Should school do more to support Oxbridge candidates?

[lurchersforlife]

DS is in Y13 and applied unsuccessfully to Cambridge. He got the rejection and his finalised mock results during the same week, all culminating in a pretty unpleasant parents' evening this week. To be honest, I think he has been let down by the school. He had mocks at the time the interviews were taking place- why?? He didn't need the marks for UCAS and has only just got the finalised grades back, weeks after he actually sat them. He could have done the bloody things after the interview surely? He didn't do brilliantly in his mocks but I think he had so much on at the time.

He also had very little support, but I appreciate the school doesn't send many students there so there isn't the expertise. That isn't their fault, but things like organising the timetable of key events absolutely is. Now they are saying he may well not meet his targets and is not fulfilling his potential - which was high so he is doing fine but not as well as he could be if they put a bit of thought into their organisation! Anyone else have experience of this? It's so frustrating.

How many children are there in YR 13 at your son’s school as that is how many children deserve the same level of support from the school . Your son is not more special or more deserving than anyone else just because he’s applied to Cambridge .

I sympathise that he and you are disappointed by the rejection and disappointing results in the mocks. I think you’re having a knee-jerk reaction to that and the the suggestion he might not achieve his predicted grades.

On reflection, I imagine you’ll realise that what most people are saying is right. You will all get over the disappointment and mocks are just that…practices. There’s time for him to work really hard and boost his grades, as lots do. Now is the time for the hard work - and it has to come from him, not the school.

What exactly did you want the school to provide? Those successful with Oxbridge are often self-starters who look for resources and opportunities and access them. They find reading, webinars, stuff about interviews and they join stuff offered by the Oxbridge colleges - because lots is out there….but they have to be pro-active in finding it. Oxbridge are looking for those with passion for their subject and an ability to motivate themselves, work hard and find solutions. Passive isn’t what they want.

Sometimes people imagine those who did get in all went to indeodent schools where hours a week are devoted to Oxbridge Prep. A few schools probably do have heaps of resources,but most are sending a small handful if that to Oxbridge. They might offer to organise an interview but little more. An enthusiastic applicant can find far more online than most schools will offer.

Sorry he didn’t get in. It’s so disappointing. In the end almost all of the 23000 who applied for 3000 places will have had the top notch grades and predictions your DS had. Many many of them could have done really well there but there simply weren’t enough places. Even those who did have more support than he might have, will have been rejected. There are too many good people and not enough places.

I hope he can move forward and isn’t still feeling bitter about it, or looking for outside blame for this or the mock results. Hopefully he has some other good offers he can get excited about and can see the exams on the horizon and has the self belief to work really hard and achieve his potential. A poor set of mocks doesn’t define him and might be the kick up the arse that he needs. Onwards and uowards.

I get what you're saying to some extent, but in my Y13 classes this year I've had students interview for:

Oxford,
Medicine
Dentistry
Physiotherapy
Paramedicine
Nursing
Primary Education

I've also had students taking external admissions test this year, as well.

All these students had interviews on different time scales, and I have some students who still have upcoming interviews or haven't heard back from all their choices. Whenever mocks are scheduled, it will impact someone!

When we do "official" mocks, we deliberately use a paper that will be unseen for the students and different to last year's mock paper. People sit the mocks on the day or not at all like the real exams. Part of it is about preparation for that environment, but also to try and give everyone a realistic idea of how they are performing at the moment.

Personally I do think mocks between Decemeber-Feb of Y13 are pretty important, as they help students gauge a likely outcome for the summer, and hopefully make informed choices about their uni offers.

We don't often have students get in to Oxford or Cambridge, but when we do, they are genuinely exceptional, and usually comfortably getting As. Having "a lot on" might impact their performance, but that likely means scraping an A rather than being a good 10-20% inside the grade boundary. We do try to offer support in terms of mock interviews and guidance through the process, but we can't change things that impact other students to suit someone applying to somewhere prestigious.