With my school or the fellow Oxbridge applicants? I'm in touch with two of my friends from school who applied to Oxford (one of whom really didn't take it well when I got in and she didn't
) but not the rest of them really. I'm still in touch with one of the deputy heads and some of the old Music teachers but that's about it. About 15-20 teachers left when I did and another 10-12 the year after, so I don't really recognise many of the faces in my school anymore... All those careers people have left now too...
Teachers definitely aren't necessary to get As, if it's a subject where it's possible to teach yourself. I pretty much taught myself the whole of my Music AS and A2 (though I daresay they took some credit for my high UMS, urgh) but that was very different to me trying to compensate for my French teachers (that was the one I got a B in. Though I can't really blame them: I shouldn't have trusted their predicted grades and should have worked harder, at the end of the day!).
Try and look at past papers
and the examiners' reports to see the common mistakes that crop up in exams and coursework. Look at the assessment objectives for your subject and figure out which ones (if any) are double-weighted for each paper. Play to those strengths. That works wonders in English Lit at least (though I had amazing teachers for that, albeit at a different school). Use trusted revision guides and do as many past papers as possible.
I think I did most of the Access scheme stuff in Year 12 or at the very start of Year 13. My school was sent info about the Sutton Trust but never told us about it
It was my sister who found out the dates and stuff and made me apply. Then my Music dept asked me not to go coz it clashed with the school musical and I felt like saying "hello?! This could potentially affect my
whole life and you're asking me not to go for your poxy musical!?!??! [It was
Calamity Jane and def wouldn't have been worth it
]"
Would getting a private tutor be an option? A fair chunk of my EMA went on past papers and tuition for AS Physics. Though they've scrapped EMA now or something?