Oxbridge raise bar in admissions process

The majority of students will be expected to score straight A* grades in their A-Levels for the first time to secure admission to Oxbridge, it has been revealed.

Both institutions have also revealed that they are preparing to set more entry exams in addition to formal interviews.

These announcements have been made just days before the deadline to apply to the prestigious institutions.

Oxford University has said that it will now require almost nine in 10 prospective students to sit some form of aptitude test, up from around two-thirds in 2009.

Cambridge will be running 20 entrance tests in 2013.

Cambridge already demands that all applicants achieve one A* and two As as a minimum entry requirement but the number of courses requiring an A* at Oxford will increase by a third this year, from 15 to 20.

These decisions will fuel fears that universities are still struggling to identify the most able applicants from the thousands of pupils leaving school with straight As at A-Level, and as more students strive for the very best universities, to ensure value for money after the tuition fee increase, it is likely to make it harder for sixth-formers to secure places in 2013.

Caroline Lindner, managing director of Oxbridge Applications, said the universities were creating increasingly sophisticated tools to select the brightest students.

“With so many people applying, admissions tutors need more checks and balances to make sure that they’re getting someone who is going to be suited to an Oxbridge way of teaching,” she said.

Mike Nicholson, Oxford’s director of admissions, said that the A* often failed to mark out the brightest candidates in the humanities and social sciences subjects. Aptitude tests were therefore particularly important in these areas.

The rise in tests also reflects that so many students were applying from other countries or sitting alternative qualifications in the sixth-form, he said.

“Having a test that everybody does gives us a chance to benchmark candidates against each other, irrespective of the education system or country they have come from,” Mr Nicholson said. “That is increasingly the reason why we are seeing the tests as being valuable; because the applications pool isn’t all doing A-level.