OXBRIDGE FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW

Still unsure whether it's really worth applying to Oxbridge? Here are some facts which should interest sixth formers, parents and teachers.

For a start, you are not alone. New Oxbridge data released earlier this year by the Department for Education revealed that 65 per cent of state schools and sixth form colleges send no students at all to either Oxford or Cambridge. Included in this figure, which was based on the 2009-2010 Oxbridge intake, were both schools from which no-one applied and those whose applicants were unsuccessful.

No reasons were given for this outcome, but those of us working with urban sixth forms are familiar with most of them. While perfectly valid, these reasons can sometimes be out of date, as in this frequently heard teacher statement: “We sent a really able boy (or girl) once, but he (or she) didn't get in.”

Such an outcome must have been annoying and may well have been unfair, but it is important to realise that the admissions process has improved considerably in recent years. Place offers now take into account a far wider range of ability indicators than in the past: rather than rely quite so much on an applicant's performance at interview, dons are also using contextualised GCSE grades, subject-related tests and teachers' examples of student work indicating outstanding ability.

Being an articulate, lively talker has, consequently,  become less of a decisive quality in an applicant, in most colleges at least. Subject knowledge matters rather more, as do proof of interest and test scores. Partly as a result, the proportion of state school students admitted to Oxbridge has risen by approximately 8 per cent in the last decade. The proportion of very under-represented groups, such as black students, is also slowly increasing.

Among sixth formers, “not fitting in” seems far less of a concern than before, but the rise in tuition fees has hightened financial worries. More and more students say they will now consider only local universities to reduce living costs. While the prospect of massive graduate debt can indeed make studying away from home seem wasteful, it is crucial that applicants check both Oxford and Cambridge sites for the new grants available. A student aiming for the sciences or coming from a low income family may well find that these make Oxbridge affordable, after all.

Lastly, there is even a way of dealing with the concern most often voiced within schools, which is that “we cannot work out what Oxbridge is actually looking for in its applicants.” You'll find lots of clear, detailed chapters laying out the answer in the 2012 edition of  OXBRIDGE ENTRANCE: THE REAL RULES.