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Original poster

Oxbridge 2024 Entry Part 2

973 replies

Lightsabre · 12/09/2023 22:43

Continuation thread (when old one is full) for those supporting dc through Oxbridge applications. All welcome as we enter the next phase.

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6
goodbyestranger · 26/10/2023 21:29

Goodness poor Maths dept. What a waste of resources. But I guess they have to be prepared to counter the inevitable backlash from the very rich pushy parents who want to contest that their DC has been peculiarly disadvantaged by the situation with the MAT. It was ever thus.

TenSheds · 26/10/2023 21:38

DD very relieved to hear from her chosen college today (no photo required). She also received an apology from the Classics department earlier this week about the CAT/CLAT technical issues with instructions to send in a special considerations form, which school have now done. Good of them, seeing as the disruption seems to have been far less than for some others. Can now relax in half term next week.

Headingto18 · 26/10/2023 21:45

DC also heard from college and faculty today - dates a a little mixed up between emails so will need to email to clarity but all good; oh and no photo but we really don’t think that means anything at all

User11010866 · 26/10/2023 22:10

goodbyestranger · 26/10/2023 21:29

Goodness poor Maths dept. What a waste of resources. But I guess they have to be prepared to counter the inevitable backlash from the very rich pushy parents who want to contest that their DC has been peculiarly disadvantaged by the situation with the MAT. It was ever thus.

very rich pushy parents an interesting label but why?

goodbyestranger · 26/10/2023 22:21

Because any parent who isn't rich can't afford a legal fight.

And any parent who isn't pushy wouldn't be that extreme.

Thatisagreatquestion · 27/10/2023 09:06

Agreed. They have the special consideration in place. They should definitely look at the MAT, but perhaps use performance as an inclusion for interview criteria and not an exclusion criteria unless a lower than usual cutoff is not met....In which case, they'll need to interview more candidates.

stoneysongs · 27/10/2023 09:22

But including someone means excluding someone else when there is a limited number of places. I don't see how they can use it for some people and not others, if they care about making the process as fair as possible, which they may not.

Revengeofthepangolins · 27/10/2023 09:40

I think the fair as possible ship sailed a while ago. They will just be trying to find the least bad option now

User11010866 · 27/10/2023 09:43

Oxford Mathematics typically conducts interviews with around 30% of the candidates, but they may be conducting interviews with a higher percentage now.

jlpth · 27/10/2023 10:07

My ds has still got no email or anything at all from Oxford other than the original emails about accessing the MAT portal that they sent before the fiasco. I hope something comes out today. He put a lot of work into MAT and took time away from the physics and chemistry A level work so he could work for the MAT.

mushroom3 · 27/10/2023 10:19

unlike with the other heavily disrupted exams, Oxford has taken over a week now with no substantial outcome for candidates. I think they may have marked or sampled eg 10% of the papers and looked if they followed a typical years’ distribution of marks and look whether there is unusual skewing towards lower marks. If not they may use the results even though candidates will have been affected differently and some individual candidates much more negatively than others in their marks. @Thatisagreatquestion they may follow the route you suggest. I’m guessing the legal advice may be as the pushy wealthy parents mentioned above will have the financial means and inclination to pursue a rejection legally. I fear that some individuals who on a normal year would have secured an Oxford place will loose out, but with so many good candidates to so few places, Oxford could fill it’s places with very capable Maths candidates many times over. It’s so upsetting and frustrating for the young people who spent months preparing for this demanding exam. (Some doing it mainly off their own back with eg no help from schools)

mondaytosunday · 27/10/2023 10:21

This might be a totally naive question but is there a reason why they can't reschedule to run the tests again? Or is it too late and too much of a logistical nightmare? This hasn't affected my child but I feel so much sympathy for those who have worked so hard, and the parents too!

mushroom3 · 27/10/2023 10:36

HI @mondaytosunday if they have another paper ready I suppose they could. The issue will be the logistics for schools and students. Many schools have got mocks in November and December . The October dates were advertised months in advance. Oxford would need to mark them and send the results to colleges very quickly as interview invites go out in November with interviews in December. Also, are students mentally up to it after the very stressful situation last week? I know my DS has now pushed out MAT from his mind had a few days of relaxation and now preparing for 3 weeks of mocks.

mushroom3 · 27/10/2023 10:44

@jlpth like your DS, mine needs to put in more work on his other 2 A levels as MAT/maths/further maths had taken priority. His other 2 A levels involve doing coursework.

Revengeofthepangolins · 27/10/2023 10:55

The distraction from other tasks is one of the annoyances - DS2 worked on ELAT, diverting effort and time from other stuff, and wrote something he was really pleased with, and definitely feels deflated that it was all wasted.

stoneysongs · 27/10/2023 11:28

Wow, well they do seem to care about making it as fair as possible - it's a big job to write and administer a new test, even if it is a short one.
I hope those DC who were disadvantaged feel like they have another opportunity to show what they can do, and that all their hard work hasn't been wasted.

I suppose interviews might be slightly delayed, depending on how many take the new test, but I think this is a good solution.

catmomof3 · 27/10/2023 11:38

I wonder if my DD's friend will take the new test I know her work crashed for 30 mins and took over a hour to actually get in the test then she had the disruption from those coming in and taking the ELAT. Good to see they are trying to make it fair though. I'm not really sure what else they could of done except scrap it.

MirandaWest · 27/10/2023 12:19

That does look like they are trying to do the best they can - it does seem possible interview dates for those students could get put back.

WombatChocolate · 27/10/2023 12:31

That’s tough. Most people will feel obliged to take the new test and not miss out on a chance to shine.

If it’s multiple choice, I guess it will be marked extremely quickly and hopefully not delay their interview timescale.

It probably is the only way to deal with it in the circumstances, but grim for all concerned, when they were hoping that at this point, there would be a lull and then focus on interview prep which won’t be quite the same as MAT prep.

It’s a shame that no matter what they do now, some people will probably feel they were disadvantaged in some way. I wonder what approach they will use next year.

Revengeofthepangolins · 27/10/2023 12:37

I wish the elat had taken this approach

User11010866 · 27/10/2023 12:39

WombatChocolate · 27/10/2023 12:31

That’s tough. Most people will feel obliged to take the new test and not miss out on a chance to shine.

If it’s multiple choice, I guess it will be marked extremely quickly and hopefully not delay their interview timescale.

It probably is the only way to deal with it in the circumstances, but grim for all concerned, when they were hoping that at this point, there would be a lull and then focus on interview prep which won’t be quite the same as MAT prep.

It’s a shame that no matter what they do now, some people will probably feel they were disadvantaged in some way. I wonder what approach they will use next year.

DC won't take the new test although the test was disrupted a bit on 19 Oct.

stoneysongs · 27/10/2023 13:20

I think they said somewhere that the MAT worked fine for the vast majority of people, so hopefully not too many will need to take the new test, maybe a few hundred?

mushroom3 · 27/10/2023 13:21

My DS' MAT exam was very disrupted last week . He will be taking the new exam, but it will be quite stressful as it will be nestling in the middle of mock exams, They normally offer a multi-choice exam for people who missed the main MAT eg due to illness, I'm guessing they are using that paper, just on a far more widescale level.

jlpth · 27/10/2023 13:22

MirandaWest · 27/10/2023 12:19

That does look like they are trying to do the best they can - it does seem possible interview dates for those students could get put back.

I think they'll stick to the interview dates as the new test is MCQ only so each test will be able to be marked in under a minute.

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