Advice about Oxbridge Foundation Year

[sarahlayton06]

Can someone give some advice about the Cambridge and Oxford Foundation Year programmes?

To qualify for them you have to meet various markers of educational disruption or disadvantage such as low income or bereavement, which prevented you from applying to Oxbridge normally.

However, my question is: are these programmes just an easier way for disadvantaged yet talented students to be able to get into Oxbridge, so for example, if you missed school in Year 12 and so have low predicted grades, it’s an easier way of you getting in as otherwise your application may be uncompetitive (even if you are nonetheless capable of getting all As and A*s at the year)
Or, are these programmes about “bridging the gap”, meaning actually teaching students skills that they may not have to prepare them for degree study.

The reason why I ask is because I’m eligible for these programmes as I meet the criteria for eligibility and in my case, I underperformed in my A-levels getting ABB due to medical issues.

However, I’m retaking my exams this year and am predicted to achieve 3 A-stars in my exams. I don’t need the Foundation Years at Oxbridge in terms of development as I don’t need to be taught how to write good essays or how to critically analyse; I could definitely start undergraduate study next year or even this year if I hadn’t been ill during my exams.

I just thought it would be an “easier way in” for someone like me who has academic potential but was disadvantaged. This is as I wasn’t sure if Oxbridge accepted A-level resits. That being said, Oxbridge claim they are holistic and accept extenuating circumstances. So, it makes me wonder if the “bridging the gap” element is key for these programmes.

My understanding is these programs are about “bridging the gap” - ie for students with academic potential which they’ve not been able to realise for whatever reason (caring responsibilities, challenging home life, attended low performing school) to prepare them for the rigours of an undergrad degree. I really get the impression they are aimed and students from a socially/economically disadvantaged background. Given you are on track for high grades in your resists and wouldn’t need that bridging I suspect you may not be eligible.

However I would call up both universities to discuss your circumstances and get a definitive answer.

A couple of years ago, on the webinar, Cambridge said that if you were predicted grades to apply to the standard courses they wouldn't normally consider you for the Foundation. And I'm not sure it's an easier way - there were still something like 350 applicants for 50 places last year, so just as hard to get on to as a typical Oxbridge course.

Loads of people have medical issues. It should be about greater disadvantage than that.

I am eligible as they have a specific set of criteria you have to meet and I meet the criteria. However, I know that I would find the Foundation Year useless as I don’t need it in terms of “bridging the gap” as I was performing perfectly well last year until I became ill and my exams went badly. So, the reason I’m resitting purely has to do with that.

That makes me regret not applying for normal entry in October as the deadline is now gone.

However, would I have even been able to apply for normal entry or would they have rejected me due to resits? Do they consider A-level resits with extenuating circumstances?

Im still going to apply though just to keep my options open.

However, would I have even been able to apply for normal entry or would they have rejected me due to resits? Do they consider A-level resits with extenuating circumstances?

Contact the admissions tutor of the course you'd like to apply to and ask them! Contact details should be somewhere on the website.

I'm just sharing my personal opinion which is that illness shouldn't be enough to qualify. I say that as someone who was seriously ill through all my schooling and applied and got into Oxbridge the normal way. I think programmes like this should be for more significant disadvantage (e.g. socioeconomic). You are clearly treating it as an avenue you can potentially make use of rather than a genuine equaliser and that isn't the spirit of the programme. I do find that troubling at a moral level.

The foundation programs are about bridging the gap. They are for people who have not got the grades to apply at normal first year level but have the potential and only don’t have the grades due to serious disadvantage (normally socioeconomic). They are not a back door for people who have the grades.

@SmallestMan You said it better than I did!

But would I have been able to get in the normal way resitting my exams after having achieved ABB the first time around? The rest of my application is good: test score, personal statement etc?

Would I have had a shot or not?

I didn’t know if they allowed resits

This is a question that only the admissions offices of colleges you are interested in could have answered/can answer- random Mumsnetters can only speculate.

But as you have missed the application deadline it’s a moot point. Kindly, and as others have said, you would be better trying to find a way to accept that Cambridge wasn’t meant to be and to consider alternatives of which there are many, and to make a concerted effort to move on from this.

If you are so set on Cambridge and feel you have to try, then you could consider taking a gap year and applying next autumn, assuming admissions offices confirm they would consider you with your resits. But even if they would in theory consider you, there is no guarantee you would get an offer even with top grades so this would be a big gamble.

There is always the option to do a Master’s at Cambridge having done an undergrad degree somewhere else. Fixating on what might have been is just going to make you miserable.

I think if you ate eligible to go for foundation year, you should definitely go for it. As an eligible student, you must have a difficult start (which you largely overcame on your own) AND the medical issues which messed up your grades. The foundation year will give you a chance to learn other stuff you might have missed and to get more confidence.

Go for it.

@sarahlayton06 if you’ve not already seen them, below are the detailed eligibility criteria for the Cambridge foundation year.

They state that to be eligible you have to meet “one or more criteria from at least two of the categories detailed below.”

The categories are:

• “individual characteristics” which would include medical issues leading to long periods of absence,
• “Household characteristics” - free school meals or parents on universal credit etc and
• “School characteristics” - attending a poorly performing school or one which sends low numbers of pupils into higher education.

Some very narrow categories of applicants (those who’ve been in care, refugees/asylum seekers) are automatically eligible.

https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/files/publications/eligibility_guidelines_2025_entry.pdf

The Oxford eligibility criteria look even more stringent- you would need to be eligible under all three of their categories (which look similar to Cambridge’s above) unless you have been in care.

https://foundationyear.ox.ac.uk/eligibility#collapse3816756

From what you have said you are unfortunately unlikely to be eligible, but even if you are you admit that you don’t need the “bridging” that the course is designed to deliver. By all means call the universities to discuss but it looks like the foundation year would not be an option for you - sorry.

(Posting this because while I’m sure PPs are well meaning I’m not sure it’s helpful to give you false hope or encouragement on this).

They accept re-sat papers, re-marked papers etc, just like any other university. You should call the academic secretary at whichever colleges you're thinking of applying to and talk them through your application.
But, honestly OP, please don't go in with the attitude of "I don't need it". Im an alumna, and it's a lot more than being academically capable, able to write essays etc.
Be curious, and listen to their advice. It's a hard slog and not like other universities.