We already found a real structural difference between Oxford and Cambridge's AP requirements: Cambridge publishes one clean table, Oxford's general policy page is blocked to direct fetching. Researching their IB Diploma requirements turned up almost the identical pattern -- and a genuinely surprising twist specific to the IB Diploma that doesn't show up in the AP comparison at all.

Cambridge: one flat number, not a tiered table

Cambridge's own AP/SAT/ACT policy is a genuine two-tier system -- higher for "Science & Economics" courses, lower for everything else. Its IB policy is not built the same way. University of Cambridge's own accepted-qualifications page states one minimum that applies across the university: "Minimum offer levels are 41-42 points out of 45, with 776 in Higher Level subjects," noting only that a handful of colleges (Churchill, Corpus Christi, Selwyn) "usually make IB offers above the minimum offer level."

We checked that figure against six individual course pages -- Computer Science, Economics, Natural Sciences, Medicine, Law, and English -- and it holds nearly verbatim on every one of them, regardless of whether that course's A-level requirement is A*A*A (Computer Science, Economics, Natural Sciences) or the lower A*AA (Law, English). Where courses actually differ from each other is the named HL subject, not the points total: Computer Science and Economics both expect HL Mathematics ("Analysis and Approaches"); Medicine expects HL Chemistry, with colleges "usually" wanting an A* in it; Law names no specific subject at all; English expects HL English Literature.

Oxford: the same real system, mostly hidden behind a blocked page

Oxford's general international-qualifications page -- the one page that would carry a single, Cambridge-style table -- returned the same 403 error to direct fetching that it did in our AP research. That's not new information about Oxford's IB policy; it's the same access gap in the public record we already flagged for AP scores, now confirmed for IB too.

Where individual department pages work as a workaround, the real figures come through clearly, and they don't match Cambridge's flat structure at all:

  • Human Sciences (St Hugh's College): "38 (including core points) with 666 at HL."
  • Computer Science (cs.ox.ac.uk): "39 points, including core points. Higher Level grades of 7 6 6 with the 7 in Maths."
  • Mathematics (maths.ox.ac.uk): "39 including core points with 7,6,6 at Higher Level and a 7 in Higher Level Maths."
  • Economics and Management (economics.ox.ac.uk): "39 (including core points) with 766 at HL."
  • Law (law.ox.ac.uk): "38 including core points (with at least 6,6,6, at HL)."

Medicine and PPE's IB figures are widely repeated elsewhere online (commonly cited as 39 points, 766 HL for Medicine), but we could not independently confirm either from a directly-fetched official page -- both course's usual pages sit behind the same 403 block as the general policy page. Per this site's own standard, that gets reported honestly as unconfirmed rather than filled in from a secondary source.

The genuinely surprising part: Cambridge's number is higher, but Oxford's is more granular

On AP exams, Oxford and Cambridge land close to each other in substance, and Cambridge is simply easier to verify. On the IB, they diverge in a way that's easy to miss if you only compare headline numbers: Cambridge's 41-42-point minimum is higher than every confirmed Oxford figure above (all 38-39), but Cambridge applies that same number almost everywhere, while Oxford's course-by-course figures let a Law or Human Sciences applicant clear the bar at 38 -- a full 3-4 points below what a Cambridge applicant to any course needs to hit. If you're choosing where your IB profile is a stronger fit rather than assuming "Oxbridge" is one bar, this is a real, sourced reason the two aren't interchangeable.

What this means for you

  • Cambridge's IB minimum is genuinely one number, not a tiered system -- unlike its own AP/SAT/ACT policy, course choice barely moves your points target; the named HL subject is what actually changes.
  • Oxford's course-by-course IB figures run lower than Cambridge's flat minimum, 38-39 points against Cambridge's 41-42, confirmed across every Oxford course page we could reach.
  • Oxford Medicine and PPE's often-cited IB figures aren't independently confirmable from an official page -- treat those specific numbers as unverified until Oxford's blocked pages become checkable.
  • The points total is only half the requirement at both universities -- every confirmed figure above pairs a total with a named HL subject and grade, most often Mathematics.
  • Clearing the IB bar gets your application considered, not admitted -- both universities still run an interview stage that works completely differently between the two, regardless of which testing pathway got you there.

Sources

Every figure above is quoted directly from Cambridge's own accepted qualifications page and course pages, and Oxford's own department pages: Computer Science, Mathematics, Economics and Management, Law, and Human Sciences via St Hugh's College. See our broader breakdown of real IB offers across eight universities for the full sourced comparison beyond just Oxford and Cambridge.