A GROWING number of parents are pulling their children out of independent schools and sending them to local state sixth forms in the “mistaken belief” that Oxford and Cambridge practise positive discrimination, experts have claimed.
The competition for Oxbridge places has seen parents parachute their children into comprehensives to study for their A-levels in the hope that their privileged education will not count against them as the institutions attempt to create more a balanced student body.
However, the idea that Oxford and Cambridge are favouring students from the state sector is one of a series of myths which have built up around the entry process, according to a consultancy firm which helps students secure Oxbridge places.
“It may come as a surprise to many to hear that there is now a belief among parents of privately schooled pupils that their children will not be treated equally by admissions tutors. This is a mistaken belief,” said Lucinda Fraser of Oxbridge Applications.
According to the Higher Education Statistics Agency’s latest figures, the number of state school students admitted to full-time courses at Oxford for the year 2012-13 dipped slightly from 1,545 to 1,505 and the number of pupils admitted to Cambridge for the same year rose by 45 places.
Another myth commonly accepted among students is that applicants with doublebarrelled names are favoured and that eagle-eyed admissions tutors survey social media sites to identify embarrassing pictures of candidates.
Holly Welsh, a 25-year-old Oxford graduate, said: “I was told that Oxbridge interviews were mad, nutty affairs. Candidates would walk into a room to find a professor lying on the floor. He wouldn’t say a word and students would have to figure out what to do. Or they would be told to throw a brick through a window.”
She said that in reality the interviewer “was lovely and very friendly”.
Other students claim that if an interviewer offers a candidate a glass of water they should refuse because, if their hand shakes when they pick it up, they will be refused a place on grounds of “weakness”.
Ms Fraser said: “It’s nonsense, of course, all of them are, but it does show how misinformed some applicants are about the whole process.”
It isn’t just students perpetuating myths, but parents too. One parent said that she had been informed that pupils seen at university with a parent in tow “would be marked down for showing insufficient independence”.
“Parents are making these big decisions based on stories from the playground gates,” Ms Fraser warned.
She said that the Oxbridge interview process was “rigorous, but not designed to catch students out”.
“If they throw you an oddball question they aren’t trying to see if you can guess the answer, they’re attempting to see how you handle what you don’t know. It’s the quality of the discussion that interests them,” she said.