Research into the barriers that disadvantaged young people face when applying to Oxbridge

In 2018 OxFizz conducted research into the barriers disadvantaged young people face in attaining places at Oxford and Cambridge. This research highlighted key areas of concern and insights that informed our first year-long Access programme.

As we thought about how we could adapt our provision to help it serve our young people even better, we wanted to return to some of those questions and dig a little deeper.

We wanted to understand:

·         What are the specific barriers young people are facing?

·         Which skills and mindsets are needed for successful applications?

·         What current provisioning is available to disadvantaged young people?

·         How can OxFizz best harness its unique assets to support young people in the future?

We were fortunate to have a group of interns over the summer, through the Oxford University Crankstart internship programme, who were able to investigate these questions through quantitative and qualitative research, interviews, and questionnaires.

We want to recognise Zella Baig, Charlie Hailes and Dorcas Shodeinde for the work they did, under challenging deadlines, to produce this report. Thank you so much. A further thanks is also due to all of those who participated in the research itself.

The key findings can be seen in this report Research into the barriers that disadvantaged young people face when applying to Oxbridge, which we are delighted to be publishing today. Particular things that emerged for us and thinking about our support for Oxbridge applications are:  

·         The importance of more sustained contact with people knowledgeable about the process.

·         The value of sustained, structured practice and feedback to develop and embed key skills and knowledge, particularly relevant to admissions tests and interviews.

·         The benefit of aligning ‘significant others’ to ensure maximum benefit in support of young peoples’ applications.

We hope you find this report insightful in better understanding the hurdles young people face in applying to top institutions and that its recommendations will be useful in developing future programmes of support.