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Oxbridge colleges visit North Wales to recruit local state school applicants

12 December 2012

Oxford and Cambridge are hitting the road to North Wales to encourage more bright students from the area to apply to Oxbridge.

St Peter’s College, Oxford, and Magdalene College, Cambridge, will be visiting four schools in North Wales over a three-day series of workshops for talented Year 11 students in Welsh state schools. Around 250 students from 20 North Wales state schools will be attending the workshops.

And students attending the workshops will take part is a series of brain-stretching activities based on real Oxford admissions interview questions.

They might be asked, for example, to decide whether someone who risks their own life (and those of others) in extreme sports or endurance activities a hero or a fool; or to solve a logic problem involving dividing up a treasure of 100 coins among a group of seven pirates according to complex rules of seniority and voting. (see below for more examples)

Alice Wilby, Schools Liaison Officer at St Peter’s College, Oxford, said: ‘We are really keen to see more applications from students in North Wales – we know there are many bright students out there, and we want to make sure they know that we want them to consider applying, and that they know what Oxford is looking for. We hope that this event will provide the students with advice to enable them to aim for the most competitive universities, and think about giving Oxford or Cambridge a go.

‘There are lots of myths out there about what Oxford is looking for and what you have to do to get an offer here. We want to make sure that students know that first and foremost we want bright, motivated students who love their subject and can show their commitment to it. These events are about getting that message out to students early on so they can make well-informed choices when it comes time for A levels and applying to university.’

The workshops are aimed at encouraging students to aim high and make themselves the most competitive university candidates they can be. Students will get advice on choosing A level subjects and university courses, and will give them an idea of what the Oxford and Cambridge admissions process is like.

Current Oxford and Cambridge University undergraduates will also be on hand to meet students and answer their questions about what studying at Oxford is really like. The events are the first time Oxford and Cambridge have run events specifically for Year 11 students in North Wales.

For more information, please contact Julia Paolitto in the Press Office, Oxford University on 01865 280 531 or press.office@admin.ox.ac.uk

Notes for Editors:

St Peter’s College, Oxford, and Magdalene College, Cambridge, will be running four workshops in North Wales from 17 through 19 December. The venues are:

Monday 17 December: Ysgol David Hughes, Anglesey
Tuesday 18 December: Ysgol Aberconwy, Conwy
Wednesday 19 December: Alun School, Mold, and Yale College, Wrexham

The events will see 250 students from 20 different schools attend – information about specific schools sending pupils can be provided upon request.

As part of the University of Oxford’s ongoing commitment to engage with schools, each Oxford college is linked to a local authority to ensure that each school has a first point of contact within the University. The North Wales activities are part of St Peter’s College work with the local authorities of Anglesey, Conwy, Denbighshire, Wrexham and Gwynedd as part of its regional links. For more on the links between local authorities and colleges see:

http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/events_and_outreach/information_for_teachers_and_advisors/contacts/school_and_college_1.html

Sample interview questions: Students at the workshops will take part in brain-stretching activities based on sample interview questions used in past Oxford undergraduate admissions rounds. Questions they might face include some of the following:

1) How do pirates divide their treasure? (Computer Science)
A group of 7 pirates has 100 gold coins. They have to decide among themselves how to divide the treasure, but must abide by pirate rules:

  • The most senior pirate proposes the division.
  • All of the pirates (including the most senior) vote on the division. If half or more vote for the division, it stands. If less than half vote for it, they throw the most senior pirate overboard and start again.
  • The pirates are perfectly logical, and entirely ruthless (only caring about maximizing their own share of the gold).
So, what division should the most senior pirate suggest to the other six?

2) Is someone who risks their own life (and those of others) in extreme sports or endurance activities a hero or a fool? (Theology)

3) Imagine we had no records about the past at all, except everything to do with sport – how much of the past could we find out about? (History)

More sample interview questions can be found at:

http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/how_to_apply/interviews/sample_questions.html#abiological_sciences