Oxbridge interviews need to change

So much gets written about Oxbridge interviews along the lines of Alex Preston`s article last week, how they "are not about catching our applicants", but about "getting candidates to think", one is drawn to conclude they "protest too much, methinks" (Solving the riddle of getting into Oxford, 15.10.17). These interviews, apparently, are designed to show "the first flickerings of critical thought", which is really worrying, as it arrogantly suggests sixth form teachers demand no such thing. If tutors fear they might be "bored" in tutorials, some internal reforms might be necessary!

      Preston even resorts to quoting from an Oxford professor`s book, which claims candidates need only "stay calm", and "use the one thing that will get you into Oxford, your brain"! For around 60% of Oxford`s undergraduates, their brains were accompanied by considerable wealth, giving them the access to private education, and the ensuing confidence. Putting sixth-formers through what is clearly a terrifying ideal for most of them can only damage the self-esteem of the hundreds every year who are rejected.So much for concern for pupils` mental health issues!

     If this is a time "when Oxford is seeking to be more inclusive", they should start with ensuring interview questions give the opportunity to all candidates to show off their knowledge and intelligence, rather than confuse and surprise them.  Do the tutors not believe the research findings at Cardiff and Oxford Brookes Universities, which revealed students from state schools gained better degrees than independently-educated candidates with the same A-level grades? The sooner a Labour government insists all universities take a maximum of 7% of their undergraduates from the private sector, in line with national figures, the better.

  Recent cheating scandals at Eton and Winchester "outed" the Pre-University examinations, taken at most private schools in place of the usual A-levels; it seems these examinations are often both written and marked by teachers in the private sector. On the Pre-U website, Winchester College recommends these examinations, as they are "very liberating for teachers"! How many "unliberated" A-level teachers in state schools know that their pupils are competing for places at university with students whose grades have been achieved differently? As if the playing field wasn`t sufficiently uneven!