The Student Room Group


I would say no to all books like that. You're probably better off reading books in your subject area, making sure your A level knowledge is up to scratch, and reading the real life, recent experiences of students on here.
The golden rule of Oxbridge admissions: DON'T PAY FOR HELP. The admissions process is designed in a way that makes that sort of thing unnecessary!

However, it is a very good idea to familiarise yourself with the admission and interview process as much as you can, but you can easily do this for free. The Student Room should be your first port of call, as well as the advice the universities themselves give out, like here or here. For more info on interviews, check out this website. If you really feel you need more help, you could take a look at the free section of this website; again, I recommend you NOT to pay for any of their services, but I actually thought the free ebook was slightly helpful :smile:
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Original post by Kaylee Frye
The golden rule of Oxbridge admissions: DON'T PAY FOR HELP. The admissions process is designed in a way that makes that sort of thing unnecessary!

However, it is a very good idea to familiarise yourself with the admission and interview process as much as you can, but you can easily do this for free. The Student Room should be your first port of call, as well as the advice the universities themselves give out, like here or here. For more info on interviews, check out this website. If you really feel you need more help, you could take a look at the free section of this website; again, I recommend you NOT to pay for any of their services, but I actually thought the free ebook was slightly helpful :smile:


Thank you very much!


At the age of 12, my d read two books like that and used them to guide herself thru Lycee with oxbridge as a goal. They gave some ideas of how to formulate a strategy, what tests to take, etc.

So, yes, it was worthwhile for her.

Of course, she also read widely in her subject on her own, which we encouraged by getting her books.
Original post by Kaylee Frye
The golden rule of Oxbridge admissions: DON'T PAY FOR HELP. The admissions process is designed in a way that makes that sort of thing unnecessary!

However, it is a very good idea to familiarise yourself with the admission and interview process as much as you can, but you can easily do this for free. The Student Room should be your first port of call, as well as the advice the universities themselves give out, like here or here. For more info on interviews, check out this website. If you really feel you need more help, you could take a look at the free section of this website; again, I recommend you NOT to pay for any of their services, but I actually thought the free ebook was slightly helpful :smile:


It depends on what kind of help you mean. I would agree that paying someone to fill out the application or otherwise offer advice of presenting oneself, etc., may not be worth it.

However, we got tutors for our d, so that she could prepare to take exams in the French system, i.e. to train herself in the proper way to take the exams, particularly maths and physics, not for basic content, but for style and approach. This helped immensely.

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