The UK state schools that beat private schools at getting students into Oxbridge

The good news is that the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge are mildly less elitist than they used to be. There are loads of state schools across the UK which are acing UCAS admissions and are sending off loads of students to Oxbridge each year. Last year, four state schools managed to worm more sixth-formers into Oxbridge than the ultra-prestigious (read: ultra-snobby) Eton College did. One sixth-form college got the joint most students into Oxbridge out of any UK school – 69 students, the same as Westminster School, where boarding costs £20,995 PER TERM.

The bad news is that this list isn’t a very diverse selection of state schools. Half of these schools are in London, and half are grammar schools. Only one school is in the Midlands, and one in the north of England. The rest are all in southern counties close to London. Yikes.

This date comes from The Spectator, and refers to last year’s admission cycle. You can gawp at how many students the boujie UK private schools got into Oxbridge here.

So, here are the 22 UK state schools which get the most students into Oxbridge. (That’s not an entirely random number, fyi. I was going to do a list of 20, but four state schools got the same number of students into Oxbridge.) The “success rate” is the percentage of students who applied that got offers.

=19. Winstanley College, Greater Manchester

23 offers, 21 per cent success rate

=19. London Academy of Excellence, London

23 offers, 25 per cent success rate

=19. Reading School, Berkshire

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It’s an all-boys boarding school but it still counts as a state school on the Oxbridge application forms
(Credit: ThreeHundred300 via Creative Commons)

23 offers, 31 per cent success rate

=19. Hereford Sixth Form College, Herefordshire

23 offers, 40 per cent success rate

=17. Woodhouse College, London

25 offers, 23 per cent success rate

=17. Dr Challoner’s Grammar School, Buckinghamshire

25 offers, 40 per cent success rate

=15. King Edward VI Grammar School, Essex

26 offers, 32 per cent success rate

=15. The Judd School, Kent

26 offers, 36 per cent success rate

14. Colchester Royal Grammar School, Essex

27 offers, 32 per cent success rate

13. Pate’s Grammar School, Gloucestershire

28 offers, 33 per cent success rate

12. Wilson’s School, London

It’s an all-boys grammar school in Sutton
(Credit: Suttonner via Creative Commons)

29 offers, 31 per cent success rate

11. The Camden School for Girls, London

31 offers, 41 per cent success rate

10. Henrietta Barnett School, London

34 offers, 43 per cent success rate

9. Tiffin School, London

38 offers, 32 per cent success rate

8. St Olave’s and St Saviour’s Grammar School, London

39 offers, 35 per cent success rate

7. Newham Collegiate Sixth Form Centre, London

@thencs

🔥Newham Collegiate Sixth Form outshines Eton for Oxbridge application success rates! 🔥The NCS ranks among London’s best sixth forms for preparing students to make successful Oxbridge applications, with the a higher success rate than Eton College and the highest in Newham. Discover more at our bio link!

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40 offers, 29 per cent success rate

6. Peter Symonds College, Hampshire

46 offers, 47 per cent success rate

5. Queen Elizabeth’s School, London

47 offers, 44 per cent success rate

4. Harris Westminster Sixth Form, London

49 offers, 31 per cent success rate

3. Brampton Manor Academy, London

50 offers, 18 per cent success rate

2. Brighton Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College, East Sussex

56 offers, 29 per cent success rate

1. Hills Road Sixth Form College, Cambridgeshire

69 offers, 25 per cent success rate

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Feature image of King’s College Cambridge by Katie Thacker. Feature image of Reading School by ThreeHundred300 via Creative Commons.