Comprehensive vs Grammar

[Rollercoasteroflife]

My DS (12) goes to a good comprehensive school. It's GCSE results are average/above average.

My friend's DS (12) goes to an outstanding grammar school. It's results are well above average.

My friend seems to think that if our DS's went on to sixth form, took the same A Levels and got the same results, her DS would be given priority over my DS by universities just because he went to a grammar school.

Surely this can't be true?

OP I suspect that your friend is talking about Oxbridge applications, even then her information is outdated. Uni's like Oxbridge, Russell group have already declared that they would like to accept more comp applications nowadays.

Since your friend probably planned for her DS path years ago, she probably would have looked at studies like the Sutton Trust www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/UniversityAdmissions-1.pdf
Tables start at page 27 and she would have concentrated on page 43-46. But that is over 10 years old, so very outdated. Hopefully, someone will come along with an updated report soon.

The Sutton Trust report is also one focused on what was happening - not what Universities wanted to be happening. So even 10 years ago - Universities in general wanted more Comprehensive school pupils, even though they accepted more Grammar school ones. This is why Contextual offers exist. Why there is more outreach into schools (of lots of different sorts). And why there are even new schemes such as Foundation years and the new Oxford "supported" scheme.

Even 30 years ago I know admissions Tutors who if they had three candidates with everything else being equal, but one from a private school, one from a grammar and one from a comprehensive; would have prefered the comprehensive pupil then the grammar one and then the private one last.

I went to Cambridge 30 years ago and the offers colleges made to comprehensive pupils were (rightly) far easier than the offers made to grammar and then private school pupils. I can't imagine that's changed

Hilarious ignore her she is no friend