Accessing Oxford Presented by: Alison Matthews, Deputy Director of Undergraduate Admissions

Oxford admissions by numbers Annual Admissions Statistical Report gives information on students who have applied, received offers and been admitted to our undergraduate courses over the past 5 years. There is a lot of good news in the report, as well as evidence that there is still a great deal of work for us to do. See for yourself at ox.ac.uk/adstats Last year we published our first Annual Admissions Statistical Report. It gives information on students who have applied, received offers and been admitted to our undergraduate courses over the past 5 years. There is a lot of good news in the report, as well as evidence that there is still a great deal of work for us to do. See for yourself at ox.ac.uk/adstats – this will be updated in the Spring

Oxford admissions by numbers This table shows the overall applications (blue), offers (orange) and students admitted (grey) from all over the world. The main things to note is that overall application numbers have risen annually, and by 15.8% since 2013 – and in 2018 we had over 22,000 applications The total number of undergraduate places available annually at Oxford has remained broadly steady for many years, at around 3,200 each year – because the type of teaching we do and the number of students we can physically accommodate is around this number.

A level grade profile for UK Students This table shows the A level grade profile for UK students. While three A grades is Oxford’s minimum standard offer for candidates taking A-levels, many courses – particularly in the sciences – require at least one A* grade. More than half of applicants and almost 90% of admitted students achieve A*AA or better at A-level. More than 40% of admitted students achieve three A* grades or better at A-level. Those marked as ‘other’ in this data at the admitted stage are a small pool – but they are often students offered clemency or readjustment due to exceptional circumstances.

How we choose… With such a large pool of candidates achieving high grades, it is worth pointing out that Oxford is using a wide range of data throughout the admissions process to help us to make balanced and highly informed decisions. how We use all of the information we have gathered about you to make a balanced and highly informed decision about whether to offer you a place. We receive many thousands of applications each year, and sadly many excellent candidates will not be offered places.

Contextual data This gives us a fuller picture of their educational and social circumstances underpinning an application and performance in assessments. Geodemographic data from postcodes POLAR – Higher Education progression rates ACORN – demographic segmentation of UK population School/College information the performance of the school/college at GCSE level the regularity with which the school/college sends successful applicants Individual circumstances When a student declares on their UCAS application that they have spent time in local authority care

Nearby oppor-tunities In school/college In Oxford Near you Digitally Visit and learn more Oxford in your spaces Nearby oppor-tunities Engage with us online At Oxford we have a wide range of opportunities and resources to help your students decide if Oxford is for them and to help them make the best possible application. Some are open to all in the UK, while others may be limited to state schools only or even students from particular backgrounds. In your school or college we offer: Talks Introducing Oxford Oxbridge Application workshops Interview workshops HE/ Careers Fairs Subject outreach Teacher briefings We travel all across the UK to deliver activity near to home including: Student Conferences HE/ careers fairs UCAS Fairs BAME activity Teachers’ Conferences UCAS Teachers’ conferences In Oxford we offer programmes for those able to come and visit us including: Open Days UNIQ Sutton Trust Summer School Pathways Tours Teachers’ Summer School And, finally, we offer a range of material digitally – which you and your students can access anywhere: Oxplore UNIQ Digital Teacher’s e-guide Teacher e-newsletter

In your school/ college Your Oxford link Perfect for all years Near you In your school/ college www.ox.ac.uk/linkcolls Northern Ireland is linked to the central University – that is, directly to Undergraduate Admissions and Outreach team). St Catz and New College also have outreach links to Northern Ireland Across the university we are invited to innumerable careers fairs, information sessions and school visits throughout the year. We do our best to meet the needs and in Northern Ireland, our work typically involves school visits and tours, attending the annual UCAS Fair, a Northern Ireland Summer School, an e-newsletter for teachers, teacher conferences and the Oxford and Cambridge Student Conference held each March. NI Summer School (July this year) – schools pay travel, but all accommodation and food is provided. This ties in with the Open Day too.   Oxplore – totally free   Open Days – get in touch with UAO if you are travelling over and would like us to help with accommodation. As we know it can be difficult to come over to Oxford, we undertake regular school visits (around 3 times a year). You can email nioutreach@admin.ox.ac.uk if you want to offer to host or to join our email list specifically for NI outreach. There will also be an event for parents – joint with Cambridge - on Monday 25th March. Further details will be on our website and distributed to our contacts list in due course (contact nioutreach@admin.ox.ac.uk if you think you aren’t on our contacts list already).

Oxford and Cambridge Outreach Perfect for Y11+ Near you Digital We do some of our outreach in collaboration with Cambridge – including a student conference in Northern Ireland in March – opportunity for students to meet current students, admitting tutors and admissions staff to support decision and/or application. This joint online platform is somewhere you can learn more: www.oxfordandcambridgeoutreach.co.uk

Subject specific outreach Perfect for all years In Oxford Near you In your school/ college There are many opportunities for subject specific outreach delivered by departments and academics across Oxford. The best place to find out about these opportunities is in our ‘Outreach Calendar’ online. If you have a particular request – it can be worth asking a specific department’s outreach or schools liaison officer if they can accommodate you for a particular session either in school or in Oxford if you are able to travel. www.ox.ac.uk/outreachevents

Summer School - 875 students offered a 1 week programme UNIQ Spring – shorter residential programme for 100 students. UNIQ Digital – online programme offered to 1000 additional students Recently announced significant investment - more places for 2019 summer school. Open to students currently in their first year of A-Levels (or equivalent) at UK* state schools/colleges/sixth forms/academies Perfect for Y12 In Oxford Digital UNIQ is one of our flagship programmes for supporting applicants from under-represented groups at Oxford. Best known as a summer school, we have recently added new elements including a digital programme and a spring school. We were delighted to announce significant investment in this – so there will be many more places from 2019 – deadline was 28 January (Monday) (Extra context – don’t necessarily cover in talk: We do not accept applications from students at private schools (including students holding scholarship places). The term UK is understood as England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Students from British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies are not eligible to apply Academic attainment at GCSE/National 5 (or equivalent) with a strong preference for A* and A/Distinction*/1 grades. Home postcode data (Acorn Categories 4 or 5) Polar 3 Data (Quintile 1 or 2) Personal statement)   www.uniq.ox.ac.uk

An innovative new website from the University of Oxford. The ‘Home of Big Questions.’ It aims to engage those from 11 to 18 years with debates and ideas that tackle complex ideas across a wide range of subjects. Interact online at home or in school. Join us for online events! Perfect for all years Digital Works on phones as well as tablets and PCs. target audience are gifted and talented – from all secondary year groups. Super-curricular focus / not single subject dominated questions, instead they relate to a number of subjects and go beyond exam specification Our online events include interactive broadcasts to schools – tune in, receive supplementary classroom resources, and submit your questions to a panel of academics. Schools are often using this in form time, to support EPQs, for debate clubs, for independent research, stretch and challenge activities – and some even have Oxplore clubs. www.oxplore.org

Pathways Programme www.pathways.ox.ac.uk Perfect for Y12 In Oxford Year 10 taster days Year 11 investigating options Year 12 study days Year 13 – application information day - all take place in Oxford www.pathways.ox.ac.uk

Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Study Higher Target Oxbridge Working with Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire Programme starts in year 9 Raising aspirations towards higher education Aims to help black African and Caribbean students and students of mixed race with black African and Caribbean heritage increase their chances of getting into the Universities of Oxford or Cambridge Our work with BAME communities which mainly focusses on raising aspirations. Study Higher A collaborative network of higher education providers (Oxford being one of them) delivering outreach work focussed on young people in years 9-13 in areas of low progression to higher education particularly where participation is lower than expected given GCSE attainment. Part of Oxford’s contribution to the Study Higher effort is running aspiration raising/HE information advice and guidance events starting in year 9 and  targeted at Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. Target Oxbridge The Target Oxbridge programme is 6 years old now – a sustained programme. It has more than tripled in size since it began. This year (2018) the university has increased its support and is working in partnership with Rare to expand the programme to support 160 students in total.  Last year, of the 86 Target Oxbridge students who followed the programme (either in full, or in part) 26 are holding offers at Oxford and 9 are holding offers at Cambridge.

More information for you Perfect for teachers Look out for our teacher events: Regional Teacher Conferences (June/July – apply from March/April) - CPD accredited Teacher Summer School (July – apply from March/April) – CPD accredited Oxford and Cambridge Student Conferences – half day teacher programme (March each year) Look online to sign up for our teacher newsletter, access our teacher e-guide and other resources and advice In Oxford Near you Digital www.ox.ac.uk/teachers

Thank you! www.ox.ac.uk/study For the most recent information and advice about anything in this presentation, please refer to our website. www.ox.ac.uk/study Got questions? Ask: ox.ac.uk/ask CMA guidance: Refer to the website or direct students to the email address at the end of the slide for help with questions