- Okay, well,

hello and welcome to the
recorded virtual version

of the Oxford and Cambridge presentation

at the UCAS International Conference.

My name is Claire Canning.

I am a deputy student recruitment manager

at the University of Cambridge.

- Hello, I'm Caitriona Woolhouse.

I'm the head of outreach delivery

at the University of Oxford
and we're really pleased

to be able to bring you
this presentation today.

- Yep, definitely.

We will basically talk you through

a few bits and pieces just
to kind of get to know

the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge

a little bit better, kind of
understand some of the things

that are quite distinctive and unique

about our institutions.

And then we will talk you a little bit

through the application process,

particularly focusing on how
you can advise your students

and the kind of things
that you can help them with

throughout the process.

So we'll get started on that.

And, again, we'll also do
a little bit of an update

on Coronavirus as well

and just give you a bit of information

about what the universities
have been doing

in relation to that.

One of the things that is
sort of fairly, I say unique,

but unique about both Oxford
and Cambridge, really, is well,

what is quite distinctive
is the way that we teach.

Both universities do quite a
lot of small group teaching

so that's something we're
quite well known for

so as well as having the larger lectures

that you might expect at university

but also do a lot of small group teaching.

At Cambridge, we would
call this supervisions.

At Oxford, they would call this tutorials.

And that is a major component
of all of our courses

that students do get either
one-on-one or small group time

with the academics.

And they will also be provided
with what we at Cambridge

would call a director of studies.

It may also be called a tutor.

Somebody in their field who
they can kind of consult with,

discuss their career options
and their study options with.

A lot of our lecturers and our teachers

are experts in their
field so we're very lucky

that we do have a lot of academics

who are kind of at the forefront

of some really interesting
research that's going on

at both universities all of the time.

We also are very lucky that we have

a lot of great resources and facilities.

In terms of study resources
and kind of places to study,

libraries, and also the
actual curricular resources

that we have as well.

We are quite different to
some other universities

that we're quite academically intensive.

What that means is we have
very short term times.

At Cambridge, for example, our
terms are eight weeks long.

We have three eight-week terms,

which means that the
kind of academic study

is really condensed into
that short period of time

and students kind of work
quite hard and quite intensely

through those eight weeks.

That's just a few kind
of key things to know

about the study side of Cambridge.

In terms of the sort of typical

Oxford and Cambridge experience,
a few things to note there.

One is the collegiate system that we have.

Both universities are split up

into a number of different colleges.

And those colleges are not
departments so it is basically

each college is kind of
a mini university campus.

They're spread all over the cities

of Cambridge and of Oxford
and that is where students

will have their accommodation,
it's where they'll eat,

it's where they'll socialise,

it's where they'll study in the library,

it's where they might have
their supervisions or tutorials.

And what it means is that
students will belong to that

kind of smaller environment
as well as belonging to

the larger university.

That is something quite unique to us.

We'll talk about it a little bit more

when it comes to the
application process as well.

Both institutions offer a wide
range of kind of activities

for students to get involved with

and we do encourage students
to kind of participate

in extracurriculars
just so that they get to

explore the university
beyond their course,

kind of make some friends
and socialise as well.

And there's huge varieties of things

they can get involved with,

hundreds and hundreds of opportunities

through sports, music, and drama,

through to political campaigning
or the Tea Drinking Club

or whatever it is that they're
interested in, in particular.

They're also really supportive
environments, in particular,

that is because of that collegiate system.

That means that a lot of the support

comes from within the college.

There's lots of staff members
so people like the tutors,

not just on the academic side,

but also they're kind of past

or non-academic tutors as well.

As well as a range of other
roles within the college

that are specifically
there to support students.

While those students are
working quite hard and intensely

during those term times, both
universities do make sure

that there is a lot of support

and also just to make sure
that students can kind of

make the most out of the experience

and that they can maintain

that really good work/life balance,

which is kind of what they
are always striving for.

As well as that we, both institutions,

are really well-ranked and well-performing

in terms of employment prospects as well.

Both universities are quite
well regarded by employers.

They like the kind of the
skills and the attributes

that our students come
out of university with.

Often it doesn't really matter
what subject the degree is in

but just that Oxford or
Cambridge degree experience

kind of gives them the skills
to go forward into employment.

Generally, students will do very well

in the employment market
and universities both have

really good career services, as well,

who can offer lots of support to students

whilst they're students and
then also once they've graduated

and they become alumni, as well.

There will be a lot that they can do

to kind of help students

maximise their job opportunities as well.

Okay, so moving on to
the application process.

- If your students have decided

that Oxford or Cambridge might
be the right place for you,

and many of you will know
quite a lot about this

kind of stage-by-stage
process that we have

when applying to the Universities
of Oxford and Cambridge,

much of which is very,
very similar to applying

to any other UK university through UCAS

but there are a few additional steps

that when students are applying

to one of these two universities,

they will kind of need to go through.

This is the kind of general
process that students can expect

when thinking about going
to these two universities,

really starting from now.

And we hope that many of your
students will be in a position

at the moment that they are
kind of choosing their courses,

they're deciding which
of these institutions

across the UK are going to
be the right ones for them.

And more specifically,

that maybe one of these two universities

has the course that is
going to really inspire them

for the next three, four, seven years

of their education.

The first stage, absolutely,
is choosing your course

and that does make quite
a big impact in terms of

their likelihood of getting
into the universities

later as well,

making sure they've chosen
the right course for them.

The next stage might be choosing a college

or choosing an open application.

Essentially, here is where
students can suggest a preference

for which college they
would like to go to.

And that comes within the
course code, and sorry,

the campus code of the UCAS application.

That's where they can
state that preference.

It's entirely up to a student

as to whether they would like
to choose a particular college

that they want to go to or
select an open application,

which basically means I don't
mind which college I go to.

I'm sure I'd have a nice
time at any of them,

which by the way, is absolutely true.

And we will, within
our admissions offices,

allocate students out
across those colleges

across the university.

The next stage, which is
really, really important,

is making sure that they are
checking what arrangements

need to be put in place

for doing their admissions
assessments or admissions tests,

depending on which university
they are applying for.

And more crucially, in
terms of the deadlines

as to when they need to
either have registered

or actually taken those tests.

Most of these tests can be taken

within your own schools or colleges

but it's really important
if you can support them

in trying to make sure that your school

is registered as a test centre.

If you're not registered as a test centre,

then there are kind of
international test centres

all the way around the world

and students are able
to kind of register at.

Checking those arrangements
early is really important

and we'll come back to talking about that

a little bit more later on.

The deadline for the UCAS application,

as most of you will know,
is the 15th of October

and that's 6:00 p.m. UK
time so it's important

to stress that to your students as well.

And that deadline is absolute.

We don't see any applications
that are submitted

after that point.

The next stage of the application
is if you have applied

to the University of Cambridge,

then there's the opportunity
to fill in an additional form

which gives a little bit more
information about the courses

that students have applied for
as well as the qualifications

that are currently taking.

Typically, late in October,
early in November is the time

when most of our admissions
tests or admissions assessments

take place.

And then after that, for Oxford,

it's normally around the 10th of November.

I think it's quite similar
time at Cambridge as well.

Students might be asked
to send in an example

of their written work,
depending on the course

that they're applying for.

Typically our interviews
take place early in December

either kind of remotely or in person.

And then finally, our offers are sent out

early in January.

It's normally the first
or second Wednesday

in January that those
offers go out to students.

This is the kind of view that
yourselves and your students

would get in terms of
the application process.

And then we thought it
might be helpful for you

to kind of have a look at what happens

within the universities as well.

On the next slide, you'll
see kind of what happens

when your application has
actually been submitted to us.

At Oxford and Cambridge, as we said,

after the deadline of the 15th of October,

normally a few days later
all of the applications

come through to us.

Now why that's important is
that we do absolutely use

a gathered field.

It doesn't really matter when students

have submitted their
application through UCAS.

We know that they open their doors

at the beginning of September
to kind of click Submit,

but to us, it doesn't make a difference

whether it's the first of September

or kind of closer towards our deadline.

We receive all of the applicants
at exactly the same time

because we want to judge
one student against another

and we don't do it on that
kind of rolling basis.

All of those applications come
into the admissions offices

at both Cambridge and Oxford.

And at that stage,

that's when allocate
the open applications.

And that's before we send anything out

to any of the colleges
across the two universities.

What that means for an applicant

is that the tutors in the
colleges would have no idea

whether a student has
selected that college directly

or simply been allocated to them

through the open application system.

Only once those all of those applications

have been kind of distributed
across the colleges

do we send them out

to the departments and
colleges for review.

As soon as the admissions
tests have taken place,

or the admissions assessments,

those results are also
added to those records.

Teachers will then have
access to all of their acad-,

the student's academic achievements,

your teacher's reference,
the personal statement,

everything that kind of goes
around the UCAS application

as well as all of the test scores.

And they will use all of
those pieces of information

to support them in short-listing students

and for interviews which will
take place early in December.

Students may well have
more than one interview,

whether that's remotely or in person

and we'll talk a lot more
about those a little bit later.

And then what happens is the kind of,

the places are kind of moderated
across all of the colleges

through a number of different systems.

Now, whilst Cambridge and Oxford

have quite different
systems for how we go about

making sure that college choice
doesn't make a difference

in terms of students'
likelihood of getting in

to the university,

the kind of end goal is exactly the same.

Cambridge will typically
use the pool system

and at Oxford we have an
admissions decision system,

which is a kind of
programme that goes across

all of the different colleges.

Then finally, the offers
are then kind of sent out

to those candidates in
January, as I said before.

That's kind of a little
view behind the scenes

in terms of what is actually going on

at the two universities
after you've clicked Submit

on your UCAS application.

The next thing we're going
to have a think about

is kind of what we are
looking for and then also

a little bit about what
we're not looking at at all.

One of the main things
that we're interested in

is academic ability and potential.

And that's quite a hard
thing to define, if you like,

and a quite harder thing to explain.

But essentially I think it
can kind of be boiled down

to just a few things.

The first is we are looking
for academic ability.

We are looking for those
students who really do

have great ability in their subject

and that they can kind of prove that

in a number of different ways

as part of the admissions process.

We're also looking for students

who are really strongly
committed to the course

that they have applied to,

so that enthusiasm for the chosen subject

is something that's very, very important.

Now, we're not saying that
someone has to have dreamed

of studying chemistry
from the age of five.

You can show us that commitment

in a number of different ways

and it doesn't have to
have been a lifelong dream.

It could have come much more recently.

But we need to see evidence
of that real interest

in that subject.

And then finally, we're
also looking for suitability

for the way that we teach.

As we said earlier, we teach
in a slightly different way

from many other UK universities
in terms of our tutorials

or our supervisions.

And we want to make sure as
part of the admissions process

that students will really flourish

in the kind of academic
environment that we have

at these two universities.

I'll also just pick up on the things

that we're not really interested in.

Demonstrated interest
is not really something

that either of the two universities

kind of pay any attention to at all.

And the people who work
in the admissions offices

at both Oxford and Cambridge
really are very much there

to advise you and to support
you and your students.

Meaning that we don't
have a big part to play

in the admissions process.

Any questions that come to us

should be absolutely genuine questions.

There's no such thing
as a stupid question.

And it will never be connected
with a student's application.

We're also not really interested

in any particular backgrounds

or whether students are from
any particular countries.

We don't have any kind
of quotas or targets

in terms of where students come from.

The one exception to that is
our medical studies courses

where we have a government imposed quota

where we're only allowed
a small proportion

of our study bodies to
come from outside the UK

to be able to take part
in those programmes

and that's fully described on our website.

But for all of our other courses,

it's absolutely a free competition

around the world.

For example, if all of the best students

apply to us from France
in one particular year

then we have an entirely
French undergraduate year

and we wouldn't have
any problem with that.

We are looking for the
brightest and the best students

no matter where they come from
all the way across the world.

I think it's quite, that's
quite maybe something reassuring

to tell your students but also
maybe a little bit sobering

in terms of that their
competition genuinely is

worldwide.

We don't pay any attention
whatsoever to legacy places.

The fact that their great grandparents

went to Oxford or Cambridge

is of absolutely no
interest to us whatsoever.

We are only interested in that individual

and their academic ability
and their potential

to fit in within the institution.

Then finally, we're really
not interested in students'

extracurricular activities.

How good they are at playing sports,

how good they are at
playing musical instruments,

how much fantastic
volunteering they've done

really isn't something
that's going to factor into

our decision-making process.

Super-curricular is the
things that they've done

to further their interest in a subject.

And we'll come back to talk
a lot more about that later.

How are we actually looking at

all of these different elements

as part of the admissions process?

Now, most UK universities

will be looking at academic achievements,

they will be looking at
the personal statements,

and also the teacher's reference as well.

And all of those things are
very, very helpful to us, too,

but because our courses are
very competitive to get into,

we will be looking at these
additional elements as well.

And what this slide is
really trying to show

is what we're trying to do at
both of these two universities

is build up a picture of each student

as a kind of academic person.

And to be able to do that,
we need to take into account

lots and lots of different
elements to be able

to build up that really
true picture of each student

as an academic within, potentially,
within our communities.

What we're going to do now
is we're going to go into

a little bit more detail
about a number of these

different areas of the admissions process

just to give you a bit of advice

as to how to support your students.

- Yeah, so as Cat said, we've
just focused on a few aspects

of the admissions process
hopefully so that we can

clarify a little bit more
what we're looking for,

in particular, from those areas.

The first of which is personal statements.

In some ways it is similar
to what all UK universities

would look for from personal statements

so the main thing really
to focus on is the course

because that is the main thing
that's of interest to us.

Why is the student interested
in that particular course,

what have they been doing that's relevant?

That can be things within school,

so the relevant subjects studied,

but also things from outside
of their coalescence as well.

This is what we typically
refer to as super-curricular

and this is kind of really useful for

demonstrating interest in
the course, in the subject.

Obviously, we're not interested in

demonstrated interest in the university

but we are interested, in that sense,

that we want to know why it
is the student is interested

in the course.

And we want to be sure that they really do

have an interest because
we don't want them

to go and study something for
three or four years or more

and that they're not actually
particularly interested in

because they're not going to
get a lot out of that course

if that is the case.

Super-curricular is a really
great way to show that

to kind of show that they're so interested

in this particular course, the subject,

that they're not just
studying it in school,

but they're actually going
beyond that curriculum

and they're doing some
extra things as well.

That's definitely something
that can be touched on

in the personal statement.

We typically say to keep
at least 80% of the focus

on the academics.

They can still mention extracurriculars

that aren't relevant to
the course applied for

because, remember, this
statement is going to viewed by

potentially all five universities

they might have applied to through UCAS.

That can be mentioned but
for Oxford and Cambridge,

we're not really taking that into account

so it's better not to focus
too much on the kind of

sporting achievements
and things like that.

And it is very different from
a US-style application essay.

We don't have different topics

that they are writing essays on.

The topic is effectively what
is that you want to study

and why?

In terms of advising students
on personal statements,

kind of some of the
things to look at there.

And, yeah, remembering that
there is no kind of secret

as to writing your personal statement.

There's no kind of secret
tips that we can give out

that you couldn't get elsewhere.

It is really as simple as just the fact

that we really do want to get
an insight into the applicant

and this is one of the ways to do that.

Obviously because we interview as well

and that does give places
like Oxford and Cambridge

that extra opportunity to
get to know the student.

But we want to see kind of

the same student reflected on paper

as the one that our tutors
will see in the interview.

They don't need to kind of
try and present themselves

as something other than what they are

and think that they're presenting
a certain type of student

that we want because there isn't
kind of one type of student

that we're looking for.

Important things you can
encourage students to do:

be reflective.

If they are telling us
about a particular book

that they read, and they're
kind of talking about that,

we don't just want a really long list

of all of the books that
they've read in the last year

because it's really not very interesting.

We want them to kind of
reflect on that maybe

on one or two things that they've read.

And not just tell us what they've read

but kind of what they gained from it,

what they agreed with,
what they disagreed with,

just to show that they
can critically engage

with the material and kind of look at it

on that deeper level.

Make sure they are honest as well.

Particularly because of the
fact that we do interview,

if a student has said that
they have read something

or done a particular project
in their personal statement,

it's relatively likely that the tutor

might ask them about that in interview.

And students can be and
often are called out by that

so make sure if they mention something

that they have done what they're
telling us that they have

just because it's quite
hard to come back from that

in an interview if they're called out

when saying they've done
something they haven't.

And that's something that's
really quite important.

Don't over-edit.

Obviously, guide them, give
them suggestions and things

when you're reading through but
don't kind of take away that

the student's voice that they have.

And don't encourage them
to be overly dramatic.

Remember that we're kind of UK-based

and we're not

always so effusive in what we write

so they don't have to kind of
really exaggerate everything

and kind of turn everything into a drama.

Yeah, and as I mentioned,
just don't just list

but make sure that they're
kind of expanding on that

and giving us a little bit more.

I mentioned already a little
bit super-curricular activity.

Just to kind of expand on
that a little bit more,

that basically is anything
that goes above and beyond

the school curriculum.

And that kind of does take
students on their first step

into the academic world
particularly because a lot of that

is kind of self-guided by them.

We don't give out prescriptive
lists of what it is

that students need to be looking at

because we do want to encourage them

to explore the areas of interest to them

so that they can take that further

and lead that themselves in
terms of where that interest

is going to go.

But it absolutely can be supported by you.

It's something that
you can guide a student

to slide in a couple of slides
so we have got some kind of

starting points that you
can pass on to students.

As I mentioned, this
absolutely can provide

a discussion point in interview

so this is kind of a good, easy question

a student might get in an interview

is just being asked to expand on something

mentioned in the personal statement.

That is something that can help

ease them into the interview later on.

Super-curricular
absolutely is for everyone

and needn't cost a lot of money.

It doesn't mean that these have to be

kind of really expensive
opportunities and events

that students are going to,

especially in these times at the moment

where we're all not
able to get out as much

and a lot of people are kind
of at home a lot of the time.

The great thing about that

is a lot of super-curricular
activity is online

so there are massive ranges of things

you can explore for
free from your own home.

And with how we use the
super-curricular activity,

it does really help us to

see that subject interest

and also shows us whether a student has

kind of research skills, is
capable of independent study,

organising their own time and
those kind of things as well.

And as we have mentioned previously,

this is slightly different
to extra-curricular

and that distinction can cause

a little bit of confusion sometimes.

But essentially other activities
such as things like sports,

music, drama, volunteering.

While those are great things for students

and young people to do and we
absolutely wouldn't tell them

to give up playing the
piano or anything like that,

they still will give students
a lot of great skills

but they're not what we're looking for

in the application process

because we are an
academic-based admission.

When our tutors are looking
at students' applications,

what they're looking at is
the student's academic ability

and potential.

But once you are admitted, if you,

if your students do get into
either Oxford or Cambridge,

when they're here there
are loads of activities

for them to get involved with.

That's a great thing for students to do

but just for them to bear in mind

when it comes to the application process,

that it is really the academics
that we are interested in.

This slide has got a few of those

super-curricular ideas listed.

A couple of the big ones,
HE+ in that purple circle

that you can see.

That is the Cambridge website

so if you just kind of
search for Cambridge HE+,

you'll find it.

And there is one for Oxford as well,

which is called Oxplore.

And they have been sort of
set up by our universities

and they have lots of resources

for the subjects that we offer.

The Cambridge one has lots
of kind of starting points

for super-curricular for the
courses that Cambridge teaches

and then the Oxford one has
lots of kind of big questions

that students can get into
and start thinking about.

Both of those are great starting points.

There's also some subject-specific options

and there is a site called
IWantToStudyEngineering.org.

There is another one called Isaac Physics,

there's Access to Further Math.

There's also all of these large mooks,

the large online courses.

You can find loads of those
on Future Learn and EdX,

TED talks, you can read kind
of magazines and journals,

nature magazines, British Medical Journal,

anything like that can be a
really good starting point.

As I said, this isn't
prescriptive so this isn't to say

that these are the things
students must look at,

but they can be some quite
good starting points.

If you're kind of not sure
where to direct your students,

these can be kind of good
places for them to start.

- I think, also, in the
kind of current climate

that lots and lots of
different organisations

are putting kind of at-home
learning stuff online

so actually now is a
really good opportunity

to be able to kind of look at
what different organisations

have digitally that
might be able to support

the super-curricular learning
of students from home

whilst many of us are
at home at the moment.

I'm going to talk a little bit about

the kind of school reference
then, the teacher's reference.

This is a really, really important part

of the application process
for both Oxford and Cambridge.

Of course, it's part of the
standard UCAS application.

You get 4000 characters to
say all you'd like to say

about each of your students
and we know that that is

often very, very challenging.

But it is really, really useful to us

because it provides us with
an insight into those students

in terms of their academic performance

and also their potential.

We are really lucky at
Oxford and Cambridge,

the students that we actually
admit to the universities

we get to meet them in person.

However, many universities
don't have that opportunity

and even if we do get to meet them,

we only really meet them for, I would say,

a maximum of around kind of
two hours and, therefore,

the opinion of the kind
of school counsellors

and the teachers is something
that's really, really helpful

to us in helping us to kind
of formulate our own kind of

impression of each of the students.

Ideally, this reference
should be kind of consistent

with the rest of the
application and very often,

especially the personal statement

and the teacher's reference
are kind of read together,

so it's really good if they
are kind of complimentary

to one another and certainly
not repeating each other.

The other thing is that we
would like it to be kind of

consistent with the application
in terms of the fact that

if you're saying in here

this is an absolutely incredible student,

this is one of the best
students that we've ever taught,

they're absolutely amazing,

and then their kind of predictive grades

or their kind of current
academic achievement

don't necessarily match up with that,

that might kind of raise
a few questions for us.

It's also kind of worth
bearing in mind that

whist the applicant won't see this

before the form has been submitted,

they do have the right
to request it afterwards.

And as universities, we absolutely
understand that pressure

that counsellors in schools are under

in terms of putting forward

a really kind of positive reference

for each of the students.

And I think every UK university
is absolutely aware of that

and certainly Oxford and Cambridge are

and I know that's a question

that we quite often
get from counsellors of

can you read between some
of the lines, if you like,

because this student is really being

encouraged by their families to apply

and it's not necessarily somewhere,

something that we would support.

And we absolutely kind of recognise that.

In terms of kind of producing
a supportive reference,

the kind of things that we
would like to see within there,

really what we're trying
to do from the reference

is we're trying to kind of
build, again, as I said,

build up this picture of
each academic student and,

therefore, giving us an
impression of that student

within the code, within the context,

within what they're working is
really, really helpful to us.

If you are kind of, as a counsellor,

in the role of kind of
being a bit of an editor

of that teacher's reference,

one of the most helpful
things that can be done

is if you are collecting kind of quotes

or kind of paragraphs of text

from each of their subject teachers,

having that kind of
editorial role of trying to,

as it says at the bottom,

having kind of multiple
contributors but just one voice

across the whole thing,
that can be really helpful.

And even if you have many, many references

that you're trying to put together,

even if it's as simple
as putting the subjects

that are most directly
related to the course

that they're wanting to
apply for up at the top

and the other kind of less
relevant ones lower down

within the reference, that
can just be quite helpful

to a tutor who's reading through it.

It's not essential but it's
something that can be helpful.

And what our tutors are really looking for

is how strong this student
is relative to their cohort.

Is this the best student
in this particular year?

In fact, even better,
is this the best student

in a highly academic achieving year?

Or you can take it even further,

if this student really is the best student

that's kind of come out of your school

or come out of this particular subject,

please do tell us about that.

That's the kind of thing that
we really want to know about.

And in terms of the teacher's reference,

something else that we
can pick up from there

is any kind of mitigating circumstances,

extenuating circumstances
that mean that they're kind of

grades that maybe they've already achieved

or you think they'll likely achieve

might not actually reflect
their true ability.

Whether that's something to do with

their kind of academic life,

whether it's something to
do with outside of school

and things that have
happened outside of school,

please do use the teacher's
reference to tell us about that.

If they're applying to Cambridge,

there's also an opportunity
to fill out the extended,

the extenuating circumstances
form if you want to go into

a little bit more detail.

At Oxford, we would get
all of that information

from the teacher's reference.

Now, I imagine that
for quite a lot of you,

there will be for the students

who are applying for 2021
entry, you'll be thinking about

how do you include the
COVID-19 message within there.

The sort of thing that's
going to be really helpful

is you telling us about the length of time

that the school was closed for

and the kind of expected impact

that you think that that might have had

on that student's schooling.

It's something we will
absolutely be taking into account

in terms of our admissions in future years

but it's worth kind of
putting a small part in there,

I think, going forward.

In terms of our advice
on kind of structuring

a teacher's reference, it
kind of mirrors, somewhat,

as I said, the personal statement
where kind of 80% of it,

the vast majority of it, being
subject-specific information

and then 20% on other information.

Often what we say is that
kind of the first 10%

should be a little bit about your school

and the kind of cohorts
that you tend to have

within your school.

You're very welcome to give us a hyperlink

to the school website.

It's not always absolutely guaranteed

that all tutors will
definitely click on that link

so if there's something vital
that you want to tell us,

maybe try and put that within the body

of the teacher's reference rather than

just within the hyperlink.

But many tutors will follow-up
on that hyperlink, too.

Then kind of 80% of it

about the kind of
subject-specific information

and about the student's
aptitude for the degree course

that they have applied for.

As I said in the previous slide,

very much focusing on their
kind of contextual achievement

within their cohort or perhaps
within the school cohort

as well is really helpful.

And trying not to repeat things

that the students have already said

in their personal
statement would be great.

And then the final 10%
can be any mitigating

or extenuating
circumstances that you think

we should be aware of as part
of the admissions process.

Whether that's something that's kind of

affected their school work,

whether it's something
that we should be aware of

as part of our admissions
process going forward.

For example, if a student does have

a particular kind of disability

or kind of learning difficulty,

it's really helpful for
us to know this here

so that we can take it into account

as part of our admissions process later.

For example, if a student
normally needs to have

some additional time within examinations,

we can make sure within
interviews, for example,

that we give them some extra
time to read over any materials

that they will need

before they come into
the interview itself.

And then you can also include
their concluding statement.

The things that we most commonly see

is we warmly recommend this student to you

without any kind of
hesitation, that sort of thing.

You don't have to put a
concluding statement in there

but many schools do.

- Okay, so moving onto
looking at admissions tests,

admissions assessments,

which are a part of
the application process

that Oxford and Cambridge both use.

The reason why we use them is
it is basically a way for us

to differentiate academically
between candidates who,

many of whom are well-qualified.

It gives us a kind of a
common test or assessment,

a common data set,

that we have all
candidates for that subject

taking that same assessment

particularly because
candidates are coming from

different education systems
and they're not all doing

the same exams at school
and things like that.

It is really useful for us to
have this kind of commonality

between students applying
for the same subjects

so that we can see how they
are performing academically

in the subject.

It also is a good way for
us to challenge applicants

because our admissions test or assessments

tend to be slightly different
to a school examination

so they're not designed

to capture all students, necessarily.

They're designed to capture that top

kind of group of students worldwide.

They're designed to be
really quite challenging

which can come as a shock to some students

so that's something you can
kind of prepare them for

and so that they expect that.

But that is a useful way for us to kind of

differentiate between those
students at the top end.

It can help us to assess
their subject knowledge

and understanding so we
can basically work out

are they where they should
be at this moment in time,

at this point in their education,

do they know the things we would expect?

And it can help us concentrate
our interviewing resources.

Particularly, that's the case for Oxford.

We tend to do a larger sift pre-interview

but also for some of
the Cambridge subjects,

they'll do this as well.

They will look as assessment performance,

in some cases to determine
who to interview.

Because, obviously, we
don't have the capacity

to interview every single
student who applies

so that's kind of why we ask the students

to do the admissions tests.

In terms of how you can
help applicants prepare,

and if it is a pre-interview assessment,

then making sure that the
students are registered on time,

helping them with that.

And also investigating whether or not

the school is a test centre and so if not,

whether you can kind
of set up that process

so that your students can do
those assessments in school.

And if that's not possible,

looking at where those
local centres might be.

You can also look on our websites

and find kind of syllabi to
give you a bit more information

about what topics are likely to come up

in that assessment.

And sometimes there will be,

on the Cambridge website

sometimes we have practise papers as well,

with the marks seen so that
students can have an attempt

at some of the assessments
from previous years.

And we would recommend, if possible,

they do that under timed conditions

because these are sort of
challenging assessments

and the students won't have
all the time in the world

to answer each question
so if they can kind of

get used to moving through the questions

at a reasonable pace, that
can be really helpful.

And I think it is really important

that you do help them to
understand that these are

going to be challenging.

Particularly, these are
high-achieving students

who are at the top of your cohort

who were used to getting kind of 90%, 100%

in every test that they do at school.

They are going to need a
little bit of pre-preparation

to realise that it's very
unlikely that they'll be

performing at that level in these tests.

We think that is something
really key to prepare them for.

And as I said, there are
resources on our websites

that you can take a look at

and kind of refer your
students to as well.

- Okay, we're going to move
on to talk a little bit about

interviews at Oxford and Cambridge now.

We know that this is a question
that we very frequently get

from teachers and counsellors
as to how they can

support their students in
preparing for the interviews

that take place at both
Oxford and Cambridge,

which are quite different from interviews

that students might get at
many other UK institutions and,

in fact, institutions around the world.

I think one of the kind of key things

in terms of the differences
that students can expect

is the kind of
subject-specific nature of it.

Many universities, if
they do hold interviews,

they will say why do you
want to study this subject,

let's say, why do you want to study math?

And students can have a
really well-prepared answer

about why they think math
is really interesting

and what specific parts
of it really interest them

and what it will mean in
terms of their future career

that they want to go on to.

Many universities might also say, well,

why do you want to study
math at this university?

And again, you can prepare
really well for that

in terms of the standing
of that university,

the reputation, or maybe
the research interests

of the department that really match

with their own research interests
and that's really great.

And at Oxford and Cambridge,

we might ask you those questions
but it's quite unlikely.

What we're much more likely to do is okay,

say here's a really
difficult math problem,

let's me and you work
through this together

and see where we can get to.

They are academic conversations
within the subject

that they are wanting to study.

And basically what we're
really trying to do

in our interviews is
we're trying to emulate

the way that we teach, the tutorial,

the supervision teaching system
that we mentioned before.

That's what we're trying
to do within that interview

to see how students would respond

to that kind of academic environment.

Now they will differ a little bit

depending on the courses

that students are wanting to apply for

because they are all very
much subject-specific.

Within things like humanities
or social sciences,

students might be given a
piece of text in advance,

they might be given a picture,

they might be given a graph,
they might be given a painting,

and they will have to kind
of have a little look through

and discuss their thoughts
about those things

and what it might relate to

outside of that particular object

or piece of text in front of them.

Within the sciences,

typically students will be presented with

a problem to work through,

as I said, or kind of maybe
even an object or a specimen

for them to be able to discuss
depending on the course

that they wanted to apply for.

And normally what we're
expecting students to do

is to take all of the
knowledge and the skills

that they've gotten from
their current studies

and apply it to a situation

that is different and unfamiliar to them.

And how do they show that
kind of flexibility of thought

by taking those things
that they already know

or they already know how to do

and applying it onto
something that they're kind of

slightly unfamiliar with.

They should, as Claire was saying earlier,

the admissions tests are
designed to be challenging.

The interviews are also
designed to be challenging.

They are stretching.

We are looking to take students

beyond what their kind
of current knowledge is

and to see how they respond
to this new material

or this new, these new situations

that they're being presented with.

It's also quite common in all
of the kinds of interviews

is to be presented with

either things that they've
submitted in advance,

whether that's the essays

that they've sent through in advance,

or their personal statement.

This kind of links back to
what we were saying earlier

in terms of making sure that everything

within the personal
statement is absolutely true.

But also about being kind of selective

about what they put in there.

Tutors often feel that asking questions

about the personal
statement is kind of a way

of getting students
comfortable in an interview

because they feel like

anything that they've written
in the personal statement,

they must feel confident enough
to be able to discuss that

when it comes to interview.

In terms of preparation, we'll
come back to this a bit more

in a little while.

They need to feel confident
that they could answer

two or three additional
questions on every sentence,

more or less, that they've written

in that personal statement.

Making sure they're
really kind of well-versed

in what they've said there is
going to be really helpful.

But there isn't any kind of hidden agenda

or kind of trick questions
that you might have kind of

read about in the media or online.

We're not trying to trick students.

They are designed to be
difficult and challenging

but they're, we're not
asking trick questions.

And also what's crucial
to know about these

is it's not the final hurdle, it's not,

as many students think, they've
done everything they can

up to this point.

We've looked at their personal statement,

teacher's reference,

we've looked at their
admissions testing scores,

their admissions assessment scores,

and then it's up to them to make or break

the whole of their
application on the basis

of the 20-minute interview.

And that's really not the case at all.

It is one part, an important part, yes,

but it's one part of
that much bigger whole

that I was talking about
earlier in terms of

building up that picture
of the whole student.

In terms of what we're looking
for within the interviews,

we're looking for students
to be able to demonstrate

a number of different things.

As I said at the beginning,
one of the most crucial things

that they should be doing at the moment

is making sure they've chosen
the right course for them.

Making sure that they
show us that enthusiasm

within that interview for
that particular subject.

It's not that they should
be running into the room

saying, "I love history."

it's showing that kind of quiet commitment

and that real interest in it.

There are some kind of core concepts

that students will need to be
absolutely kind of fluent in

before they come into their interview.

Essentially, revising
for their most kind of

any exams that they would
be kind of hoping to take.

Again, before they come
into the interviews,

it's probably quite helpful preparation

because it is kind of like
an in-person academic test,

if you like.

The next one here says fluency
in expressing core knowledge

and concepts and I think
that's absolutely true but

the word fluency, I
think, kind of suggests

that students need to be
really good at public speaking

and that's not really
what this is getting at.

It's much more trying to
get at their being able

to kind of recall those
core knowledge and concepts

and be able to express
them within an interview

in a way that is appropriate.

That's not being able to
kind of give a big speech

about a particular
subject because that's not

what's going to happen.

Some of the best
interviews that I've seen,

there was one in, especially,
in engineering science

where it was much more about
the kind of mathematical

side of things.

The tutors and the students

actually didn't really talk to each other

much at all verbally.

It was much more about
what was going on on paper.

The student kind of came into
the room and then sat down

and then the tutor basically
kind of drew out a formula

and then the students

were kind of sketching the graphs of it.

They were going backwards
and forwards on paper

and not necessarily talking to each other

but they were talking
in a language of kind of

mathematics to one another
and it was very fluent

in that sort of sense but not necessarily

in terms of the verbal side of things

that you might have expected.

We're also looking for
a kind of enthusiasm

with engaging with new ideas.

As I said, we're looking
for those students

who can apply their existing knowledge

to kind of new ideas, new concepts,

new ways of thinking about things.

And we're also looking for, as I say,

the ability to assimilate
and apply new concepts.

This is basically kind of about listening.

Kind of listening
carefully to the questions

that have been asked of them

and the information and
the prompts that are given

by the tutors to be able to apply it

to this new way of thinking.

And I think a lot of this
can be boiled down to

the tutors aren't really
looking for their final answer.

It's about how they get towards it.

And we're looking at the way they think

rather than kind of coming
up with the absolutely

kind of correct, final answer

because most questions in interviews

don't necessarily have
that final, correct answer.

But having that ability
to kind of think clearly

and analytically within that situation.

In terms of how you can kind
of support your students

in preparation for interviews,

basically kind of the first
step is encouraging them

to refresh their memory about
anything they've sent in

to the university in advance.

Whether that's pieces of written work,

certainly their personal statement,

make sure that they're
really, really familiar

with those things that
they've sent in advance.

But also about the things, the
super-curricular activities

that they've mentioned within
their personal statement,

all the things that they've
been following up with

in the interim between writing
their personal statement

and arriving or delivering
their interview in December time

will be really, really
helpful preparation.

And as I said before,
sometimes kind of revising

almost as if this is going to be an exam

might be helpful
preparation in terms of them

feeling really, really secure
on the subject knowledge

that they have.

And also giving students
an opportunity to discuss

their academic work or their
interests in their subject

with someone who is a subject specialist

is one of the most helpful things.

A generalist interview isn't
necessarily going to be

a really, really helpful
preparation for this

but subject-specific
discussions about their subject

is going to be useful.

Whether that's with a
teacher within school,

whether actually it's kind
of amongst groups of peers.

And you can use lots of the resources

that we've already
mentioned on our websites

in terms of HE+ or Oxplore,

using some of those big questions
as those starting points.

That might be a way of
starting those conversations

with students.

Also, in terms of the resources

that are available on our website,

at Oxford we have a huge long list

of pretty much every subject.

We have questions that have
been asked at interviews before

or are indicative of
the kinds of questions

that we would ask in
those subject interviews

for you to be able to have a look at

and see how your students
might approach those.

Both universities also have
kind of films about interviews.

I have to say, I think that
I think the Cambridge ones

are absolutely fantastic.

And I think one of the really
useful things about them

is they're kind of
overlayed with the tutors

talking over the top saying,

"What I really liked about the way that

that student

answered that question was this."

And it also showed a
little bit about students

kind of maybe feeling like
they've gotten something wrong

but actually how that's
really, really helpful

because they've listened to the tutor

and then changed their point
of view and then moved on.

I'd really recommend the
Cambridge interview films

if you have an opportunity to read those.

And then the last point there
is kind of don't worry about

what to wear.

You should be thinking about,

the student should be thinking about their

academic side of things
rather than what they wear.

It really, really doesn't
matter to our tutors.

I've got to say, most of
them, there are exceptions,

but not all of them are the
most fashion conscious people

in the whole and so
they're really not bothered

about what students are wearing at all.

Students should wear things

that they are comfortable with wearing

and that will put them in
an academic frame of mind.

- Yeah, so just to,
really just to reiterate

a lot of the points
that we've been making,

in terms of the main
things that you can do

to support your students,
I do think the first point

is a really important one.

Just encouraging them to
explore what interests them.

A lot of students that I kind of meet,

they want to know, they almost want a list

of what are the things
that I can do to make sure

my application is really
strong or stands out

and they kind of want a list
of super-curricular activities

to explore.

But it is really about
students finding out

what they're interested
in and exploring that.

So I think giving them starting points,

particularly places like
HE+ and Oxplore is great

but then just really
encouraging them to kind of

be reflective and think, okay,
but which bits of the subject

do I really like,

that's the bit I'm going
to explore more of.

And kind of giving them the
freedom and encouragement

to do that.

Particularly, at the current time

where going to in-person events
and things isn't possible

in a lot of the world,
then these online resources

are really important.

Both universities have our
own resources, as mentioned,

but also any of these kind
of podcasts, the mooks.

Lots of universities are doing

a lot more online sessions now

and some are doing kind of
academic taster lectures

and things like that that
you can get into as well.

You definitely can look at
university reading lists.

And so lots of Cambridge
departments will have

a kind of a list of first-year reading

that you can take a look at.

I wouldn't suggest just
working your way through that

and reading every single thing
because that doesn't give you

any of that opportunity to
explore further than that.

But again, it can be a
really good starting point.

Another really key thing
that ties into this

choosing the course is
researching the course content

at multiple universities.

Really thinking about not just a course

but that course at that institution.

Is it Oxford and Cambridge
that offers the course

that is going to really
interest and captivate them.

You can get a lot of information
on university websites

in terms of what's going to be taught,

the likely modules that will
be involved in the course,

thinking about how it's
going to be assessed,

the kind of activities that
they're going to get to do

through the course,

and just really making sure
that they are applying to

the right courses for them
and they're not just picking

Oxford or Cambridge because
they've heard the name

and they think they should,

but because they've
really thought about it

and they think that
that is the right course

and the right university to them.

Though that choosing a
course is that first step,

it is really, really one
of the most important ones

in a lot of ways.

Just in terms of kind of
keeping up to date with us

and looking at our websites,
particularly at the moment,

as we'll just mention in a minute or two,

with the Coronavirus,
there may be potentially

some slight changes to admissions.

As we go forward, if things are changing,

it is a really good idea to
keep an eye on our websites

because if that is the
case, if that does happen,

then we will be communicating that there.

Do also look at our international
events webpages as well.

If we are able to start travelling again

and we are going to be
putting on in-country events,

obviously, we'll put up that information.

Both of our universities

do run guidance counsellor
conferences as well

where we have guidance
counsellors come and visit us.

Again, it would be a case
of whether we can run that

in person this year or not.

And at Cambridge we do have

an international webinar series as well

so you can sign up to that on our website.

And do get in touch with us.

We've put email addresses
for Oxford and Cambridge

on the final slide.

And do just reach out to
us if there is anything

you're not sure about.

As Cat said earlier, there
are no silly questions

whether that's from a
student or from a counsellor.

If there's anything you want clarification

or you just want us to send
through some more resources,

then we are always more
than happy to do that.

Just in terms of a kind of a quick update

with regards to Coronavirus,

obviously that's kind of the
topic in everybody's minds

at the moment,

both universities do just
really want to stress

that we are thinking about
offer holders at the moment.

And, of course, our applicants
for next year as well.

And we are absolutely here
to support as much as we can.

We're very aware and
we're kind of keeping up

with what's going on with
different qualifications

and with English language
testing and things as well.

We're in conversation with
IBO, Cambridge International,

IELTS, TOEFL, everybody
that's kind of involved

in these kind of things.

And we do understand, obviously,
students are concerned

and because a lot of
students around the world

will have had disrupting
into their schooling,

but just to know that with
both Oxford and Cambridge,

we are going to accept the
qualifications as they are.

If your A-double exams have
been cancelled or your IB exams

or the other exams that you're doing,

we will still accept the grades.

If you're still going
to be awarded a grade,

then we will accept that for entry

so try not to worry too much about that

and just know that we
are thinking about you

and we are here if you do
have questions as well.

We will both continue to be in
touch with our offer holders

and we'll be sending you
information as and when we need to.

And for counsellors and teachers as well,

if you have questions, do reach out to us

and we'll be able to give
you the information we have.

But both universities do
have dedicated webpages

for this as well so the
links are there on the slide.

And make sure you visit those

because those will be updated as well.

If anything does change, if
there is any new information

that's where we'll be communicating that.

- In addition to kind of thinking about

our current offer holders,

we are also, both institutions
are thinking carefully

about what we can do to
offer different activities

for students, and teachers,
and counsellors as well,

more often than not kind of digitally

or perhaps kind of delaying
some of our activities as well.

In terms of open days,

perhaps something kind of
quite positive, actually,

for teachers and counsellors
from around the world

is that we are, both
universities, are offering

some form of Open Day, an
alternative Open Day in July.

Certainly at Oxford we're
not 100% sure exactly

how that is going to look

but it is kind of taking
shape at the moment.

In Cambridge, I think
it's going to be a kind of

virtual Open Day, digital
Open Day sort of thing.

Do keep an eye on our
websites for more information.

But it is quite exciting offering
in terms of students who,

at the best of times,
might not have been able

to have travelled to
Oxford or at Cambridge

for an Open Day.

We're trying to offer a kind
of digital version of that

to everyone all the way around the world.

And both universities are
planning to run in-person events

later in the year if we're
told that it is safe for us

to be able to do so.

Again, just keep an eye
on our Open Day's websites

and we will be updating that
really, really frequently.

Both universities have also
been putting a lot of effort

into trying to make sure that we are

supporting those students who might well

be learning from home at the moment

and to put together a lot of
materials to support that.

At Cambridge, shortly they'll be launching

a new virtual tour
platform over the summer

and that will give the students

a really exciting
opportunity to look around

different departments and
also colleges at Cambridge.

Plus, also, we've mentioned
HE+ a couple of times

within this presentation.

It really is a great resource for students

to begin some of their
super-curricular activity

and their exploration of the subjects

that they're interested in.

But actually for students
who are kind of younger

down in the school who
might be interested in

kind of finding out a bit more

about what these subjects
look like at university,

that's a really good resource.

At Oxford,

we have just launched a
range of digital resources

that have all been
created by the university,

many of which are subject-specific,

some are a little bit more generalist,

that should be able to support students

when they're learning from home.

Do have a look on our website for those.

And also, in relation to Oxplore, again,

which we've mentioned quite a few times

in this presentation,

there are a number of really big questions

that often bring together

different cross-curricular subjects

that allow students to
start thinking in the way

that they would be expected
to when it comes to

university level study.

And there's quite a lot that
are quite apt at the moment.

For example, are kind of real life friends

better than online friends?

And we might well have to
do a few updates to that one

over the next few months, I should think.

I think that is about all
that we kind of wanted to

bring to you today.

As you can see there at
the bottom of the slide,

our contact details are there
so please do get in touch

if you have any questions at all

for either of the two universities.

We're really happy to answer any of those.

But other than that,
thank you ever so much

for taking the time to be here today

and to listen to this presentation

about Oxford and Cambridge admissions.

- Absolutely.

Thank you very much.