The Premier Service - Oxbridge Applications

The Premier Service is our comprehensive long-term offering, providing bespoke year-round support to students in all aspects of their university application and academic journey. We pair each student with a study director whose role it is to organise bespoke courses, pair the student with mentors and tutors, and tailor the course according to the student’s developing needs. This support is delivered flexibly, outside of school and other commitments, and is designed to help students reach their full academic potential.

Study directors are full-time Oxbridge-graduate consultants based in our central London offices who build a one-to-one relationship with students in order to deliver an entirely bespoke programme of study. This highly tailored approach vastly increases the likelihood of success, as well as helping to build a range of important academic and personal qualities according to the student’s needs.

Premier Service Events

In addition to this range of support, our Premier Clients also attend two key courses at strategic points during the year:

Premier Day (September): Premier Day, held in the critical post-summer period which most students find to be crunch-time for their application, is designed to initiate the intensive preparation that will be required in the following months. After participating in small-group tutorials, preliminary mock interviews, and a one-to-one consultation, students are provided with an assessment of their progress and recommendations of key areas requiring work in the following months. Students also have the chance to ask application questions to our panel of Oxbridge academics and former admissions tutors.

Oxbridge Preparation Weekend (October): The October Oxbridge Preparation Weekend is our flagship residential course, designed to develop the key abilities admissions tutors will be looking for in successful applicants. Students undergo one-to-one time with former Oxbridge Admissions Tutors, subject-focused tutorials, admission test support, and a full day of rigorous mock interviews, allowing them to work intensively on fine-tuning their application.

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 ASNAC 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!

Ella's just heard she's got a place! Stephanie tutored Ella so excellently. She was incredibly solid and sound in her approach. She gave Ella clear guidance and goals, and pushed Ella to the upper limits of what she could achieve, setting demanding challenges and encouraging her in a positive way. Ella went into the PAT and interviews feeling confident and calm with an understanding of Physics elevated way beyond the syllabus. You had a very large part to play in helping Ella show her colours.