If you used Clearing in 2024, how did you find it?

Does anyone else relate?

Does anybody else feel like they are disadvantaged when it comes to education whether it be GCSEs/A-levels/University applications etc due to their environment?

By this I mean that I go to a very low-performing state school and come from a working-class background (my parents didn’t go to university). I have always been academic but I’ve always felt as though I had to guide myself as no one else would have ever guided me or told me what to do. At school, there is no push to apply to Oxbridge like there is at other schools; my parents have no idea about Oxbridge/how A-levels work/UCAS etc and I have to do everything myself. I also feel as though people are not supportive because they either don’t understand my ambition to do well or feel as though I am being arrogant.

Reply 1

Stiffy Byng

Leading universities have access programmes to encourage applicants from underprivileged backgrounds. Please check these out on the websites of the universities. There are also various mentoring and access schemes run by NGOs.

I went from being the child of working class migrants to Oxford and to the Commercial Bar, but social mobility was easier when I was young than it is now.

My college, Wadham, runs a major outreach project. Details on the website.

Good luck!