Cambridge University.

[oneteen]

ttps://news.sky.com/story/cambridge-university-aims-to-ditch-most-unequal-title-with-admissions-overhaul-11656787

Sorry but this story sounds like hocus pocus to me too. Shouldn't even post this to give conversation any credence.

No one has been “labelled”.

What exactly is the distinction between being 'marked out' and being 'labelled'?

Cos, despite being an academic in English Lit, I think you'll need to educate me in some subtleties I'm just not seeing there.

Max she can just ignore the whole thing if it doesn't sit right with her, can't she? Adjustment is opt-in, rather than mandatory.

My ds got a two grades lower than standard offer from Bristol, and an email telling him it was because of our postcode. He just thought it was fairly absurd rather than taking it as some sort of personal slight.

She certainly can Atia and probably will once she has everything set up for her firm choice.

Where can we input our postcode to see if we meet any of the criteria!

It varies from uni to uni and, bizarrely, given they are trying to increase participation, they do rather hide their lists. You can try googling 'contextual offers' and then the name of a uni, which should take you to their criteria, if they operate any contextual offer system. It is not just about postcode.

If you are looking for the Polar 3 and 4 lists - here they are - some Uni's are working off both (still OK if the quintile on 3 is lower than the quintile on 4).

www.officeforstudents.org.uk/data-and-analysis/polar-participation-of-local-areas/

It's now being reported that middle class parents of Oxbridge rejects are requesting feedback and making FOI requests. They are worried that their dc are the 'victims' of reverse discrimination. Oxbridge are bracing themselves for a legal challenge. It seems that the middle classes will stop at nothing to make sure their dc get on.

This is not news to anybody who reads Mumsnet Higher Education threads....

One thing I am vaguely curious about, vis à vis Oxbridge admission stats, is where do non-UK applicants fit into things? Are they just taken out ol the State School vs Privately Educated statistics altogether? The headline statements like Cambridge college X still 75% from Indies, despite claims re widening participation seem to imply data regarding all students is included, though.

Bowchica they won't help their DC 'get on' because any FOI request will elicit nothing that could possibly result in a place - possible hurt feelings for the DC in question ('struggled in the interview' etc) but nothing more. Interviewers in any setting are always very circumspect in what they commit to paper.

How can there possibly be a legal challenge on Oxbridge offers - they don't claim to adhere to some rigid set of objective criteria, do they?

@Bowchicawowow

Even if these over-invested parents get the feedback on their own DC, they surely can't get the details pertaining to the other applicants, can they? So wtf is the point (beyond trying to improve performance if they reapply)? Because it's not 'my kid deserved a place', it's 'my kid deserved a place more than at least one of the applicants who got an offer for that subject at that college'.

One thing I am vaguely curious about, vis à vis Oxbridge admission stats, is where do non-UK applicants fit into things? Are they just taken out ol the State School vs Privately Educated statistics altogether?

Yes, and Oxbridge conveniently omit to communicate on the fact that the share of undergraduate places going to UK residents is decreasing year on year in favour of overseas applicants.

Why do you see that as a problem Maria? It is entirely possible that foreign people are clever too - arguably cleverer.

I don’t think it’s a problem that Oxbridge takes more overseas students, on the contrary! I think it’s a problem that Oxbridge does a lot of PR about outreach to the disadvantaged and no PR about increasing its overseas contingent.

Perhaps one strategy helps the other.

How would that work?

That data isn't exactly obscure, it's been mentioned (I think in the Times) very recently.

Oxford and Cambridge are world-ranking universities, of course they attract students from around the globe. It would be bizarre if they didn't.

What I didn't see alongside the Oxbridge story for comparison was any stats on the share of places at other universities going to non-UK students. Many of those also attract a lot of foreign students.

Truth is, our universities are one of the UKs most important industries, bringing in cash from overseas - exactly as it surely ought to be in our post-industrial economy.

I think the usual complaint is that overseas students bring fees, and that's why they're given places. Fees = money = additional funds in the general pot for outreach. I doubt that's where the additional funds go though, to be fair.

The share of both EU and international students has been increasing. EU students don’t contribute to fee income any more than UK students (though they outperform UK students academically and hence raise standards).

I'm pretty sure no overseas students are 'given' places, they still have to win them (I'm sure you didn't mean to imply otherwise!)

Might be interesting to see data on degree classification broken down by global region.

Maria I think the fee rules for EU students are well understood.

Some of the UK universities that do road shows in EU countries share data on degree classification by prior education.