This discussion is now closed.

Check out other Related discussions

how many people got into oxbridge from your state/public school?

Scroll to see replies

RxB

ARGH NO

upon going to Oxford, when people find out you're from Cambridge, they'll ask if you went to Hills Road, and whether you know person x. You respond that you didn't, so they'll ask if you went to the Perse, and if you know person y.

I went to the other one

(the Perse gets loads of people into Ox/Cam, but they're smaller - there are two of them an' all)

sorry

what IS the other one then? :confused:

Reply 101

RxB

i went here

It's fairly unremarkable to be honest. Cambridge is funny as there's 2 massive sixth form colleges that specialise in A-levels, and it's pretty clearly defined which is the academic one (Hills Road), so if you're in the state system you're at one of them. There are 4 private schools, all pretty small, two uber-academic, one uber-catholic and girly, then the other one. So it's not really surprising when someone assumes you're from Hills Road or a Perse.

Reply 102

whauden

priya

did you go to the perse school then? they seem to be pretty good for getting people into camb as well

I had that impression too - met 3 from the 2 Perse Schools during my interviews, all at BNC.

Reply 103

priya

RxB

duh, i should have thought of that. i play badminton there sometimes! (well, in your sports centre bit anyway)

Reply 104

Wasp39

Interesting.....

I went to a MASSIVE FE college and they got 12 people offers (one missed theirs) out of 49 applications.

The size of my year was 900

Reply 105

Hellsbells

Comprehensive, with 200 per year:

My year: 0/2 for Cambridge, 3/5 for Oxford (though one person on the 2nd attempt)

Other years get about 2 or 3 into Oxbridge on average.

Reply 106

rubysolstice

Private girls' 150 per yr group, though this includes exchange students...

In my year I'm the only one applying, that I know of. And in the past... one girl got into oxford for medicine but that's it.

Reply 107

buttons7

i'm at a state school - a grammar school, to be particular. in my year of 190 people, 20 got got into oxbridge. i don't know the exact breakdown, but i think it was 8 for oxford, 12 for cambridge. and i've no idea how many people applied.

Reply 108

meef cheese

Private school (in Scotland if that makes a difference)

About 30 ppl applied to Oxbridge from a year of 140

0 offers from Cambridge
2 offers from Oxford, although one turned them down and the other is unlikely to make the grades.

An unusually high no. of ppl applied because just about everyone got 5 A's in their Highers last year. It was also an unusually low proportion of ppl who got offers. We usually get 2/3 from 15 applicants.

EDIT: looking back through other posts, its strange how English state schools of the same size as mine have a knack for getting 20+ offers every year. Anyone know how they do it?

Reply 109

zoraster

EDIT: looking back through other posts, its strange how English state schools of the same size as mine have a knack for getting 20+ offers every year. Anyone know how they do it?

I admit I'm not expert on the UK's schooling system, but I think it's pretty clear how they do it: sorcery.

Reply 110

Supermerp

e-unit

Anyone know how they do it?

Well, a lot of them are grammar schools, which are selective so there are more smart people there.

Reply 111

buttons7

Supermerp

Well, a lot of them are grammar schools, which are selective so there are more smart people there.

yeh the grammar/comprehensive divide seems to make a bit of a difference. not simply because of the selective thing, but also, i imagine, because grammar schools are big on the whole oxbridge thing. my school was really discerning about who it let apply (we all got interviewed by heads of department) and then provided loads of support for oxbridge candidates, including practice interviews (i had mine with the head of ucas :s:

, anthony mcclaran, which was terrifying but useful) and a couple of GS lectures on interview technique.

Reply 112

whauden

e-unit

I expect to get a load of neg rep for this, but independant schools have been past masters at getting great grades by exam coaching, often losing some of the background and failing to develop reasoning skills in favour of exam prep.

Reply 113

Hoofbeat

whauden

I disagree. Most state schools are desperately trying to meet government requirements for exam results and thus it is more likely that these are the schools which coach their children to do well in exams. Contrastingly it is usually the independent schools (which often have better teachers, but not always) who teach their students not only what they need for their exam but also to appreciate the wider subject and encourage background reading (which is of course usually made easier as the library/IT facilities are better).

Reply 114

visesh

whauden

I disagree. People who use CGP books are spoonfed. I went to an independant school, and from what I have seen, we were taught in such a way that made us look 'around' the syllabus and how to apply existing information in new situations.

Reply 115

undiscovered

State school; year group size ~100
1 Oxford applicant (Arch & Anth) - rejected
1 Cambridge applicant (Philosophy?) - offer, I think

Reply 116

Font

visesh

unfortunately, people in state schools do not get those sort of enticing...we are taught the syllabus and no more, on most occasions and aren't really encouraged to read around the syllabus, though it would be nice if this was standard procedure.

Reply 117

srmcit

private (year of 120). oxford 2/6. cambridge 3/3.

Reply 118

whauden

Hoofbeat

However, similarly the private schools at the lower end of the spectrum desparately need good results to sustain places, ratings and a good reputation. But then, I was lucky with my state school and this will obviously cloud my judgement.

Reply 119

buttons7

Phil23

i'd disagree. i was at a state school and we were encouraged to read around the subject. i had hundreds of books i barely touched during my a-level course, all for that purpose. some of our teachers have reputations for giving out books just becasue they think that they could be slightly relevant - one english teacher who hadn't taught me since gcse regularly checked up on my reading, recommended me books, lent me books from the department etc. i think it varies from school to school - some independent schools are better with that kind of thing than some state schools, but that isn't always the case. for example, there is an independent school near me (which shall remain nameless) which does much worse than my old school in terms of results and whose main purpose, as far as i can tell, is to create a new generation of quite irritatingly snobby rich-kid socialities.