Cambridge, Oxford or any others?

It would get near enough 0, as the top are siphoned off by Cambridge and Oxford in most cases, and STEP is a ridiculous requirement for most to achieve.

Also one guy at my school firmed imperial maths and though his offer didnt require step...he got S,1 in II AND III. So while yes majority of top is at cambs (for maths i wouldnt include oxford, yes for compsci thougH) You still get some very brainy guys at imperial, just in a smaller proportion

Possible but rare.

not rare, one person on here who got rejected by cambz got a solid 1,1 this year in ii,iii and is also at imperial. You get many very good people at cam, but you also get very good people at imperial, and other unis. Dont be naive. LLewelyns brother got 239/240 in II/III, that is probably highest achieved in his year and he turned down camb for warwick.

also llewelyn is at durham with S,S in I/II

The point is it does give these offers to many. I personally know someone last year with a step ii grade 1 offer for the maths course (slightly different)

However youre right this is a bit of a facade on their part and i suspect they just try to delay the decision making approach till results day when theyve got more info. Above person was still let in with a 3 in step ii

not rare, one person on here who got rejected by cambz got a solid 1,1 this year in ii,iii and is also at imperial. You get many very good people at cam, but you also get very good people at imperial, and other unis. Dont be naive. LLewelyns brother got 239/240 in II/III, that is probably highest achieved in his year and he turned down camb for warwick.

also llewelyn is at durham with S,S in I/II

People are on TSR are blinded by Cambridge.


Yes STEP is the hardest exam in the UK syllabus but it hardly compares to IMO.


Look at the winning team in the IMO (Chinese). Which unis do their students go? Don't tell me every single one leaves China to attend Cambridge.

I fail to see how I'm being naiive or being blinded by Cambridge, I was saying the vast majority of people who are offered a Cambridge place choose to take it up, and also most people that apply for Imperial also apply for Cambridge. I didn't say anything about the quality of Imperial's undergraduates or their courses, just pointing out observations.

I didn't mean you personally but people in general, including those on TSR and the media.

It is true that most who get an offer from Cambridge will accept it. But Cambridge is not the only (possibly not even best, whatever best means) place but the media constantly focus on it (and the "top" US unis, as if there're the only ones that are good.

They even bring out league tables based on reputation, which is totally subjective.

Why not bring out league tables basing metrics on winning the international math or physics competitions?

If you look at those winners, the winners rarely even feature in the UK press. Oxbridge do enter these competitions but never come close o winning, so the winning teams / students must be something special.

So when I refer to being blinded, I mean that's the first thing that comes to most people's minds when thinking of top uni, without giving it a thought about other places.

Who got a 3 in STEP 2?