Case Studies

Abs came into his initial consultation set on studying History at Oxford. However, through discussion with his consultant, Abs came to realise that his academic interests were more suited to deep dives into more focused topics. His consultant encouraged him to explore two options offered by Cambridge: Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (AMES) and Anglo- Saxon, Norse and Celtic (ASNAC).

After his welcome call, Abs’ Study Director Theo set up taster sessions with tutors in History, AMES and ASNAC, so that he could learn a bit more about each subject. While Abs found the History and ASNAC courses interesting, he fell in love with AMES in his taster session and resolved to do a little more research into the languages and cultures offered by the course.

On the recommendation of his AMES tutor Lucille, Abs read books including Frankopan’s ‘The Silk Roads: A New History of the World’, which gave him a taste of the rich history and culture of Asia and the Middle East, deepening his desire to study it. When catching up with Theo over February half term, Abs confirmed his decision to pursue AMES, specifically the Arabic and Persian track.

Abs was re- introduced to Lucille as his long-term AMES mentor. Together, they decided on a regular schedule for sessions, and through these Abs learned more about Arabian and Persian history and culture, memorised the alphabet and began to study major texts.

Over the first half of August, Abs took a break from his mentoring sessions to go on a family holiday. Upon his return, he felt rested and began working on his personal statement, so he spent his next mentoring session brainstorming content to include with Lucille. Together, they identified some of the most impactful supercurriculars that Abs had undertaken, and he began his drafting process.

Once Abs had written a few drafts and worked with Lucille to refine them, he sent his personal statement to Theo, who reviewed it and also shared it with a former admissions tutor to provide final feedback. As his other university course choices were Middle Eastern Studies with Arabic, he did not include much mention of his developing skills in Persian in his statement, so Abs was able to showcase this in his My Cambridge Application form, submitted the week after his UCAS application.

On the Oxbridge Residential Course, Abs had a crash course in interview technique, taking five interviews with different tutors and receiving tips from a former Cambridge admissions tutor. After this course, he was set up to receive more interviews online, with Oxbridge- graduate tutors and former admissions tutors.

Abs went into his Cambridge interviews with his nerves mostly under control. The interviews themselves reminded him with his sessions with Lucille, and he found the conversations equally enjoyable, as the chance to have a discussion with an extremely knowledgeable academic.

In mid-January, Abs received his Cambridge offer, delighted that he would get to study the subject that he loved!

Charlotte sits the TSA at her school on November 3rd and comes out feeling confident. As Oxford’s Economics & Management course removes candidates from consideration pre- interview largely on the basis of their TSA score, she understands that this might end up being the single most important exam of her school career. In Mid-November, Charlotte is invited to interview. Knowing that this has already made her one of the top 20% of applicants to the course, and that she has by this point done more than a dozen mock interview sessions, she approaches this confidently.

Charlotte has two interviews with Balliol, the college she initially applied to, and is subsequently invited to another set of interviews at St Catherine’s. Tom reassures her that this is often part of Oxford’s process.

Charlotte receives an offer of a place to study Economics and Management at St Catherine’s College, Oxford, and is delighted to begin studying on what is, statistically, the single most competitive undergraduate course in the UK.