Oxbridge applicants 2026 - thread 2

[ArchitectureMum]

Someone has to be the OP and I have no fate to tempt now in this journey.

Congratulations to all the Oxford offer holders. Some lovely stories yesterday afternoon.

Comiserations to those who had different news yesterday. I hope your DC are doing ok and beginning to look positively towards their other options.

Good luck to everyone waiting for news from Cambridge on 28th January.

And hello to all the Oxbridge observers - alumni, parents of past and future applicants. It is always a thread of highs and lows and it was a privilege to be a small part of it for this cycle.

What great news @WhereAreWeNow...hopefully she can find a non hungover friend to go and celebrate with (my son got home at 4am...!!)

Brilliant news. And as someone who ended up at a different college to the one I applied to, I was very glad it went that way when I was there and had some interactions with the first choice! She'll have a great time.

My son was winter pooled and ended up at a different college - he had very similar thoughts, and 4 happy years at the alternative. I guess one just immediately is loyal to wherever you go 😉

@WhereAreWeNow good news! Such a relief for your DD !! ♥️ @CalmConfident same here as well, DD is shocked that the grade boundary was higher than ever, which then put her into this position!! I guess we will also hear one way or other by end of today

Good luck to your DD. Rooting for her.

Congratulations to your DD, @WhereAreWeNow !

4.30am for my dd, evidently due to a localised Uber shortage 😂.

Yes, no taxis here either!! Still, he's pushing on and is out again tonight ...oh to be 18 again 😂

Very strangely, it was the college she'd applied to which fished her out of the pool. Yesterday they put her in the pool, today they fished her out 🤷
Very odd but it's great news anyway.

How bizarre! But fantastic news for her.

I can only assume she was one of the strongest in the pool when they went back to look at it, so they nabbed her back as it'd been her first choice.

All well that ends well!

Told you… 😜 You went through a day of hell but balance is restored the next day. Huge congratulations! Cambridge is tough, but a wonderful experience. Start saving for the Trinity and John’s May Balls.

Before you know it, she’ll be graduating. My DD’s 3 years passed very quickly.

My comments were directed @WhereAreWeNowand her DD though, who was thankfully put in and picked up from the summer pool! 🥳

Can I ask any applicants from schools in Wales how Oxford handled Welsh bacc A level?

I know they won’t accept it as an A level for any offer and that’s fine, but do they simply offer based on the other 3 A levels? Did they mention it at all in your DCs offer? Does DC need to have an A* prediction for Welsh Bacc even if it’s not considered for part of the offer, in order to be competitive? Do teachers even predict for Welsh Bacc? Thanks for any insights.

Had hopped on here as DC will likely be making an Oxf application for biology for 2027 so any advice for that subject also gratefully received! No admission test thankfully and AS exams went really well, but am well aware, as is DC, of the challenge in securing an ox offer.

many thanks!

@Justlurkingmostly no experience I’m afraid but each college at Oxford and Cambridge is allocated to a specific area of the country. I would look that up first and contact their admissions teams. As an example, Downing College in Cambridge is the link college for Devon. I imagine that there would be a couple of college at least for Wales so it would be useful to compare them and also ask both Oxford and Cambridge.

@Justlurkingmostly good suggestion from @Malbecfan , here you go:

https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/access-oxford/regional-outreach/oxfordcymru

https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/area-links

.Also, there is a traditional association between Jesus College, Oxford and Wales.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/higher_education/5423023-current-oxbridge-students-new-year-new-thread?page=13

A nudge for you all to head across to one of the kindest & most helpful long running threads in HE. It must have been going for at least 7 or 8 years now and it would be a shame for it to fizzle out.

Any others like me lurking in preparation for 2027 entry applications in a month or two? Perhaps I’ll start a new thread… no admissions test for my YP (phew!!) so working on PS but otherwise having a well deserved summer break after their AS exams (as mentioned, we’re in Wales so year 12 exams quite important!).

I’m lurking! Dd also applying this coming year. She’ll need to do the ESAT. It’s booked but no prep started yet. If you start a new thread will you link it on here for the rest of us lurkers?

Ok gang have started a new thread - link below. Huge thanks to all those who’ve shared their/their DCs experiences and best wishes to everyone heading off in a few weeks’ time, wherever that may be!

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/higher_education/5568988-oxbridge-applications-2027-entry

As far as I recall, there was no mention of Welsh Bacc in the offer but some of the project work featured in the personal statement and came up in interview as relevant to the chosen degree. Teachers at DC's school did predict for Bacc as well as the other subjects. The standard offer was made, including one subject specific requirement, which was more than met by the other A levels. Not many Welsh students at Oxford in comparison to the rest of the UK, good luck!