The Sutton Trust’s Oxbridge Admissions report found that the admissions process to Oxford and Cambridge universities can be perceived as complex and intimidating by bright state school students.
Off putting
Chairman of the charity, Sir Peter Lampl, explained in the report:
“Our surveys and experience suggest that many bright state school students are put off by the application process, which is both intimidating and complex.
“Specifically, we believe that the universities rather than the colleges should control the admissions policies and interviews.
“The numbers of additional exams and tests should be reviewed, again to avoid advantaging those who gain from extra tuition and support.
“More should be done to consider contextual admissions, recognising how much harder it can be for a bright student in a tough inner city school than in a successful private or state school.”
Simplifying
The Sutton Trust is committed to improving social mobility through education and believes that Oxford and Cambridge should simplify their application process to aid those from schools and homes who aren’t familiar with the method.
David Cameron has also warned that top educational institutions need to do more to help tackle social inequality.
The report explained the different interviews, tests and written assessments included as part of the universities’ application process and warned that outstanding students from state schools may not have had the proper support to prepare for such a significant examination.
“Both universities evaluate many different aspects of a prospective student’s application in great detail.
“But this means that there is significant complexity in the admissions system to both universities, which can seem off-putting to students unfamiliar with the process who may have little support from their schools.”
“The interviews can be intimidating for young people, not least to those who have not had significant preparation and support to prepare”.
Complications
In an attempt to make the application fairer and open to all, the charity made a number of recommendations:
- Oxford and Cambridge should each standardise their admissions processes across subjects and colleges as much as practically possible, to help students and teachers who are unfamiliar with the process
- The universities, and the individual colleges, should do more to publicise clearly the generous amount of financial support available before students apply, to applicants and their schools
- The government should strengthen the national careers service, ensuring that schools and colleges have access to registered professional advisers with specialist and up-to-date knowledge of entry requirements to elite universities
Further recommendations can be found on the Sutton Trust’s website: http://www.suttontrust.com/researcharchive/oxbridge-admissions/
Comments are closed.