Oxbridge applications 2027 entry

[Justlurkingmostly]

Starting up a new thread for anyone whose YP might be applying this autumn for entry next year!

Yes! DD the same. She says she's just happy to have other people in the room who want to talk about the same things as her.😂

My DS will have had no practice at all for his interview. I don’t think he’ll get in but if he does get interviewed I hope it’s not too terrible on him. I’m a bit worried about it!

Dd also very excited to geek out with experts in “her” subject! I have approached her about interview practice. She hasn’t done any yet as she doesn’t want to jinx it. I gently suggested that as she might not get much notice if she does get an interview that she should probably do some prep in advance. Not sure that went down very well though. She has pulled out of some team maths competition in order to go to an interview prep evening so at least that’s something.

@herbaceous DD is the same. She has had mock conservatoire auditions but not interviews (apparently she was 'worryingly good at answering the questions') which probably tells you she's a better candidate for academic music than a performance degree, but we'll see.

DDs school had arranged an external company to give her a mock interview - which the company has promptly cancelled due to “unforeseen circumstances”. School is on half term so no idea if another one will be arranged.

She is very much by herself when it comes to prep. It’s a private school but they have so few people apply to Oxbridge each year there’s no formal support like I’m seeing other people getting - both state and private!

After her ESAT she’s convinced an interview won’t be forthcoming so she’s burying her head in the sand about it all. Just concentrating on her A-levels, ensuring she can talk about everything on her personal statement and continuing doing super curricular that takes her fancy.

To be honest, I’m much rather she’s this way than set her heart on it. She’s a great believer in she’ll end up where she’s meant to be - probably helped by the fact she has a great offer from another university she loved.

@RatherBeOnVacation that is a great and healthy attitude she has!

My DS is on a gap year after state school so no help for him. But I suspect it would stress him out to do much anyway

DD had her final offer today from Manchester for AAA.

She also got an email from Lucy Cav to say she hadn't filled in their extra info form - on top of My Cambridge - which she didn't know about as she didn't go on the website to check. I have been very hands off this whole process as I want her to be a bit more independent. Anyway, they kindly gave her an extra 2 days to fill in that form. She will have to sort the essays when she goes back to school.

There loads on you tube about Oxbridge Interviews. Free resource and easy to do when ever.

The main prep advice we've been given is to get used to thinking your processes out loud. So, if you've been given a puzzle to solve, actually saying what you're thinking and doing out loud

Thank you! I’ll direct DS towards that in a couple of weeks. I can’t be pushy with him.

@PrincessOfPreschool congrats to your DD on Manchester! And 😩 for the stress of the Cambridge application

@PrincessOfPreschool, what subject is your DD applying for again?

@namechanged221English or English lit

Has anyone had offers from Edinburgh or Durham? I have a feeling maybe these unis send out offers later than this

I think Durham sends theirs very late iirc from two years ago when older DDs’ friends applied there. Idk about Edinburgh but seemed like D were among the last offers to come through.

Anyone heard from Exeter or Bath?

If anyone’s DS/DD is panicking about Oxbridge engineering or physics interviews, have a look at www.oxbridgestemadvisory.co.uk. DH and I booked a session for our DS with him last week - honestly brilliant, he really put him through his paces on the whiteboard. Definitely not cheap(!), but easily the most useful thing DS has done so far. Worth checking out if you’re looking for proper 1-on-1 prep xx

DS has had an Edinburgh offer. I don’t know about Durham though, he’s not applied there.

@Jane077 Durham are sending out rejections on a rolling basis to those who don’t meet the grade requirements. There’s also a handful of contextual offers been given - mainly where they meet several contextual criteria.

They don’t make the majority of their offers until after the equal consideration date - they mostly come through in February and March.

Weve had a holding email from Edinburgh saying they make most of their decisions after the equal considerations deadline (so very little before mid Jan).

Silence from Durham (i think - certainly ive not been told if Durham have said anything).

Offers Newcastle & Sheffield.

@AyeFairEnough what subject is your DS going for, out of interest? I know mine hasn't sorted the Edinburgh Uni web portal thing you were supposed to set up, but I'm guessing if there was an offer, it'd come through UCAS anyway.
I prob need to chase him up on setting up the different portals for different unis, but he does not respond well to my involvement :)

@Jane077 Mechanical Engineering. He got an email from Edinburgh to say there was an update in his portal before the UCAS email came through. Offer is unconditional but we’re Scotland based so it goes off his Highers.

congrats to him @AyeFairEnough amazing to have an unconditional offer in the bag

DD also sat ESAt and isn’t hopeful for an interview but has just about filled in all the MyCambridge forms. Just waiting for a letter from school about a longer interview (25% extra time), though I’m not sure it’ll make much difference. She was told she might only get 48 hours notice (or at least that they would definitely give a minimum of 48hrs notice of interview)! I think she will get some practical school but then I thought that about the ESAT and it wasn’t what I imagined so I should probably keep an eye on it. Not easy when they are so independent.

Great to hear of all the offers coming in, DD only has one so I do feel a bit jittery but hide it well. I am trying to trust the process!!!

DS not heard from Exeter yet but his friend has - she’s applied for a course on the Falmouth campus though….

I don't know if this is already widely known about, but I came across this offer tracker online. People are uploading their predicted grades and offers received.
https://uniscout.uk/
You can see the offers (without the grades) without an account. From a quick look through, either there have been very few humanities applications and offers this year so far, or it's mainly science students who log their offers. 😕
Top 5 unis having offers logged so far - Manchester, Bristol, KCL, York and Sheffield.

Oops, that was the link for the main site, this is the tracker ..
https://uniscout.uk/offer-tracker/browse

@CannotThinkOfUserNamesthat’s V interesting, thanks for posting