Oxbridge Aspirants 2021 - New Thread (2)

[Baaaahhhhh]

Sorry posted last message on the last thread:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/3757768-Oxbridge-Aspirants-Sep-2021

Here is the new one......

I don’t have a touching faith about anything. What I am saying is, where a young person is known to been recently exposed to domestic violence, or is a victim of domestic violence, this should be an extenuating circumstance. Obviously if a school is not aware, than there’s not much they can do. This goes without saying.

DS has had some info re the TSA, just general housekeeping really, arrive 20 mins before etc. But does anyone know how the test will actually work online. They'll no long have the benefit of being able to underline key parts of any passage and will they be able to miss questions out and go back to them. They really need to have a run through online before the actual test but will this be available? Also what if they have to self isolate. There are lots of questions that need answering.

Thank you @Tenpastseven we were starting to think it was just us. Yes - realised you can do yr12 and 13 separately .Dc will ask teachers also. Let me know if you find out soon and I’ll do the same?!

For the Cambridge lot, regarding the SAQ question re Y12/13 topics, have you seen the FAQ's?
DS looked at the topic examples there and just copied the level of detail., so there was plenty of room.

@Johnathonripples and @Tenpastseven in the Guide to Completing the SAQ says on page 21

"How much detail do I need to give about topics that I’ve studied?

We are looking for a list of the main topics that you have covered in your studies in order to help the staff interviewing you to compose appropriate questions to ask. As such, you only need to include topics covered up to December 2020"

as courses are not taught in any particular order they just want to see what they have covered in class so they can possibly use it. There is a table showing what they want at the top of page 14 and it doesn't look like much.

link to booklet

Also if they have made an application to a particular college, check their webpage as there may be additional things they need to do.

@calculatorqueen Also what if they have to self isolate

we have been told by sixth form there is no provision if they are forced to self isolate or if they have symptoms of covid or test positive for covid. Ds is currently at home self isolating because someone in his sixth form bubble tested positive for covid, hence why I contacted college, he is sitting a different test.

Cambridge has said that no one will be disadvantaged by not sitting the test due to covid which I find very hard to believe. The test is there for a reason.

Thanks @Vargas. He did look but remained a little flummoxed. DS thought there were too many to mention but perhaps he’s being too ‘micro’ about it.

@Johnathonripples what subject is your dc applying for?

@OnTheBenchOfDoom Thanks, I've not seen anything from Oxford re not sitting the test. I'll get DS to e mail them but yes I agree that not doing the test would surely leave you at a disadvantage.

DS is home and says teachers have given him a list up till December. I’m not sure I’ll get any
more info from him than that and I’m trying to be helpful ‘when asked’ rather than intrude too much. Hopefully your dc’s teachers have helped too @Johnathonripples but if not I can try and enquire a little further.

@calculatorqueen I asked sixth form because the Cambridge one says notify us before 26th October if you need to sit the test at home due to covid issues. The test is on the 5th November. What if Ds was sent home on 4th November to self isolate? Ridiculous.

So at this point as he is self isolating anyway and yet another case has been confirmed in college I feel like keeping him off for the 3 days he should be back in just before the test.

DD has her first offer - AAA History Exeter. She is very relieved. Not one we have seen or even attended a virtual open day yet, but the course is good, and loads of friends and friends of friends have been very happy there. Result :-)

OnTheBenchOfDoom I think all things considered, it is not an unreasonable request to stay home before the entrance exams. As noted previously, DD's school has already offered the option, and we are taking it up. We had to send a letter to request it, which we have done.

This was the note from our school, and would apply to both Oxford and Cambridge:

"We have contacted the universities and at the time of writing, they have confirmed that there will only be one sitting offered of these tests. If a candidate is unable to attend, and there are mitigating circumstances, such as the need to self- isolate, then they are encouraged to write to the college with that information"

@tenpastseven .. Dc has not heard back from teacher yet. Yes- dc also looked at the guide and knows the bit about abbreviations and only listing topics up until Dec but is still unsure. I’ll let you know if teacher gets back with idea of what to do

@Johnathonripples I know a little more now. DS was I think trying to be too detailed before but now has just put three or four topics per subject. So for example with French, he's put French Literature (and named the book), French Grammar and Culture and Politics. I'm not sure how this will apply to your DC's subject, but maybe try to be a bit more 'meta'?

Thank you @Baaaahhhhh, we will write a letter to sixth form. He is already accessing lessons via Google meet, so he can hear the teacher talking and the teacher shares the smartboard so he can see that. It isn't like he is missing any lessons and is a big improvement on lockdown learning.

I am pleased another child is being as cautious as us. And congratulations to your DD, I absolutely love history. My sons studied/are studying it for GCSE, I was so happy to test their knowledge from their flashcards.

Nipping over from current Oxbridge thread to say ; whoot, first lot of hoops jumped for your DC! Hope the next stage of choosing essays, entrance tests goes well and many interviews follow!

Hi all, application also in here - Natsci at Cambridge, Physics elsewhere.

@Tenpastseven did you decide on whether to explain the covid disruption on the SAQ? Sounds like DS had a similar experience to yours. What would you advise @goodbyestranger - I think there is some merit to pointing out the school did not offer any online teaching at all until the week before the summer holiday, in contrast with some public schools who had a full online timetable from day 1 - but does it look bad to include it?

Thanks, have just caught up with the thread - great to hear about the early offers.

Pumpkintopf I think it would be absolutely fair to mention that your school made no educational provision right through from March 20th to mid July, if that's the case. Three months lying low is appalling. It's worth wording things carefully though, so it's stated as fact rather than complaint. Our (state) school kept things going for the Y12s right through from March 20th, so given how much of a discrepancy there was between schools (most notably between the independent sector and state, but also within the state sector), it's completely legit and not something the tutors can work out for themselves, since the school won't exactly be shouting about their own lassitude in the school reference!

Every single year people on this Oxbridge aspirants thread go on about how it’s unfair that people with disadvantages get contextualisation. It’s frankly embarrassingly and seems to come from a place where they belive Oxbridge is only for ‘their type’.

Yes @Baaaahhhhh your anecdote was very irrelevant, many Oxbridge college have done outreach programs and have seen those students excel not drop out. I’m not sure what you were trying to say with that? That disadvantaged people shouldn’t be given opportunities?

If so many of you believe it’s so much easier to get in if you are disadvantaged then I do wonder why you don’t pull your children out of their private school and move to a deprived area? It would save you lots of money!

It seems that you wouldn’t do that because you know deep down that what school they go to and where they live does give them educational advantage. Contextualisation is just evening the playing field.

@Pumpkintopf @goodbyestranger, thanks for these thoughts.

Pumpkin, I think DS has put something very short and factual like:
'no online teaching provision through lockdown, homework set only. 3 hours total teaching per subject in July (face to face)'.

But SAQ not yet submitted so up for other suggestions...

I wonder if some schools would be surprised if they read that they had provided no online teaching at all...

I think that’s another thing that is goi g to have to be taken with a pinch of salt. It will be another Top Trumps of “I had disrupted teaching” to “I had hardly any teaching” to “I haven’t had any teaching for three years and the whole school has disappeared into the ether”.

I can’t imagine DS’s school would be surprised!

Well yes Irma, hence the if that's the case caveat.

Three months would be very extreme, with nothing.

My dd submitted her UCAS end of Sept and Oxford is one of her choices. One of her biology teachers left during the Summer, she’s had another one for just a month who’s now gone on maternity leave and the school have emailed today saying they have been unable to find another teacher. This means work will be submitted on google classroom like it was during lockdown until they find a new teacher. I am really concerned now, she’ll be back to teaching herself. I feel this should have been put in the school reference . Is this something that can be added in by the school after they’ve submitted their applications? Years ago with my ds, the school put in the reference that they’d let them down in maths as the teacher was absent a lot. She’s also just found out one of her maths teachers is leaving next week. She goes to a state school with ‘requires improvement’ in ofsted.

cinammonbuns You misunderstood. I was pointing out that it does work in as much as many students are now being accepted who wouldn't historically have been, and the fact that it is not always successful was very sad, and perhaps more can be done to support them. My DD was very active, and personally involved in many outreach events, and very much supports the efforts being made, as do I.