Universities

In the Lent half of C, the Universities Officer talks to all likely applicants on the procedures to follow. He is also available at any time during the A-level years for interviews with boys or parents. Final decisions on course and institution should usually be made by the beginning of a boy’s year in B.

Each April the school publishes the Eton College Higher Education Guide which gives information and advice to boys about universities and other institutions of higher education.

The vast majority of Etonians apply to university before A-level. They may apply to a maximum of five universities. Some university departments still call applicants to interview before deciding whether or not to offer a place conditional upon A-level grades, but most universities nowadays base their decisions solely on the UCAS form. It is also possible to apply to university after A-level.

Applicants to Oxford University may be required to submit written work and/or take a short written test or tests during Oxford’s December interview period. After interview, applicants may be offered a place conditional upon A-level grades. Cambridge candidates, too, may have to submit written work prior to interview: after being interviewed, a candidate may be offered a place conditional upon his performance in A-level and, in some cases, the Sixth Term Examination Papers (STEP). Oxford post A-level applicants may be asked to sit short written tests during the interview period.  Both universities, but especially Oxford, also use pre-interview aptitude tests as a way of filtering out candidates before the interview stage. Full details of all these arrangements are to be found in the Oxford Undergraduate Prospectus and the Cambridge Admissions Prospectus.

Modest donative awards may be given in case of need to boys with a university place. Application should be made to the School Bursar.

Oxford & Cambridge Places

Over the past thirty years some 60-80 boys (between a quarter and a third of the year group) have made successful applications to Oxbridge each year.

The range of degree courses applied for by successful applicants was wide, with English, history, economics and management, PPE,modern languages and theology/philosophy invariably popular with our boys.