Oxbridge applicants 2026??

[Justlurkingmostly]

Is there a thread for this year’s applicants - I can’t seem to find with a search. Thanks for signposting 🙏

We are working on basis that, even though state school DD has 10 grade 9s and three A-stars predicted, she won’t get an offer from Cambridge. Interview was OK but the stats are not on her side for law (so competitive). Just hoping for Durham Law tbh - would be thrilled with that and she is fortunately not that invested in Cambridge as her brother went there and found it remorseless. He enjoyed and got 69% (high 2.1) but would have had a less stressful time and got a first if he had gone to any other uni

That's a good place to be in @Stringbean70 I reckon. DS1 is coming to the end of his 4 years at Cambridge and says he will not be sad to leave...it's been tough, and as you say, the grade boundaries make it somewhat hard to swallow when if they had gone to Imperial (in DS' case) or other top choices, they would probably have been awarded firsts for the same percentages and possibly less pressure.

Anyway huge good luck to everyone's DCs waiting on offers.

@Stringbean70 DS2 is similar- he actually said he likes Cambridge and Bath equally (he's applying for Engineering) so would be happy with either.

Just a couple of weeks to go anyway 'til offers/rejections day.

TMUA was sat yesterday despite while having a flu and she said it went okie. We will find out in couple of weeks. And yeah, trying not to think about what will happen next Tuesday.

TMUA just been sat, questions apparently slightly easier than MAT but time pressure greater, so overall similar expectations of OK but not great result, according to my DS. Next Tuesday will be at dental hospital appt first thing with DS when results come out, might be a good distraction!

Sorry, it’s Friday afternoon, I mean Oxford decision comes out, not TMUA results….

Good luck, everyone. Not long to go now. Our young people have done so well to get this far and cope with the pressure.

Good luck for everyone for next week. DS has mocks all day and will probably check his emails in between. He is not expecting to get in and I think if / when that's confirmed he will be disappointed for a short while but quickly get over it. Fortunately, he has other offers that he is happy about. I hope he gets the result which is right for him.

Dd tells me nothing and I’m very hands-off…

Is Cambridge letting people know next week!?!

@madnessitellyou I believe the Cambridge results day is 28th Jan though they may hear before then if pooled. I think that’s right! That what my DC has said.

Ah okay, thank you!

I don’t think dd will be getting an offer, but will be good to know the outcome nonetheless.

Unless it has changed they all hear from Cambridge on the same day - my son was pooled so his offer came from a different college than the one he was expecting, but at the same time as his non pooled friends!

Good luck all!

Ah, thanks @Panicmode1
Really good luck to all the Oxford applicants for tomorrow.

So tomorrow is the big day for Oxford! Good luck to all DC. Thanks to everyone here for walking on this journey with us so far.

One more sleep…I suspect we and our DC just want to know one way or the other now 🫣

Yep, big day indeed! Feeling eerily calm at the mo, after weeks of time dragging. To echo @temperedolive I have really appreciated the support, advice and hand-holding on this thread and wish the best for all your DCs who will be hearing tomorrow and later in the month🤞☺️

Yes very best of luck to all your DC who will be hearing tomorrow. It will definitely be a good thing to know one way or another. What time do we think emails will go out??

DC's school said between nine and ten am is typical.

Great - thanks

I've greatly appreciated the 'kindness of strangers' on behalf of my DTwins so I'm echoing others' thanks for that generosity of support.

I'm so proud of my boys and their maturity at 17 in pursuing this ambitious course of action and encouraging one another along the way. The thing that worries me most is impact on the fraternal dynamic if one is successful and the other not- although each assures me he would be happy & proud for his brother in that scenario.

The whole process seems much more gruelling than it was when I was 17! I honestly believe that whatever the result, our youngsters who have made it this far will have learned a lot about themselves and earned huge respect for their efforts and resilience along the way, which will surely stand them in good stead later. I'm rather in awe, to be honest.

@BridgeovertheriverTest I'm in a not dissimilar position in that I have one applying for Cambridge and one for Oxford (they're not twins but they're one school year apart and so the older is applying grades in hand). There is a big part of me that feels I'd rather than neither got in than just one of them especially if it's the one who appears to have the more gilded life.

It's so hard being a parent. I don't remember being particularly stressed about applying to university when I did so but I'm really feeling it for them.

@BridgeovertheriverTestRegarding twins, “fortunately” the subject my DS’s twin wants to study is not offered by Oxford or Cambridge ( specific type of engineering), so was never an option, but they do feel that they are the less intelligent one sadly😕, and this has been the case since primary when she was beating him in maths tests regularly🙄, think it’s a confidence issue as she has great predicted grades but definitely less self belief than her brother… Financially it’s going to be very tough as both want to live away from home, we’re probably going to need to get a lodger!

I cant imagine with Twin applying, again I have said it, just one already felt overwhelming for me eventhough mine boards and I am not involving in any part of the process except cooking and cleaning when she is home so hand holdings indeed!!!

Mine shouted back “I did really try” when I shouted “good luck!” to her last night when she left for the school. She wont be reapplying, in the bag there are Warwick, UCL, Kings. Imperials will be pending on TMUA which just sat last week and we understood that it will always very late. She is applying US too but results wont be there until end of March. There will be an interview with one of the Univ this week, BMO2 next week then mocks(4 A levels: Maths, FM, Philosophy and History).

@Greenleave your daughter's offers in the bag are a great reminder that there aren't many bad outcomes awaiting these young people- it's just shades of preference.
I do wonder how much pressure is created by schools for whom there's great prestige in sending students to Oxbridge- as well as some parents who plan for Oxbridge admissions from Y3 onwards... it would be a travesty for thousands of brilliant youngsters to feel they had somehow failed by ending up in St Andrew's, Durham or LSE.

Good luck to everyone for tomorrow. They are all very brave and impressive for putting their caps in the ring. The margin between people who receive an offer and those who don't is often very small, so not receiving an offer is by no estimation a failure, though it's completely understandable that it can feel like it, particularly in the immediate term.