State School share of Cambridge places at 30-year high

This is the highest proportion since the early 1980s. The University attributes the increase to its sustained, intensive work to encourage and support strong applications from the UK state sector, and to investment in making its selection process more effective.

Applications from state schools and colleges rose by 3% in October 2011, and this was mirrored in the proportion of offers made.

“It has been wonderful to see continuing increases in the number and quality of applications from UK state schools and colleges,” said Dr Mike Sewell, Director of Admissions for the Cambridge Colleges. “This, alongside our focus on research-based admissions decisions, has helped us move closer towards our goal of admitting the best students from all backgrounds with the greatest potential to thrive at Cambridge.”

Actions taken to encourage applications from all students with the academic ability to succeed at Cambridge have included:-

• The abolition of the paper Cambridge Application Form and its separate fee.
• The creation of the Area Links scheme so that all schools have access to a named contact at the collegiate University.
• Investment in Summer Schools, which bring young people to Cambridge for an experience of university-level study, and other outreach events.

Research into the best predictors of success at the collegiate university has helped Cambridge to improve its capacity to assess applicants efficiently and fairly by:-

• concentrating on achievement in public examinations as the key driver of admissions to this highly-selective university.
• relying less on grade predictions in favour of considering the actual marks achieved by applicants at AS and A Level, with a particular focus on those achieved at the end of Y12.
• investing in electronic application management, enabling  Admissions Tutors to compare all 15,000+ applications across subject and College boundaries from the very beginning of the admissions process.

“The contribution of teachers and schools to this figure should not be underestimated,” Dr Sewell said. “Teachers are key allies in encouraging their most able students to see beyond stereotyping and aim high and we work closely with them.”

As part of the introduction of the higher tuition fee, the University of Cambridge has a target of admitting between 61 and 63% of UK undergraduates from the state sector.

“We adopted a target range, not a figure, because year on year fluctuations may result from external factors outside our control,” added Dr Sewell.

“The long-term impact of higher fees remains unknown. However, we are confident that the University of Cambridge offers one of the best undergraduate educations in the world.  We hope that any student with the ability and the appetite to succeed here will submit an application by 15^th October.”