I did ask and the answers I got were:
24 places in 2 courses with the first one starting in August. Apparently ~160 were invited to Oxford for interview with ~70 going onto final board with BM.
Can't help with the allowance question but I would imaging not - we're footing £15,000 of the bill - they're not going to ask us to pay that and then give us £1600 back! Or am I just being cynical?
VTOL