Are these grades Oxbridge material?

Maybe the visit will help him with it all. Hopefully they'll inspire him!

OP, I think a lot of the London state schools are signing up to these sorts of schemes. My DS's comp seems to select a group in year 10, then another lot in yr12. They visit a college and have a tour, etc. It's outreach from Oxford/ Cambridge colleges to try and encourage more state pupils from deprived areas to apply.

And I say this as someone who has two close family members who are Oxbridge graduates.

When I was at school one of the girls in my year who was a definite second setter (this was a grammar school), got 9 O Levels of which a couple were As (this contrasted with the top set girls who got 10, 11 or 12 with 6 or 7 As). She got into Oxford to read English. She was one of those people who had a breadth/depth of knowledge about all sorts of things (and a curious mind) and I think that (and the fact that both of her older sibs had also gone to Oxford) was what made the difference in her application.

I would imagine that there are straight As students out there who have very broad knowledge and could 'ace' an Oxbridge interview, but equally less 'well qualified' (GCSE wise) on paper students who love their subjects with a passion and are generally better informed about all manner of current affairs/other areas of interest, who could potentially do likewise.

Getting a place at Oxford/Cambridge is more nuanced than just the sum of one's academic achievements which is why some seemingly (on paper) very, very bright students don't get in.

I got in, from my grotty comp, with a selection of A*,A and a B at GCSE. Also had AAC at A Level but this was accompanied by a doctor's note stating I'd managed to sit the exams whilst suffering gastroenteritis.
That was 20 years ago but the interviews are a significant part of the process, they recruit on personality as well as on grades.

OP, to offer some perspective on the impact of GCSEs - my DC go to an academically selective school that gets dozens of pupils into Oxbridge each year and they only do 9-10 GCSEs max. No one does more than 10, so clearly Oxbridge don't necessarily favour 13 A*s.

Yes they are. A 9 and two A*s in his core subjects and a handful of A8s and as elsewhere is absolutely fine for GCSE, especially from a comp where teaching will have had to be paced for less academically able pupils at some points.
It's fantastic that the school are focusing on developing an Oxbridge strategy. how can state school pupils increase their presence if they don't apply? I hope he is keen.

It's more about how he interviews. If he wants to apply he needs to carefully research colleges and pick one that is known for prioritising intellect over academic attainment and then read up on the people who work there, read a few of their books and other note worthy books in the subject area. He will also need to see whether they have any internal exams. It is also possible that they may accept him but send him to do a bridging course first if they think that he has the potential but has been failed by his school.

If he hadn't done so many GCSEs but instead had dropped those 2 with Bs (presumably the 6 is one of the Englishes) then the results would look way better.

Nat Scis need to be extremely good at maths and science and literate enough to present their ideas appropriately. It think he should go for it, at least explore further.

They certainly wouldn't preclude an application, especially if he isn't from a school that sends swathes of kids to oxbridge and gets strings of straight A*s a year.

To be honest, though, once you've met the minimum academic requirements, Oxford and Cambridge are much more interested in how a student thinks and how passionate/independently motivated they are. A pupils with those grades who applies because it's worth a punt without really showing extra commitment is unlikely to get a look in; one who can show really engagement with their subject and evidence of reading around/beyond the subject has a much better shot.

Go and have a look.

How can they succeed in attracting more from the state sector if good state pupils self select themselves out of even considering applying when it is suggested to them.

The Oxbridge admissions process is rather more nuanced than many other universities - because of the college system each set of tutors will be selecting from a relatively small pool of students, so they don't have an 'admission by numbers' formula in the way that some universities do. I assume a very mediocre set of GCSEs would filter an applicant out, but that seems like a good achievement profile overall, possibly depending a bit on what kind of school background he's from - those grades would be more impressive from a tough comprehensive in a deprived down than from a high-achieving grammar or leafy comp.

They're more interested in how applicants think, how original their ideas and how motivated they are to engage with the subject. School ref also key to sparking admissions tutor's interest, as well personal statement, with demonstrable evidence of interest in the subject carrying much more weight than G8 violin and gold DoE etc.

Oxbridge is a very distinctive setup. It suits some, others (not necessarily less able) will be happier and do better elsewhere. If his school are encouraging him to go, then he should at the very least go and have a look round and talk to staff and students - that should give him a feel for whether it's something he wants to take further.