A total of 30 students at Colchester Royal Grammar School (CRGS) have been provisionally offered a place at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in a broad range of subjects.

 

There are 21 offers for Cambridge and 9 for Oxford in courses as wide-ranging as Music, Mathematics, Architecture, Medicine, and Modern and Medieval Languages. English is often considered one of the most competitive subjects to apply for, and the school’s English department were proud to see three students offered a place.

 

CRGS Headmaster, Mr John Russell, is pleased to see the diversity within the group of successful applicants: ‘They include students who joined CRGS aged 11 and those who joined from a wide range of educational backgrounds in the Sixth Form.’ Mr Russell added ‘We also know some excellent students will unfortunately miss out because Oxford and Cambridge entry is very competitive. We are, however, pleased to see these students holding impressive offers from other leading universities. For many talented students, their university aspirations do not focus on Oxford and Cambridge at all, and we are seeing increasing internationalism in their applications. We are still waiting to hear the result of applications to US Ivy League universities, as well as applications to Canada and Hong Kong.’

 

Dr Jennifer Stimson, Head of Sixth Form at CRGS, is grateful for the help provided by staff and the wider school community in supporting students: ‘Staff are incredibly giving of their time, providing careful support for students writing their personal statements as well as classes to extend learning beyond A level to help prepare them for interview. For a practice interview day held in the Autumn Term, staff, parents, governors and alumni all devoted time to building student confidence for university interviews at Oxford, Cambridge and a wide range of other highly-ranked universities.  The process really feels like a team effort and I know students are very appreciative of the help’.