11 Plus Exams Forum

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/ed ... qus_thread

I'm so glad this issue is finally getting more exposure. At least it might help encourage our DCs to make "wiser" (i.e. more strategic) choices about their future at the tender age of 13...

This article still doesn't mention the percentage A* that can be needed at Oxford. My DS had an email from them stating that he was rejected because of his percentage A* (He had 8 A* and 5 A's - thus a poor A* percentage). I think it helps to know this up front as then you don't waste an application - thing is it isn't on their admission criteria so maybe it doesn't apply to everyone and is just an excuse.
Luckily DD got her year 10 results today (6A*) So just needs to keep up the good work next year.

jemima wrote:This article still doesn't mention the percentage A* that can be needed at Oxford. My DS had an email from them stating that he was rejected because of his percentage A* (He had 8 A* and 5 A's - thus a poor A* percentage). I think it helps to know this up front as then you don't waste an application - thing is it isn't on their admission criteria so maybe it doesn't apply to everyone and is just an excuse.
Luckily DD got her year 10 results today (6A*) So just needs to keep up the good work next year.

Yes, I remember you flagging that up...you'd think that Oxford of all places would see the obvious flaw in that approach and use a slightly more sophisticated means of filtering candidates!

Congratulations to DD, what fantastic results and only in year 10!

jemima are you saying that if your ds had only taken 8 gcse and got 8 a* he would have selected cos that is bonkers

Hi Jemima,

Are universities having to be picky because they don't rate the modular approach to A Levels?

Hi All

Those of us who have just gone through the torture of Univ applications and A2 results know only too well the differences in approach between various universities and the sometimes obscure and abitary methods used.

In the case of Oxbridge applicants, particularly for the popular subjects, the answer is simple. They have a large number of exceptional candidates applying every year and they will use any tangible reason (or supposed weakness) to reject candidates at the first pass without interviews. (be this GCSE A*s, BMAT, personal statement, A2 predictions, work experience, lack of outside interests etc etc ). It goes without saying that in doing so they miss a lot of exceptional candidates.

For other universities it does vary, For example:

Cardiff (for medicine) look at your top 9 GCSE and then award points for A*, A, B etc. 3 for A*, 2 for A, 1 for B. To go forward and be considered for a interview this year you had to score 24 points.

Birmingham (for medicine) simply counts the number of A*s. For this year the magic number was 8A*s to generally get an interview. They don't look at much else. Interestingly the web site said 7*s but this was incorrect.

The key thing is:-

Do you research in advance
Don't waste an application

Tree,
Yep, he had an email from them to say as much. The school also phoned them to ask why he had been rejected as it seemed a bit random - Oxford confirmed it was percentage GCSE at A*.
He did eventually get 5 A's at A level - he didn't get A*'s but he really lost heart after his rejection and did phase out for a while. He did however get a high BMAT and a stonkingly (good word) high UCKAT. He's really excited now about medicine and is really motivated, so all's well that ends well - or begins well.

Jemima sounds like he has done great in spite of it , i wonder if you can just refuse to accept your grades if they are below an a*, a bit like refusing a knighthood, and declare you only have 9 a*'s or whatever

jemima wrote:Tree,
Yep, he had an email from them to say as much. The school also phoned them to ask why he had been rejected as it seemed a bit random - Oxford confirmed it was percentage GCSE at A*.
He did eventually get 5 A's at A level - he didn't get A*'s but he really lost heart after his rejection and did phase out for a while. He did however get a high BMAT and a stonkingly (good word) high UCKAT. He's really excited now about medicine and is really motivated, so all's well that ends well - or begins well.

Good news in the end then - where is he going? Interesting about the ukcat / bmat - I wad involved in student selection and tbh the applications all looked the same - however it was only at interview that we found the difference. Often felt that something else ( non modular / non coursework / on your own / on the day type thing ) was needed. Having said that I couldn't do the ukcat now - brain too addled!

DS is going to Leeds - he liked the fact they get a dead body in the first week! He was interviewed there and has done an awful lot of extra stuff simply because he wanted too. He went to Romania to work with a charity last summer and this was what the interviewers homed in on. He also ended up talking about Carol Ann Duffy and poetry in his interview (he tends to have strong views on this) He studied Chem, Biology, Maths, English and Music so perhaps an interesting combination.