This year, we are proud to have received four Oxbridge offers from four outstanding students. They would like to express their heartfelt thanks to everyone who has supported them throughout their journey.
“My teachers at the Abbey have been incredible throughout my Oxbridge application process. I’d especially like to thank my English teachers, Dr Button and Mrs Hart, for their help throughout. Dr Button spent a lot of time and effort preparing for and running our Oxbridge English Prep Club, where we discussed everything from structuralism and feminist/queer literary theory, to unseen 16th-century poems and extracts of modernist prose. She was always very encouraging and supportive, and those discussions were crucial to developing my thought. Dr Button also read through all of the work that I’d sent off to universities, including my personal statement and written work submissions, and offered thoughtful and insightful feedback. Furthermore, Mrs Hart organised mock interviews for me in the run-up to my Oxford interviews, which were really helpful for easing myself into rigorous debate with teachers and academics. Both teachers, as well as many teachers in the English department at the Abbey, have also supported my endeavours to set up our Literature Society by offering to give talks on their specialist literary topics. So thank you so much to all the English teachers at the Abbey, but especially Dr Button and Mrs Hart — I couldn’t have done it without you!”
Violet, Upper VI
“Studying physics at university is already exciting, but having the opportunity to study at Oxford makes it even more thrilling. I’m especially looking forward to the unique tutorial-style teaching in small groups, as well as the focus on maths in the first year. I’m very grateful for the fantastic help from the physics department (Mr Khan, Mrs Earnshaw, Mr Gilbertson), as well as Mr Dalton, who supported me through the interviews and helped to demystify the application process.”
Alexia, Upper VI
“I’d really like to thank Mr Dalton and Ms Bilkey. Mr Dalton was massively supportive throughout the entire application process, as well as encouraging my love for textual analysis since Lower 4. In preparation for my choral scholarship audition, Ms Bilkey spent a great deal of time working on my pieces and aural skills with me, and always had much more confidence in me than I had in myself! My application wouldn’t have happened without them, and I will always be immensely grateful.”
Grace, Upper VI
“When it comes to reflecting on my Oxbridge application and all that it entailed (personal statement, written work, admissions test preparation, interview preparation and more!) I can’t express my gratitude towards my teachers enough – they went above and beyond in helping me prepare for everything. I applied for History and Spanish, and on the Spanish side of things, Señora Trujillo gave up so much of her time in getting me in the best shape possible to give things a go which meant a lot and I am extremely thankful for the many hours she spent with me to achieve this. We went over numerous grammar drills that really paid off in improving my confidence and she instilled in me so many incredible tips for how best to go about tackling the Modern Languages admissions test. Similarly, for History, Mr Hawkins and Dr Tullis both helped me prepare brilliantly for the interviews especially, putting me through my paces to mimic the real thing which I found incredibly helpful. And, although it was tough at first, I definitely developed skills that made me feel a lot more self-assured in defending my ideas and putting forward a strong argument. I am very proud of having got a Cambridge offer and people keep telling me that this is a testament to the hard work I put into the whole process; however, what made me feel a lot more confident in undertaking this challenge was the tireless effort and support given to me by my teachers, who guided me through what can be a mystifying process. I know for a fact that I could not have done this without the incredible staff support which I am so grateful to have received!”
Louisa, Upper VI