Getting into Oxbridge

[PinkPeppers]

Can someone explained to me what is needed to get into Oxford/Cambridge?
Dc1 is decided this is what he wants to aim for (good for him to aim high - I wont stop him from doing that). He is only in Y8 so plenty of time to change his mind too.

However, Im not british and I havent gone through the system so have little idea on how things are actually working.
In particular, im not sure about what is needed. Obviously very good A levels in your subjects (maths/science for dc1). But do you also need a very good GCSE and/or a high number of GCSE with a level 8/9 (A/A*)?
Does doing more GCSE than you have to making any difference?

I know that you need to be able to talk about your subject and be hapy to deal with questions where you didn't know the answer etc...
But what else can be playing in your favour? Ive read for example very conflicting advise of having the right sort of experience/voluntary work etc... (some saying its essential, some not).

Im well aware that he might never get there and might change his mind. But atm, this is the one thing that is helping him focus on his studies and the one thing that makes him want to do well (as well as he can do rather than coasting if that).
So any advice on what would help him and what would make a difference is welcome! and if he changes his mind, he will at least have learnt the power of focusing your mind on something you real;l'y care about

Lots of good advice here.
Do go and look around (preferably both) and look at the less "touristy" colleges too. Most will at least let you have a quick look in the front Quad/Court if you say you are thinking of applying one day.
It certainly doesn't cost £27,000 a year! And the meals are a bit of a bargain, at my college you got an extra course for free and waiter service if you were prepared to wear your gown to eat.

One big thing I would suggest much nearer the time is to think about what aspect of your subject really interests you, and check which Unis really cover that. Especially in STEM not all Universities are as comprehensive in all aspects. Admittedly your interests may well change when you get there.

Has anyone mentioned, the college choice may matter because some have slightly different entry requirements for some subjects? (There are tables online, of course). E.g. Some colleges further maths might be required for a particular course, others it would just be 'desirable'. There's one college which requires a maths STEP paper for engineering- apparently that doesn't get so many applicants and its tough luck if you're pooled there!

In Ds's case the choice of college was partly because they had a relatively high number of u/gs for his subject - i.e. he did not want to be one of 1 or 2 for his subject in the college - however, the point about - you could be pooled / sent for interview somewhere elsewhere is absolutely the case.

( I speak of Oxford)

dds college have told them that they need a minimum of 95 ums average in AS levels for maths at cambridge.Theyve not had anyone taken at a lower result over recent years. That's scary. Two or three messed up questions in their exams could destroy that. It's pretty depressing given that if they actually manage that, they still have to get through the interview and the step papers. It seems like a really daunting task at the moment.

Not only that OYBBK - looking at the interactive course applications/acceptances thingy linked to earlier only about 1/2 of those offered places for maths actually end up accepted (assume the others fail to achieve their offers).

Natsci on the other hand it looks like around 90% of those offered end up accepted.

That's the Step bit Sadik.

It means they can be as enthusiastic and talented as anything, but one bad paper for whatever reason and there's no chance.

5A star minimum ( I don't know the modern equivalent at GCSE and 3+ A* ALevels (3-5) sometimes two A star and one A might get them in ... plus a LOT of extra curricular , voluntary work and awards. I wanted Oxford ... went for the open day and despised the place.

It's lovely when people read the whole thread.

Just to back up LRDs advice - my DD's recent experience at Cambridge interview for a STEM subject was that she wasn't asked one single question that wasn't either a maths or science question!! Literally nothing. It showed me how far Cambridge has come in ensuring fair access based on subject alone. She didn't even get asked about subject relevant achievements or work experience.

I can see that for STEM subjects, Working, but I guess it must be a bit more tricky for things like economics / law etc where lots of interviewees won't have studied the subject at all so far.

5A star minimum ( I don't know the modern equivalent at GCSE and 3+ A ALevels (3-5) sometimes two A star and one A might get them in ... plus a LOT of extra curricular , voluntary work and awards.*

More misleading bollocks.

went for the open day and despised the place.

fine, but this explains your misunderstanding of what's required.

OYBK that's true about STEP which forms part of an offer for maths.
Some applicants don't meet the required STEP score and are not subsequently given a place despite stellar A level results.

No it's no more difficult for Law since the questions are based on logical thought process not knowledge - knowledge in a Law interview wouldn't help.

It's probably best not to extrapolate from Cambridge Maths - that's a case all of it's own in terms of offer: place ratio.

You have to take some of the advice on these threads with a large pinch of salt because some people seem to have a couple of bags of McCain oven chips on each shoulder.

According to prejudice, there's a lot of, "Oh, it's all posh kids, you'll hate it" or "It's full of state school pupils who got in with lower grades."

Sadik I interview for economics at Oxford. Following department guidelines, I set problems/puzzles that test reasoning and analytical skills of the type needed to do Economics. Many of them wouldn't be recognizable by most people as having anything to do with economics at all. They certainly don't require any prior knowledge of Economics or anything else. In fact candidates often go wrong by trying to hard to make them fit into some Economics framework that they have learned. An exceptionally bright 13 year old could tackle them.

One of my politics colleagues (we interview together for PPE) does ask slightly more general questions for which regular reading of the FT, Economist etc might help a bit, if only to give some context and confidence.

To reiterate what has been said elsewhere, we don't ask about achievements and experience. The interview is entirely focused on analysis of problems and issues, and all candidates get asked the same questions for comparability (again, best practice).

We want to bring out the best in candidates and contrary to what you might read in the media would never ask trick questions, try to shock candidates, or trip them up in any way. The questions are supposed to be hard, they are supposed to be about something the candidates have not thought about before, but that is not the same as a trick question.

Maybe this should clear up some misconceptions.

I watched those videos before my interviews (humanities) and they weren't much like those at all. There weren't really many "questions" of that type - I think maybe one or two that you could've said came off a list, covered very briefly, and something about the unseen text. The majority of the time was talking about things I'd already read (almost the entirety of one interview was on something that I'd mentioned in a single line on my personal statement). The people were lovely, though. One of them I'd have liked to kidnap just so I could make her discuss interesting stuff with me for hours

What's your subject, addley? Just being nosy.

Was gonna be all enigmatic but English.

Yay!

Ahem.

All subjects are equal.

I grew up in a family of sciencey types Believe me, I know everything you're thinking

Oh, hang on a moment. You weren't being sarcastic, were you? 😂

To be honest, Maths at Warwick (as an alternative to Cambridge) is highly regarded so I don't think Cambridge is the only way to go. I tend to think the future of a young person is not all about Oxbridge. It is best to keep some perspective! I know 2 Maths grads from Cambridge who couldn't get jobs for over a year. Nothing to do with maths ability but all to do with no work experience, ambition, planning and personality. Sometimes the degree just is not enough and other graduates are preferred for many reasons.

I'm English Lit. I was attempting to pretend I have no skin in the game.

I'm also a black sheep in a family of scientists. Conversations with my dad still involve repeated 'but what do you mean it doesn't matter what the author intended? Aren't you supposed to be writing about what Chaucer really said and not all this "subtext" stuff? Maybe I should have a look at your book and see if I can help ...'