Oxbridge Applications 2019 (Part Three)

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Today is a big day for many... time for a new thread too

I hope that the method used in the East End of London Sixth Form can be replicated elsewhere in the UK, especially the long neglected coastal towns and parts of the UK which are unfashionable.

PantTwizzler I did think that 40 out of an average comprehensive cohort would be very, very, very unusual - hence my question about size of cohort (I though maybe your DD was at a Hills Rd type place).

I did it three times in the winters of 2009, 2010 (the beautiful snowy one) and 2011. And survived! You can do it! (Horizontal helps :)).

For my part I have no political issue with independent schooling but I'm not so fey that I'm not aware of the impact that has on achieving an Oxbridge place. It's a perfectly legitimate point Soup Dragon, and part of the reason a lot of parents will choose an independent school for their kids, so I'm not quite sure why one should pretend otherwise or be too precious about the sensibilities of parents in the independent sector. Of course many, many of their kids will be super bright and at the top of the game, but each and every pupil in the decent independents have had a helping hand, no doubt about it.

I'm interested that you're 'uneasy' about this sixth form in East London Hubble. Why is that?

Jano69 that's a mean offer. Durham will offer A*AA I'd take a bet on it (I've got a tenner running on a second referendum - bet made a year ago - so I'm quite into this bet thing :)).

That’s mind boggling goodbye. Actually I’m working on the assumption that, just like potty training, it’s easier second time around. Personality of the candidates is also a major factor.

I typed out a long waffle about state vs private and then deleted it. Trying to save my emotional energy

Don’t hide your light under a bushel PantTwizzler, share with the class!

I was reading recent posts as a discussion, not a 'slagging off'.
There's an article and a leader on the Harris Academy in The Times if anyone's interested

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/school-for-poorest-pupils-gets-37-oxbridge-offers-ct593qpwk?shareToken=a90fa9930846489ee927a6eac499daee

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-times-view-on-the-success-of-the-harris-federation-degrees-of-excellence-pkgtjrl0p?shareToken=59e6af1f36f1b49ff5592c0428a8324b

Really interesting. Thanks Errol.

I hope the beat universities don’t concentrate on taking large amounts of pupils from a couple of schools in central London and think they are doing enough. That doesn’t solve the issue of social mobility in the rest of the UK.

Absolutely, Bowchicawowow. I was thinking the same thing the second I read the article.

The pupils featured were all from families who, had they been able to stay in their own countries, would have probably done well. I saw no poor white British children among the successes. And this school is in a "trendy" spot, easily accessible to offer help. No one is trekking to Great Yarmouth to inspire pupils there.

soupdragon, I’m disappointed that you think a realistic appraisal of the damaging impact of private education on society - an appraisal supported by many academics - represents a ‘slagging off’. It is, in fact, an effort to introduce some balance into a discussion that in places was veering towards portaying private school applicants as somehow disadvantaged.

Goodbye and Errol - thanks. Yes the offer is for History

A Star
A Star
A

He's predicted 3 A Stars but it puts enormous pressure on him.

I do hope you're right Goodbye that he'll get a more achievable offer from Durham.

Thank you all for the interesting press articles - compulsive reading.

Irma, I absolutely agree that the success of this school should be replicated elsewhere but it’s not true to say that the successful pupils are all from migrant/refugee families who would have succeeded academically in their own countries: two-thirds of them are from families where no one has been to university before.

I doubt that the children who are on free school meals consider they live in a ‘trendy’ spot.

cinnamontoast agreed. DS1 lives and works as a (very very junior doctor) in that area and his patients don't sound as though their general culture is 'trendy', sadly. It will be far easier to recruit young Oxbridge graduates as teachers in that area though. That fact alone has a big impact on how much less easy it is to replicate this in areas of rural and coastal poverty, some distance from London.

Hi Cinnamon. I agre that the success of the school should attempt to be replicated elsewhere although it is important to remember this is a school with a selective intake.

Muggling why is that a problem at 16+, even if you consider it an issue at 11+? It's an essential part of the programme.

I think they are trying; the college I applied to is a newer one but their entire mission statement is around excellence no matter your origin, as is the college at Durham I've applied to whose motto is 'who you are, not what you have'.

Durham is doing a lot of bursaries for less well off children in the county as well as across the country, and the college I've applied to at Cambridge has provision for low-income families. It's a mature college so less applicable but it's prioritising fair access alongside academic excellence and has the aim that no one with the ability should be barred by financial difficulties.

I think I've deliberately sought out places with that attitude though, so probably biased.

Hi goodbye. I don’t see selection as a problem at all. I also don’t think it is in anyway surprising that the school gets a fantastic number of incredibly bright, highly motivated kids into fantastic universities. I do however find it just a little ironic that a school borne out of a partnership with one of the most elite private schools in the country has excited many on here.

East London is a trendier place for teachers to work than Rhyl or Wigan or Stoke. It also has the benefit of a better pupil premium than other places in UK as well as access to well funded museums and other resources which the majority of UK working-class children don't have.

London state school secures 41 Oxbridge offers www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-46900154

"It also has the benefit of a better pupil premium than other places in UK as well as access to well funded museums and other resources which the majority of UK working-class children don't have"

And before the success of the fairer funding campaign, just better funding. Newham had twice as much funding as DD's school. This was without the pupil premium and London weighting being taken into account.

If you consider their backgrounds incl being in care and a large number not having more than £16kpa in household income Muggling, along with their prior education, then I think you'd dismiss the success less easily. For those same reasons, I don't see the irony - but perhaps I'm missing something.

It's hard to articulate how this (London v other parts of the UK which are deprived) is different, even for people like me who grew up in a borough which has low (the lowest in England to be precise) social mobility.

Lonicera our county was one of the lowest funded in the country but I have to say I don't begrudge Newham or places like it or these pupils a single penny - not sure how anyone could.

Jano69

That was the same offer that DS got for History, and people on a similar thread at the time commented that it was higher than they had heard of previously for a humanities subject. We suspect that DS was a bit borderline, having not done particularly well in his interview, and also he was having a Gap year, so they put the offer high. He has since heard a rumour that one of the tutors at his college loves historians who can also do maths, and suspects his maths and further maths A levels might have pushed him over the line for an offer.

He made the offer, although ironically he got an A in History... But he is loving Cambridge and doing very well. Best wishes to your DS.

LadyPeterWimsey - thank you for your helpful post. DS is predicted an A Star in maths so fingers crossed if they like History students with maths. I will show him your post as I think the fact your DS got an A in History A Level to read History will give him hope!!