Media

University of Oxford releases preliminary figures for 2010 entry and 2009 entry figures

22 March 2010

The percentage of offers that went to state school UK students by Oxford University has risen to 56.4% for entry 2010, up from 2009.

Oxford releases today a preliminary picture of its 2010 entry admissions round, along with a full breakdown of its 2009 entry application figures.

When Oxford’s breakdown of state and independent school offers is compared with recent national statistics showing the breakdown of students getting three A grades at A-level (Oxford’s standard requirement), it is clear the university’s state/independent mix is broadly in line with the national picture of school attainment.

Recent government statistics examining A-level results indicate that of those achieving 3 A grades or better at A-level, around 57% come from the maintained sector. Oxford’s most recent offer figures for 2010 entry show 56.4% of its UK offers being made to state school students.

  YEAR OF

  ENTRY

PROPORTION OF UK STUDENTS ATTENDING UK MAINTAINED

OR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS/COLLEGES

 

            STATE

INDEPENDENT

  2010

56.4% (offers only)

43.6% (offers only)

  2009

53.9 %

46.1 %

  2008

55.4 %

44.6 %

  2007

53.4 %

46.6 %

Oxford gets more competitive every year: Preliminary figures for entry 2010 showed a record number of applications at more than 17,000, an increase of 12% on the previous year. Applications from state school candidates have increased by 85% over the past ten years (compared to 68% from independent schools)

Oxford is committed to selecting students with the most academic ability and potential, and works to attract applications from talented students from any background. In the last year the University, colleges and departments have carried out over 1,500 outreach activities with nearly 2,000 UK schools and colleges taking part in an Oxford-specific event.

Mike Nicholson, Director of Undergraduate Admissions at Oxford University, said: ‘The latest admissions figures indicate that Oxford’s extensive outreach work encouraging applications from state school students is paying off. We are now in a position where our offers to state school students is roughly in line with the latest government figures showing what proportion of students achieving three As at A-level came from state schools. We have also bettered our internal target of achieving 62% of applications from state school students a year ahead of schedule. While Oxford is continuing to attract record numbers of excellent applicants from state schools, there is still room for more work to be done, and the University will continue to engage with potential applicants, their teachers and advisers, and parents to ensure all those with the potential to excel at Oxford apply.’

The detailed admissions statistics for entry 2009 will show application and acceptance breakdowns by school type, region of domicile, nationality, and ethnicity as well as by course and college.

The full set of statistics can be found at: http://www.ox.ac.uk/ug-stats

For further information please contact the University of Oxford Press Office on 01865 280531 or press.office@admin.ox.ac.uk

Notes to editors:

  •  The majority of Oxford’s UK undergraduates come from state schools.

    2009 entry
    UK students at UK maintained or independent schools and colleges:
    state schools: 53.9 %; independent schools: 46.1 %

    2010 entry
    Offers made to UK students at UK maintained or independent schools and colleges:
    State schools: 56.4 %; independent schools: 43.6 %
  •  Selection is based purely on academic ability and potential, laid down in published selection criteria for each subject.
  • Oxford has one of the most rigorous selection procedures in the country and possibly in the world. Academic ability and potential is assessed through a range of measures: at least two interviews; aptitude tests (in many subjects); written work (in some subjects); predicted grades; attained grades; and references.
  • Recent statistics examining A-level results indicate that of those achieving 3 A grades or better at A-level, around 57% come from the maintained sector. Oxford's most recent offer figure of 56.4% from the maintained sector suggests that its state/independent intake mix is broadly in line with the proportions of students taking A-levels who could potentially make a reasonable application to the university.
  • Government targets such as the HESA Performance Indicators present an unrealistic goal. We believe that the system used to calculate these benchmarks is unhelpful. Benchmarks are calculated using the UCAS tariff system. Since tariff points can be gained through a very wide range of qualifications, not all of which would equate to the qualifications needed for Oxford, we do not feel that calculating benchmarks on a tariff points basis gives an accurate representation of the demographic from which we can recruit. Those who actually gain three As at full A-level are numerically a smaller group than those who gain the tariff point equivalent.
  • Oxford instead set itself a target that 62% of UK applications should come from the state sector by 2010 - This year’s numbers showing that 63.6% of UK applicants came from the maintained sector means that it has significantly bettered its target, and a year ahead of schedule as well.
  • 2009 marked the first year when a flagging system for contextual data was used to decide which extra students to invite to interview. This information plays no part in deciding which candidates get an offer, or what that offer is. The University will ‘flag’ a candidate if they meet criteria in 3 out of the 5 aspects of contextual data (or 2 out of 4, or 1 out of 3 where full information is not available), and they are predicted 3 A grades at A-level and they achieve a basic threshold in any pre-interview tests. The aspects of contextual data looked at are the performance of the candidate’s school at GCSE and A-level, home postcode, whether an applicant has been in care, and whether he or she has participated in one of Oxford’s summer schools or Young Ambassadors scheme. This applies to only a small number of students: For 2009 entry, the first year the system was used, 438 applicants were flagged in enough areas, of whom 294 were also predicted AAA at A-level and came in the top 80% of any written test sat pre-interview. These 294 were therefore invited to interview, and 73 gained places. 
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