Cambridge and Oxford universities could also be placing “new obstacles” in the best way of poorer candidates by making college students apply two weeks sooner than typical for a few of their best programs, consultants have warned.
The race for a spot at Oxbridge historically begins earlier than for some other universities, with sixth formers anticipated to submit their Ucas software types by 15 October, slightly than 25 January for many programs. This yr, nonetheless, Cambridge Evaluation Admissions Testing (Caat), which runs admissions checks for among the hottest programs at each universities, has introduced ahead the date to register for its checks by two weeks to the tip of September. Cambridge candidates who’ve to take a seat these checks, that are an important a part of the choice course of, can even sit them earlier in October than typical.
Some worry that giving college students only a few weeks after coming back from their summer time holidays to take the leap and apply for these ultra-competitive universities might imply some pupils at state faculties not centered on sending pupils to Oxbridge will miss the boat.
Lee Elliot Main, professor of social mobility at Exeter College, mentioned: “On this more and more aggressive race for diploma locations, we have to be completely certain we aren’t inadvertently creating new obstacles for deprived college students who already face an unlevel enjoying discipline in so some ways.”
Dr Rohan Agarwal, founding father of UniAdmissions, a business tutoring service that helps college students making use of to Oxbridge, mentioned: “We’re having individuals contact us who’re panicking. I actually do really feel for these college students, particularly those who haven’t had good recommendation from their faculty.”
College students have to take a seat Caat checks for programs together with drugs, pure sciences, engineering and laptop science at Cambridge, and together with drugs, classics, maths and philosophy at Oxford.
Agarwal’s firm tells candidates these checks might be “the deciding issue” on whether or not they get a spot. He mentioned: “In case you are at a state faculty and your whole preparation for a take a look at at Cambridge is now solely 4 weeks, that’s all of a sudden very onerous.”
He added: “When the checks had been after half-term, you would spend the vacation doing last-minute cramming.”
Trainee lawyer Jack Bailey, who grew up in Rhyl, one of the vital disadvantaged cities in Wales, and graduated with a primary from Cambridge final yr, mentioned neither of the 2 complete faculties he attended had a lot historical past of sending pupils to Oxbridge. He determined to use on the final minute “as a result of if I didn’t I’d all the time surprise”.
“My head of sixth type talked to me in September about making use of, and by then I solely had about 4 weeks to get my software collectively. It was manageable however positively a little bit of a crunch,” he mentioned.
“Your deadline is likely to be extra pressing however everybody else can be making ready for college functions on the identical time and academics are underneath loads of stress.”
Final yr, Bailey used social media to supply to assist working-class pupils apply to Cambridge and acquired a “huge response”. He mentioned pupils “not on the kind of faculty the place academics coach you thru admissions checks” would in all probability discover them fairly intimidating.
Earlier this yr, Stephen Toope, Cambridge’s vice-chancellor, mentioned: “We have now to maintain making it very clear we’re intending to cut back over time the variety of people who find themselves coming from impartial backgrounds into locations like Oxford and Cambridge.”
In October, Cambridge will welcome a document variety of state educated college students, 72.5% of the cohort.
Mike Nicholson, deputy head of training providers at Cambridge, mentioned it was “not perfect” that checks used to fall in half-term, forcing faculties to reopen so pupils might sit them.
He mentioned college students shouldn’t fear about not having sufficient time to organize, and nobody ought to really feel they wanted to pay for tuition to get in. “These aren’t checks you have to be cramming for. Candidates should not meant to be revising specific subjects. That is about the way you apply your data from what you will have realized already to unfamiliar questions.”
A spokesperson for Oxford mentioned it was “engaged on how finest to assist any college students who’re unable to register by the brand new deadline”.