Use of contextual data
General
The Undergraduate Admissions Office will collate contextual information centrally for all Oxford University applicants permanently domiciled or seeking asylum in the UK at the point of application, and who have been educated in the UK secondary system, using publicly available information from the government, and disseminate this information to colleges and departments.
Three aspects of contextual data will be considered in 2012 for students applying for entry in 2013, or deferred entry in 2014
- Prior Education
- The performance of the applicant’s school or college at GCSE or equivalent level and;
- The performance of the applicant’s school or college at A-level or equivalent level.
In both instances a candidate will receive a flag if their educational establishment performs below the national average using Department of Education or equivalent data. GCSE data will consider achievement of both Mathematics and English/Welsh in the school performance information.
- Candidates applying from schools who fall within Target 1 of the University’s Access Agreement will receive a flag. These schools have a relatively small number of students achieving Oxford entry grades (up to 10 per year) or have a very low rate of progression to Oxford.
2. Residential Postcode
- The postcode that an applicant gives as their home address, assessed using ACORN information. ACORN is a system that associates specific geodemographic profiles to individual UK postcodes; it is widely recognised and used by both the public and private sectors to assist in the effective targeting of policies, services and communications. Where a candidate’s postcode falls into ACORN groups four or five (Moderate Means and Hard Pressed) the application will be flagged. More information about ACORN can be found at www.caci.co.uk/acorn-classification.aspx.
- An
additional postcode factor will be used in the flagging for the coming
admissions round. The postcode from an applicant’s home address is
matched against the POLAR2 data set. This classification places regions
into Quintiles based on the rate of young participation in Higher
Education. Applicants from the lowest two quintiles will be flagged.
More information about POLAR2 can be found at www.hefce.ac.uk/whatwedo/wp/ourresearch/polar/.
3. Care
Status
- Whether a candidate has been looked after/in care for more than three months (determined from the UCAS application, and subject to later verification checks);
Action
to be taken:
Where an applicant is predicted to achieve the grades, and in certain cases subject (s) required to meet the standard conditional offer for a place at Oxford and performs to an appropriate standard in any required pre-interview admissions test, a candidate will be strongly recommended for interview if
- They have received a contextual flag for at
least one prior education measure
and - They have received a contextual flag for at least one postcode measure
Where a flagged candidate is not shortlisted for interview, an explanation must be provided to the department. This can be followed up by candidates in January, after the admissions interviews have taken place.
Candidates who achieve a flag for being looked after/in care for a period of greater than three months, and who are predicted to achieve the grades, and in certain cases subject (s) required to meet the standard conditional offer for a place at Oxford, and perform at an appropriate standard in any required pre-interview test will also be strongly recommended for interview.
Note that this use of contextual information does not result in either an automatic offer of a place or a lower offer to a candidate. The candidates flagged through use of contextual information are interviewed in addition to students who are short-listed for interview using the usual departmental interview short-listing criteria, so they do not displace students who have already demonstrated the expected academic ability and potential.