Shoot for the top
As former deputy head of MPW London and head of careers at Putney High School, education consultant Sarah Alakija has years of experience supporting children aiming for Oxford and Cambridge.
Here, she shares her long term strategy for successful Oxbridge entry.
Getting your child a place
After years of criticism for private school bias, Oxford and Cambridge state school applications are rising year on year with foundation programmes supporting those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
This year, for example, Brampton Manor Academy in East Ham gained more Oxbridge offers than Eton College.
But the fact is that whatever school your child attends, the advice, guidance and, to some extent, the subsequent support which a student receives really can play a part in whether they will be offered a place, and, even more importantly, whether they will cope with it once they get there.
So, what can parents do to help?
1. Find out what support the school offers
This is your starting point so that you know what will be available throughout the sixth form and whether you might want to supplement it.
Ideally, discussions around Oxbridge applications should start in Year 11 so that students start Year 12 with no illusions about the amount of work that will be needed.
The support available varies widely and might include group or individual support with admissions tests; interview practice training; guidance on the structuring of the personal statement and reviews of every draft; support with choosing a college; differentiating between the courses at both universities and, most importantly, guidance and support on super-curricular activities.
2. Be realistic
Remind yourself and your child that most applicants to Oxbridge will not receive an offer; there just aren’t enough places.
It’s important to manage expectations in terms of the statistics and in terms of the type of student who will succeed there.
Students who succeed in both applications and subsequently at the universities are, in my experience, those who are genuinely enthralled by their subject.
Anything less and it’s going to be tough to get through the process.
They need to be excited by the prospect of being taught by the people who write the textbooks.
Does your child smile when talking about their chosen subject? Sparkling eyes? Actively enjoys doing homework in that subject? Manages to bring it up in conversation as much as possible? Asks questions about it? That’s the one.
If that isn’t your child, have a good think about whether they might be better suited to another university.
I can’t stress enough how important this enthusiasm is and it’s usually there fairly early on in a student’s career, alongside excellent grades.
Does your child smile when talking about their chosen subject? Sparkling eyes? Asks questions about it?
3. Super curricular work
Super curricular work is the independent subject-specific work undertaken beyond the school curriculum in order to enrich a student’s understanding of, and appreciation for, a subject.
Rather than encouraging this, you really need to explain that without this, there is no successful application, no matter how stellar the GCSE grades and A-Level/IB predictions. Without evidence of independent interest in the subject, the application just won’t impress.
Remember the student enthralled by their subject in the last paragraph? Well, that student loves to research the subject, reading about it in the news, in books, most of which will be directly related but could also be peripheral to the academic study.
They might do some of the following: read about recent developments in academic or professional journals; watch TED talks; watch online events such as lectures from experts in the field; build or make things; enter essay competitions; enter national subject competitions; join or set up a school society dedicated to the subject or follow free online short courses, to name but a few.
By doing these things, students develop new and existing interests and can move on to develop their understanding of these.
Knowledge allows them to engage with and critically analyse issues around the subject and to perhaps see the sorts of skills that are needed to study the subject at a higher level.
All of these things also allow students to show evidence of their love for the subject in their application, where they might look to discuss three or four areas of significant interest.
4. Get Involved
The most important thing that I can advise parents to do is to follow up with children on the super curricular work.
The work needs to be noted – with a few aides-memoires - and just as importantly, discussed.
It doesn’t need to be with a subject specialist, but it does need to be with someone who can question and will encourage critical analysis of the topic.
The challenging atmosphere of the Oxbridge interview isn’t necessary just yet, but something which encourages students to think on their feet and look at all sides is.
As well as this, can you spend some time talking through the headlines with them? It’s good to try and get them involved in current developments as they relate to the chosen subject.
5. Test prep
Around 80% of Oxford courses and 50% of Cambridge courses require students to sit a pre-interview admissions test of some description.
Don’t think you have it easy with an application to Cambridge though: you will just have tests at an interview instead. And so we have the Law National Admissions Test (LNAT), the Biomedical Admissions Test (BMAT), the Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA), the History Aptitude Test (HAT) and so on.
Although there are significant stylistic differences between STEM tests and those for the Arts and Humanities, you will find that advanced subject knowledge is not really the key.
These tend to be tests which are looking for a student’s skills and aptitude for the subject.
Some are only looking for aptitudes, like the LNAT, whereas others, such as the BMAT, are looking at subject knowledge as well as skills.
None of the tests requires subject knowledge outside of the A-Level specification though, so the emphasis for practice is on skills-building, rather than knowledge-building.
Students must practise these tests. A lot.
One key is in being able to work out why the correct answer is correct, but, in the case of multiple-choice questions, why all the other answers are incorrect.
Additionally, for students of the arts and humanities, the ability to write logically and clearly, reasoning from premise to conclusion is vital. Solid and consistent follow up from the super curricular research helps with this.
Looking at strong pieces of writing can help with this too. When I support students with LNAT, we look at things like setting out the stance or answer in the first few lines, defining the relevant terms in the question and using that language in the answer in order to maintain focus.
We look at ensuring that we follow substantive points with their counter-arguments and always conclude by alluding to the wider implications of our answer.
Students taking essay subjects at school will be familiar with this, but they will need to practice.
Past papers or links to them are available on both of the university websites.
6. The interview
And finally, interviews. How much help can you really be?
Well, if you’ve encouraged all of the above and have made sure that someone is having regular discussions with your child about their subject, then you have done them a real service.
In terms of mock interviews though, it’s best to try and have these done with someone unknown to the student so that they can really practice some of the tension of thinking on their feet in front of strangers.
Do mini practice sessions though, trying to answer difficult questions.
Rumours about questions like: “Tell me about a banana” and “How much water is in a cow?” are reflecting the need for students to be able to show how they think in order to arrive at a justifiable answer, though not necessarily a correct one. The way in which they think and reason is vital.
Encourage your child in all of these ways and I guarantee you nothing in terms of admissions, I’m afraid, but you will have supported them on a fantastic academic journey that will do them the world of good. If Oxford or Cambridge like it too, then all the better.
Sarah Alakija
Independent university admissions consultant
