22nd January 2016 1:00
By Blue Tutors
Oxford University Admissions has said that bright students should start preparing for Oxbridge admissions as early as 11 years old. Samina Khan, head of admissions at Oxford has said that bright kids shouldn’t wait until GCSEs and AS levels to think about their application, and that teachers should ensure that bright students understand what is required from an earlier age. She noted that sixth form heads are increasingly saying they want to prepare students earlier for the famously tricky application process. Unsurprisingly, the comments from Oxford Admissions have led to concerns that parents will push their children too early. How should private tutors respond to this development?
I’ll start by saying that I find the thought of encouraging pupils to prepare for Oxbridge interviews from age 11 extremely concerning. Pupils in the English school system have a ridiculous number of exams and assessments, and the last thing they need is parents and schools piling on more pressure. It’s very likely that hammering Oxbridge from an early age will put many students off. There’s also a danger that parents will interpret the admissions head’s remarks as a green light to push Oxbridge from year 7, which can be very damaging to pupils as well as finances if parents are paying for regular Oxbridge coaching.
However, the other side of this is that the real problem here is likely to be the way in which parents and schools interpret these remarks, rather than the comments themselves. I don’t think for a second that Oxford university encourages pupils to be tutoring and drilled for Oxbridge admission from age 11. More likely, they are encouraging young people to think about their future and become accustomed to reading, thinking, and talking about subjects that interest them. Many would argue that this should just be a normal part of education in schools, but sadly (and ironically) it is lacking due to the extreme pressure on schools, teachers and students to perform in exams. This is something that parents and private tutors can help with – but not by piling the pressure on.