduate community and helping you on the road to having a happy and successful time here at Pembroke.
Please email me if you have any questions about graduate life at Oxford, or about the admissions process.