Oxbridge 2020 (8th thread)

[DadDadDad]

A thread to continue discussing entry to Oxbridge in October 2020 (less than nine months away ). All welcome, although this obviously will be of most interest to those with DS or DD holding an offer, and wanting to find a bit of support.

All too soon, 13 August will come over the horizon. Until then, ask questions... share experiences... discuss news and stats... write a poem... (we did briefly have some poetry on a previous thread).

With huge thanks to @HugoSpritz and predecessors for previous threads.

Oxbridge feedback shows that more applicants = more rejections = more disappointed candidates.

I don't think it has filtered through to applicants just how competitive it is or that Oxbridge is mean to be for very academic students. Dd's college just had an Oxbridge talk and they were encouraging everyone to "just give it a go". I have always had a problem with the "Anyone can do Anything!!" banner at dd's school (because no they can't!!!) . Dd said she was surprised to see people who had been in lower sets or had got generally low grade GCSEs sitting there. Dd said nought was said about it being a long shot even for excellent candidates.

I'm going to start a new thread, but if anyone has any stories that they are willing to share about difficulties with sitting STEP (through cost/centre availability) please let me know. It would also be helpful to know type of school if possible.

I would disagree that you must be very academic. DD's actual results and predicted grades pale into insignificance compared to many. Her GCSE results were undoubtedly the worst of the 6 who applied to Oxford from her school. She was the only one to get an offer despite others having straight grade 9s and A star predictions.

I thought her results were extremely good on results day Hoghgyni! Also, did she stay put for sixth form or move? If the latter, those other applicants' GCSEs may well be viewed differently in context, so it wouldn't be like for like.

Those were the 6 who took GCSEs together in the same school, so the same context.

So at least five others managed ten Grade 9s? But the impression you've given has always been that the school had significant shortcomings, so that's quite an achievement in that context. Also, quite a high number of Oxford applicants too. Were there any Cambridge applicants? Did more than five get ten Grade 9s? The school sounds fairly outstanding. Perhaps I simply read your comments wrong and it is in fact an outstanding school, just historically underfunded like the rest of us.

I can't imagine, Hoghyni, that your dd achieved just 4 and 5s... Dd reported that some people who were at the Oxbridge talk were all for having a go with these grades. If you look at grades achieved from the universities, sure, the odd disaster doesn't condemn you, but unless there are strong mitigating circumstances poor GCSE grades are a bit of a barrier.

Furthermore I strongly contend that you do have to be academic! Ds has to produce a (mega) essay a week in his subject, and then be grilled on it. You don't necessarily have to be a genius, nor overly "passionate" about the subject, but you certainly need a good fast brain.

@GinWorksforMe Your ds sounds incredibly motivated and self aware. I had a long conversation with d's today about his school's woeful lack of any support for STEP or MAT. In the end ds took MAT and scored incredibly well for someone who self taught. He was undecided until the last minute so had also started preparing for STEP. He would say it IS possible to self prepare if your ds is organised. His advice is to get really good at mechanics and/or statistics, use on line STEP support, do lots of past papers. Your ds probably knows all this, just wanted to wish you and him luck and to say it IS perfectly possible.

One had 10 grade 9s, another 9 grade 9s, the others had far more 8s and 9s than DD. I definitely wouldn't call her VERY academic, which was the phrase I picked up on. Only one other applied to Cambridge that we're aware of and fell at the first hurdle, pre interview. I would hate people to read this in a few months and think that their DC must have exceptional grades and 3 or 4 A stars predicted to even think of applying.

Anyway, the least academic of the bunch was the only one lucky enough to get an offer.

Hoghgyni you posted previously that your DD had a total of seven 9s/8s combined plus two sevens and a six. From an ordinary non selective state school especially one with teaching issues that is in fact incredibly good, on any objective view. Also, my understanding was that pupils at your DD's school, just as at my own DD's, took ten GCSEs, so no-one can really have got 'far more' 9s/8s' because there isn't the headway. Your DD is in exactly the ballpark which most schools recommend as being worth a try: seven A*. I think you may be underplaying her achievements. The FSMQ is irrelevant.

It seems as though Oxford has very definitely gone down the line of not distinguishing between 9s and 8s this year

(Oops tailed off)

, at least the published feedback strongly suggests they're sticking to what they said and seeing how the distinction between the two grades pans out.

I've been sucked in by the numerous threads suggesting that an 8 isn't worth getting out of bed for then . That and the fact that a true academic wouldn't have played tennis 11 times in the fortnight of her mocks with a "never mind" attitude! There's been a lot of dark muttering about priorities around here recently!

DS has 1x9 and 5xA* plus two lower. So I don’t think there’s any minimum of grade 9s. One of the attractions of Oxbridge IMO is that they can spot candidates who are good in their area but not necessarily good all-rounders.

Playing tennis not even once a day! Sounds good to me! During A levels mine go swimming in the sea as much as they can.

There was a tennis club immediately behind the house I grew up in with a practice wall where you could go in and whack the ball as hard and low across the net line as you possibly could: it was completely fantastic (if I'd hit that hard on a real court I could have killed any opponent I think). Perfect for exam stress anyhow.

Look out for Rebound walls which lots of parks are putting in for the same effect. I used to spend hours whacking a ball against the granite walls of our house trying to anticipate the bounce.

Apologies if this comes over as a stealth boast - it is not meant to. My son is doing an A level in Maths and has just sat a mock where he got 90%. Now obviously that sounds good to me but looking online that seems to be just an A* scraped. But son said his teacher said that was "safe" A star. Does anyone know please if it is "just" an A star or a bit borderline? I assume lots of you have A star kids so hopefully you might know...

I know the grade boundaries can differ but DS has just got 90% in his Economics mock and it's shown as a A*M (M for medium)

Having another look online I think 90% seems a bit borderline actually for maths. Irony is, I have a maths A level myself but I am struggling to understand it. I think it's borderline if the paper is an "easy" one, and possibly "safe" if the UMS was adjusted for a harder paper...!

It depends on your school and what paper they've set for mocks. It may not be an actual exam paper, could be something they've put together themselves and created their own grade boundaries. When DS1's school does that they set very high boundaries.

The mock maths exam DS1 just did had 86% for an A star and 78% for an A. If DS1 had got 90% I wouldn't have described that as a scrape. But it wasn't the paper your DS sat so difficult to say.

Just noticed that the A star boundary for biology was 67% - that must have been a horror of an exam.

Thanks all. I guess it will become clear when he actually sits the proper paper so we will wait and see. Its very confusing what with actual raw marks, UMS and percentages!

@sandybayley Just noticed that the A star boundary for biology was 67% - that must have been a horror of an exam My DD sat that exam as her recent mock and she was completely down after paper 2 saying it was awful (it's her best subject so she was taken aback expecting a grade B) but she achieved 69% A (marks in the second exam paper were lower) The Biology teacher did say she needed to aim at least 5% higher in the real exam come June if she wants that A...