Oxbridge Pathway at LVS Ascot
If you are both academic and ambitious, LVS Ascot offers a programme that starts in Year 10 and can end at these world-leading universities. A focus of this is to ensure that students have the opportunity to broaden their knowledge and skills inside and outside the classroom.
This starts in Year 10 within the classroom and develops into broader extra-curricular provision in Years 12 and 13. The key to success is reading, research and conceptual reflection beyond the syllabus.
Programme Summary
Year 10 & Year 11
Spring Term: A visiting speaker from Oxford or Cambridge introduces university study through a talk. Students have a priority meeting with the LVS Careers Advisor. Students are identified through departments and invited to open days and study days in the summer term. They are set reading lectures and other materials to develop their curiosity, ambition, experience and knowledge of their chosen area.
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Year 12
Students will join clubs or societies, not necessarily dedicated to their area of interest. This could be outside of LVS Ascot.
Spring Term: Students will attend a study day at Oxford or Cambridge.
May: The application process starts with the full support of staff in producing a personal statement.
Preparation for the admissions tests starts.
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Year 13
September: Continued work on admissions tests and interview preparation.
October 15th: The application is submitted.
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Years 10 & 11
Both year groups receive a presentation on the two universities in the Spring Term, with the opportunity for questions, and they will be invited to a talk by a visiting speaker from a world class university such as Oxford or Cambridge. The idea is to sow the seed and to give students the confidence to set Oxbridge as a goal. Potential Oxbridge candidates in Years 10 and 11 are identified across the subjects and they attend open days and study days at Oxbridge in the Summer Term. This is seen as a way to inspire them and give them an early taste of the intellectual requirements.
Most importantly however, students are encouraged through their subject teachers to look at texts, lectures and other material related to an area of personal intellectual interest, so that they could answer the question, “So, how far has your curiosity taken you?”
Years 12 & 13
Students are encouraged from the start of Year 12 to engage in the many and varied Academic Enrichment activities at LVS Ascot, including public-speaking, music and other societies which foster intellectual growth. Visiting speakers form an important part of the programme and from January, Oxford and Cambridge offer a wide choice of Study Days for students to gain a taste of the subject and of life at the universities.
Application to Oxbridge summer schools is encouraged and support is given with the application. Heads of Department play an important role in identifying and supporting potential candidates through reading and research suggestions. The programme encourages an enthusiastic and disciplined spirit of enquiry, fuelling students’ ambitions to tackle academically challenging material.
From June of Year 12, students are given support and guidance with their personal statements and help in completing the UCAS form to meet the early deadline of October 15th. A rigorous schedule of admissions test preparation and practice interviews with a variety of interviewers, both from LVS Ascot and outside, ensure candidates are well prepared for this part of the process.
Is it for me?
Signs that Oxbridge may be right for you:
- You are predicted all 8/9s or A/A*s across your subjects.
- You actively seek out books and articles to read and lectures to watch.
- You enjoy activities relating to your subject beyond the classroom.
- You are inquisitive about areas of your studies and follow your curiosity.
- You enjoy discussing areas of your studies with teachers and peers.
- You have ambition to excel in your subject.
If this applies to you, please come to see Ms Carels-Watson or email elske.carels-watson@lvs.ascot.sch.uk find to out more about Oxford and Cambridge and how you could visit the universities and apply. And, most importantly…what you should be reading!
For more information you can also visit www.cam.ac.uk and www.ox.ac.uk
Additional reading and resources
Please click here for reading suggestions from Oxford.
Please click here for reading suggestions from Cambridge.
Please click here for advice on interviews.
Please click here for updated information on 2024 admissions.
Please click here for wider reading ideas.