What makes organ scholars so special?

There are very few opportunities for young organists to play regularly within the anglican choral tradition at a very high level. Good organists are in very short supply and it is important that we give talented young people on this instrument as much opportunity to get to play it at a high level as possible. The number of people who take advantage of this 'loophole' (in a, quite frankly, stupid admissions rule anyway) are insignificantly small. One has to counter-balance the fact that these individuals can apply to both oxford and cambridge with the fact that there are only a few scholarships available and that subject restrictions do apply (and, from the experience of my friends it makes life more difficult if one is not intending to study music even though this is not a requirement) and of course that the auditions process is very difficult indeed and very stressful (as someone who applied for a choral scholarship at Oxford back in the day I can only summise that the organ scholarship auditions are many time more stressful than the, quite frankly, horrible experience I had).

Very, very VERY true and very correct.

I didn't apply for the Organ Scholarships in the end for 2006 entry because I was supposed to be taking up a position at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral under Ian Tracey. Then I got ill. ******.
Yes, the trials are awful, and they are awful too for trying to get the scholarships for cathedrals. So there has to be some "plus" as it were.

I did raise this question about the double application with one of the Law Fellows at Teddy Hall, and he quite rightly put it that all college chapels want to make sure that their position is filled, especially due to today's shortage of organists.