4th July 2014 13:00
By Blue Tutors
A series of 12 hubs are to be established across Wales to support students applying to Oxford and Cambridge Universities. The move has come after the Welsh government started an investigation into why fewer welsh students gain places at the universities that their English counterparts. Former Welsh Secretary Paul Murphy has been made Oxbridge ambassador, and has been tasked with addressing the issue. He has recommended that a support network across the country would help students with their applications, and put them on a more even footing.
Murphy’s report for the period 2008-12 showed that 22.6% of Welsh pupils applying to Cambridge were successful, compared with 27% in the rest of the UK. For Oxford, 17.3% of Welsh student gained places, compared with 23.6% of other UK applicants. One of the main factors is said to be that Welsh students do not do as well in post-GCSE assessments as students in the rest of the UK. As exam results are one of the main criteria involved in Oxbridge selection, the report concluded that this is one area which needs to be urgently addressed.
However, the report also cautioned that exam results were not the only factor at work. Murphy found that even the strongest Welsh candidates were not gaining admission, despite having top exam results. He noted that interviews and university set tests are usually part of the Oxbridge admissions process, and cited analysis which suggests that Welsh students do not perform as well in those. He concluded that setting up 12 hubs to ‘hot house’ able students would help them prepare for the admissions process, putting them on a more even playing field with students from the rest of the UK who were more familiar with the process.