Dubious Oxford entry

Oxford may be obliged to earmark ‘wild-card’ places for state school pupils who gain unexpectedly high grades at A-level. The proposal aims to help pupils, who exceed their predictions, to gain entry to top universities immediately rather than reapplying post A-Level.The proposal has been made by Professor Schwartz of Brunel University, who is leading a government task force to reform university admissions. Oxford has dismissed the system as unworkable and not in line with their interview requirement.A University spokeswoman said “It would mean reserving places on the off-chance that somebody might get better grades. We prefer people to make considered applications rather than keeping places open for somebody who might decide at the last minute to come.”Archive: 0th week HT 2004