Is Oxford only for rich families?

[Foslady]

My dd is taking GCSe’s Next year and her school are having various universities in to talk to the pupils. When the Oxford representatives came they mentioned that due to circumstances for one of the colleges there was a very generous bursary you can apply for. This particular college has the course that dd wants to study and now she’s thinking ‘why not?’. I want to support her in all her choices, academically she is quite gifted, and yes, there is a huge time period before university application, but I don’t know if we are the ‘right’ kind of people for Oxford. Up until recently I was a lone parent on a low wage. I now am with my partner but money is still tight (and to be honest if she was awarded the bursary it would be amazing , a massive help). I don’t want to ruin her dreams but at the same time, in reality, are they feasible or am I just kidding myself?

Encourage her to give it a go. Yes, there are very wealthy kids at Oxford, who may be the loud ones, but there's loads of perfectly ordinary families and kids too. Scholars from some of the poorest countries in the world. All sorts. The fact that the uni owns lots of accommodation and the city is walkable/cyclable makes it cheaper, and the short terms make it much easier to get good jobs in the vacations - aside from the kudos of Oxford also helping loads there.
It's not the only good uni and places are limited, but if your dd keeps working hard and looking for opportunities, that'll stand her in very good stead. There's often funds that not enough people apply for!

Oxford is one of the best places for a poorer student to be - several of the colleges are wealthy so they have generous bursaries and hardship funds.

Friends at my college had free accommodation, funding to go on overseas trips relevant to the course, funding to buy books.

The student intake is much more diverse than the stereotypes suggest.

Do you mind saying which college? Some are still quite posh, but there is a mix everywhere.

also terms are only 8 weeks, so she can be home in the holidays and get a job, which helps.

Thank you both so much - it’s given me the message I needed. I’ve always told her if you work hard you can try for anything.
It’s Lincoln college Werewolfnumber1, and they were great apparently, really enthusiastic and positive.

It might be worth her looking into whether the college she's thinking of applying for offers accommodation all the way through the course. That can definitely be cheaper than having to find private accommodation as you would only have to pay for it during the short term times rather than year round. Ten years ago lots of colleges offered this, but I don't know what the situation is like now.

If anything Oxford and Cambridge will be better than other universities as a lot of the older colleges (and some newer ones) have bursaries to help support poorer students.

ps Courses / lectures are offered by the university, not the college, though tutorials are arranged by the college.

If poorer families self select out, the universities have no hope of becoming more diverse.

As the PP said, Oxbridge can be cheaper than other Unis. Cheap rooms, a guarantee of accommodation, it is possible never to have to buy a book, the libraries have everything you need and will get it the next day if not. Many colleges have a gym (free), punting (free), heavily subsidised meals...
You only pay for accommodation in term time.

Perfect for less wealthy families!

However, there is a relatively higher proportion of young people who have led very sheltered lives with a skewed sense of their place in it. My nieces and nephews witnessed and heard some gob smacking snobbery, racism and complacency from a minority of students. They found their tribe and rose above it, but it can be off putting when everyone else is familiar with the ritual, the Latin, the cliquey jargon etc.

I was at Oxford and didnt have any money. Practically it was fab - you can walk everywhere or cycle so dont need to pay for buses, libraries were fab so didnt need to but books all the time. Also I lived in 3 years (varies from college to college) so didnt need to spend a fortune furnishing and getting "set up." Also from my perspective not everyone was out drinking all the time (lots still were) so I didnt waste money that way - we met in each others rooms and for coffee happily!

Culturally it was a bit of a shock as lots from public schools. Our family was poor middle class and it was still a leap. I think that could be overcome with supportive famiky though and discussions before going as it was quite a shock to me.

I don’t mean to be rude (at all!) but when you say ‘quite gifted’, are you being a bit modest?
I would 100% encourage her to go for it if that’s what she wants (their bursaries are generous, and their tuition fees aren’t any more than anyone else’s!) but they will be looking for candidates who are exceptionally strong academically, as well as having a good personal statement, unless there are extenuating circumstances. I only say that because I was predicted 4 As at A Level and wanted to apply to Oxford, but was essentially told it was a waste of a UCAS choice as my GCSEs (mix of As and Bs) weren’t good enough.

Not that I’m bitter, obviously

Thank you so much everyone for replying, I’m going to show her the thread and that yes, it IS possible!
She’s currently at the local grammar and I think that has been an eye opener already in the way how people view each other (luckily she has a level head on her!).
They mentioned about accommodation payments and other areas that could be less of a financial burden - it all seemed to good to be true!

Please encourage your daughter. If everybody thinks Oxford was only for rich kids, then it always will be! It's why Oxford spend so much effort doing school visits. I'm glad your daughter took a positive message from it.
All Oxford is interested in is academic potential.They really don't care if you have a grade 8 piano, a gold DofE and have climbed Everest.
There is masses of information out there to help people unfamiliar with the application process - from Oxford.ac.co.uk, StudentRoom and indeed Mumsnet! It's not too early for your DD to be looking up about courses and the entry process so that she can decide if it's for her and gain incentive and confidence.
Once you are at Oxford, nobody cares about your background. Everyone has got a place and start on an equal footing.
Also as pp have said, Oxford is often much cheaper to live in than other unis. Most colleges provide 3 years of accommodation and rents and food are subsidised. Many colleges offer generous bursaries.
Finally it is a great place to meet people from different backgrounds - up or down the social scale! They are all just people and you might be surprised how nice some of the posh kids are!

Everyone is the right background for Oxford (my son is there). If your daughter loves the subject, reads extra stuff out of interest, does tonnes of extra academic stuff (e.g. Translations, essay competitions, attending lectures or watching them online) for the love of it - then she has as good a chance as anyone else. It's not about extra curricular stuff, D of E or musical instruments or whatever. And it's not just about exam grades. Does she love the subject and does she do extra stuff? And does she want to work really hard? If so she should give it a go.

She’s on track for 7/8’s (A/A*’s) at GCSE, and at parents evening every teacher said ‘you are doing my subject at a level aren’t you?!!’ . She took maths last year and got an 8 and is doing a further maths qualification this year. She’s also found AS sociology and looking to convert as a 1 year A level, an continue with maths, chemistry and biology. I genuinely think she can do it (and sorry if I sound braggy, she’ll kill me for saying all this!!!)

And yes, she never just does anything by halves - an example is Les Mis - listened to the soundtrack and love it, so we went to see it, then she read the book including all the footnotes, then saw in the School library they had a different translation so read that too to compare and contrast......

I really wish everyone knew about this - Oxford and Cambridge are great places to study if you don't have much money.

They have very generous bursary funds for students coming from low-income families.

They often provide accommodation for all three years so you are not at the mercy of private landlords. And you are paying for term-time only, rather than for 12 months, which saves a lot of money.

You don't have to buy many books because the libraries are well-stocked. There are other facilities which are free or cheap.

The terms are very short so you have lots of time to work in the holidays (you can't really take a paid job in term-time though).

There are lots of things that are not good about Oxbridge - and I'll
happily talk about those things - but purely in financial terms it's a good deal. My DC is actually putting quite a lot of cash into savings while they are studying there.

Oxford has the exact same fees as every other university, plus better bursaries and support for poor students and many many subsidised costs. it's an awesome place to be a student if you love your subject.

I went there from a NI grammar school with a very "mixed" population and found it fine btw. There is certainly a contingent of Arabellas and Henrys from the Home Counties but I found fairly normal people to be in the majority (my tute partner was from an East London comp).

Right- off to work now, will reread at lunchtime but a huge THANK YOU - I know that her hopes can be made a reality, and if she still wants it, i’ll Do my best to help support her decision

Go for it! It's true that there will be a large proportion of students from private schools, and plenty from grammar schools and with parents who paid for tutoring but not all by any means - my DD's friend is there currently from a council estate and was in care for 2 years!!!

I would say it helps to be able to mix with people from different backgrounds, oxbridge doesn't suit those who cannot get along with people from very different walks of life, you need to be able to fit in to its very traditional ways - that said some colleges are less public school than others.

As for grades, you do need mostly 9's to be honest, certainly nothing below a 7 in any subject. They have so many applicants. My dd was turned down with 4 A's at as level because they were not high enough percentage wise - a is the highest grade but they get the underlying mark

"As for grades, you do need mostly 9's to be honest, certainly nothing below a 7 in any subject."

This is more true for Cambridge than Oxford-Oxford is a little more forgiving over GCSEs. A lot depends on the subject too-some are more
competitive than others.

She does have to be prepared for some significant culture shock- but going to grammar school is a good stepping stone! Terms are short-but incredibly full on-my dd went to a very well regarded university but the intensity of work her Oxbridge friends were expected to put in was on another level-particularly in the Sciences. Good luck to her- tell her to go for it!

anniehem Now AS levels have gone people will be applying before they have their A level results and offers will be made based on grades not percentages. Standard offer is A A A I believe.

Some subjects have pre-tests prior to interviews/offers (e.g. Economics at Cambridge, taken in autumn term of y13).

The bottom line is though, that more students would be suitable and get good enough grades than they have places for, so there is always going to be some luck in who gets selected.

They want students who have a real interest in their subject.

Aim high if GCSE results indicate it is possible. it is only 1 option out of 5 on the form so nothing to lose really.

“as well as having a good personal statement, unless there are extenuating circumstances. “

This is not true. They are interested in grades, grades, grades and academic achievement and interest in the subject you apply to only.

The admissions talk we went to at Cambridge was explicit about this. They said the personal statement was only used if they needed a basis for conversation in interview, and didn’t count.

OP: she will be better focussing in a smaller number of GCSEs and A levels and doing really well than collecting s rag bag of half and lower grades. They don’t want or require more than 3 A levels, and 3 A * will serve better than 4 As.

OP you do need to be cautious about some of the info given on this thread, because it's not all sound.

On the money front, a student can pick any college in the university and will still get the main bursary award, the Oxford Opportunity Bursary, if he or she qualifies on financial grounds. It's extremely generous and provides both a reduction in fees and a large grant for living expenses. There's an additional and even more generous award open to all applicants who qualify on financial grounds, the Moritz Heyman. Do not worry at all about which college to select, the college funds are separate and very, very small by comparison. That said, Lincoln is lovely.

Oxford is not more forgiving than Cambridge on GCSEs, arguably the opposite (Cambridge is still in the early cycles of assessment without AS levels so nothing is set in stone). Oxford likes lots of A* at GCSE though this is slightly department variable but you certainly won't need all 9s because Oxford and Cambridge will be empty from 2020 if they make that a stipulation.

Also, the seriously well off students aren't by any means necessarily the noisiest, they just tend to be the ones the media like to focus on, in a nostalgic bid for Brideshead stuff. There are some very noisy less well off students and also there's an odd phenomenon called social mixing, whereby some very well off students do actually become good friends with slightly less well off students and even with much less well off students and even students from other countries. Intelligence is a great leveller.

I went to Cambridge as a working class northerner who had never met anyone from a private school.
I had a ball and got a good degree. Although it was a long time ago, the same holds true, it costs no more to go there than any other university where you live in student accommodation.

The intimacy of living in college and small teaching groups suited my introvert, swotty style. I loved cycling everywhere and socialising in other colleges, amongst the beautiful architecture.

I knew I was as good as anyone else because I'd got in.

www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/fees-and-funding/oxford-support?wssl=1

Oxford says it better than me :)