6th form year : oxbridge does school approach child' and is there a trigger point of grades

[StarieNight]

I'm just wondering dd got 5 x 9 possibly 6.
Rest 8.
I'm wondering if there is a trigger point of grades to ask the child

Impossible to say, all schools will do it differently.

As a general point though, if your child isn't enough of a self starter to start that conversation with school, I would be questioned if Oxbridge would be right for her anyway.

This will vary from school to school. However, pupils interested in Oxbridge should talk with a trusted teacher. At Cambridge in particular some disciplines pay little attention to GCSE results. If DD is just beginning Y12 it may be a bit early.

However they are looking for a real sense of intellectual drive, and students who will thrive working harder and receiving more criticism, via the tutorial system, than they can imagine at DD’s present stage. Will this system be good for her?

Both schools I have experience of simply held a meeting asking anyone interested to attend. Guess a few teachers nudged certain students, but anyone could go to the meeting.

It's up to the pupil whether they want to apply.

When do these conversations start, I would have assumed at the beginning of year 13 but apparently some schools are doing it a mere 4 or 5 weeks into year 1 of a levels?
Personally I would have thought that's far too soon to tell?
How do they know if they can cope with the jump into intense a levels?

Who is she supposed to start that conversation with?

Surely it's the school who discusses their oxbridge candidates then approaches them and asks if they want it? By which point few students will have done any visits to any uni? They may not realise they could apply hence asking for a cut off grades

DD has been considering oxbridge since year 9 (subject choice has changed a lot though). She's been on and off the idea throughout secondary school and sixth form but first conversations started at the start of year 9 and she's attended information lectures/workshops from year 10 onwards (again on and off, some times more enthused than others). She's now in year 13 but from the start of year 12 she's been pretty much set on applying and it's always been her approaching teachers, asking for information, applying for workshops etc rather than being approached. I'd say start of year 12 at the earliest and it has to come from them and their motivation

Does your child want to go to Oxbridge? If so they should be looking at their websites and signing up for master classes etc. They have missed the autumn open days but make sure they sign for the summer ones as realistically y13 will be too late bearing in mind they need to apply to Oxbridge before 15 October.

Our school does support Oxbridge applicants but it is for the student to indicate if they want to apply

This is the attitude that keeps Oxbridge dominated by private school kids. There's no need to be thrustingly ambitious and confident to do well at Oxbridge. If you're going to select out the kids that don't put themselves forward with no encouragement, you'll miss out the shy, the lacking in family support and the modest. All of whom are quite capable of excelling academically.

Frankly state schools should be having these conversations early with the kids who have the potential. It's a scandal if they don't.

@StuckInsideofMobile some are this is why I wondering maybe dd school has approached those they think are capable and maybe dd doesn't have the required level of 9s

I would have assumed at the beginning of year 13

Way too late - they'll have had to have their application and possible extra exams ready to be submitted by then.

Beginning of second term of year 12 would be good time to judge whether grades were going to be high enough, and to ask tutor if there were any specific OxB activities planned that they could join.

There'll be someone with responsibility for uni apps in the school/college - your dc should ask who that is and what there is available.

Assuming they want to go of course and have the right subjects and likely grades.

Hi, I teach at a private school, have done for 10+ years, lots of students ended up at Oxbridge.

There's no "set" number of 9 grades they need. Some schools will approach pupils, others will have extra sessions that interested pupils go to.

The start of Year 12 is a sensible time to start to think about it. The start of Y13 is far too late as application have to be submitted in October of Year 13.

What subject would she be interested in? Lots of colleges have suggested reading lists she could have a loom at.

It’s not up to the school where she applies, she does the form

I'm a sixth form tutor in a grammar school. I don't know if certain subjects bring it up with individuals, but from a tutor point of view I just say "where are you thinking of going? What grades do they ask for?" when I'm told to start talking to year 12 about it. I've never suggested oxbridge or Cambridge as I wouldn't want to add any pressure but would of course support if they wanted to apply. At the start of year 13 we ask if anyone is an early applicant and do their references asap. I suggest your dd start talking to her subject teachers if she's interested.

Given the timetable for Oxbridge (UCAS mid October, interviews December), I think most schools/colleges with dedicated Oxbridge groups will be concentrating on Y13 this term, then the year 12 programme will kick off in January. Was certainly the case at our state 6th form college. Aside from anything else, they haven't got a handle on the abilities of the kids in the first term of sixth form.

If your DD is interested in Oxbridge and her school isn't experienced at it, she should 1) push if nothing has happened next term, 2) find out information online where there is so much info from departments, colleges and also individual students/graduates, 3) apply anyway if her A level predictions match her GCSEs.

@Frogglingalong that's helpful, thank you.

She's interested in biology. How does she find out what college system is and how to apply to which college?
Do each colleges specialise in something speficic eg blah college history

@Frogglingalong that's helpful, thank you.

She's interested in biology. How does she find out what college system is and how to apply to which college?
Do each colleges specialise in something speficic eg blah college history

Each college has pretty much all subjects. My son has one 4 and two 5s amongst his GCSE results but somehow got all A* predictions for UCAS at the end of y12. It was literally only at that point that he thought about Oxford. Never been on his radar before. And then he started going to the 'oxbridge sessions' at school and legged it to the Oxford open day in September of y13. Lots of research into different colleges over the y12 summer hols.

I would say predicted grades are more important than GCSEs at this point. We had feedback about a kid at our school (I'm a teacher) as to why he didn't get offered an interview. The feedback? He simply didn't have all top grades as his predicted, so they didn't even offer him an interview.

(Edit - we are dropping him off next weekend to start at chemistry degree at Oxford!)

At DDs school I think they start the discussions in Spring term year 12. I can't remember the exact timing but makes sense that it's after the final UCAS submission dates. Anyone can start the 'Oxbridge Programme' but they won't necessarily all apply. Those that did apply had to have submitted everything last week, so basically within 3 weeks of starting y13.

@StarieNight You're getting some good advice from others here! Most colleges do most courses, yes. I believe science is a bit different at Cambridge because they have broader "Natural Science" degrees where you can specialise more in the second year (I think! My subject is a humanities subject!) so she'd have to look into the differences between both universities.

The colleges are all different though in terms of size, facilities, accommodation, what the social life there is like, older colleges in the centre and newer ones further out etc etc.

Really she should start by going to an Open day and having a good look at the websites to see if she's interested.

Strongly disagree with this. If there's zero university background in the family then Oxford may not be on the radar. I think in some cases teachers need to approach students.
I can't be sure, but I strongly suspect a couple of kids at DC's school may have been nudged for that reason. And they went on to stellar Oxford degrees.

So when does she get predicted grades then

So when does she get predicted grades then

Just look on their website! There's no special secret only those in the know are aware of - but again there's no shortcut. Trawl the website! Everything she needs to know is there.

She'd need to ask her teachers. Probably by term 3 year 12 she'd know if she was a possible to get A stars.

@StarieNight

Good luck to your dd! All colleges will offer most subjects so it's worth looking at stats on students studying biology in particular colleges.

If you're close enough, both places are worth a visit. The colleges will be open on open days but some will let you have a look on the basis that she is a "prospective student" on any day.

See what her predicted grades are at the end of Y12 and you can then decide.

I don't know much about the sciences but I think Cambridge might be more generalised in Y1, as you apply for the "Natural Sciences" tripos.

Good luck to your dd!

Predicted grades will depend on your DD’s school - mine got hers at the end of year 12 after her exams.
DD got good (but not outstanding) GCSEs but is thriving in 6th form and one of her teachers approached her at Easter and suggested she give Oxbridge a go. After her mocks she was predicted 3 A* so is applying now. She hadn’t even thought about it til then as didn’t think she was good enough. She went to a couple of open days back in May / June which helped cement it.
All the info re colleges etc for both Oxford & Cambs are on their websites - both have really good, details websites which tell you everything- we literally knew nothing beforehand but it’s all there if you spend an hour or two looking through it.