Success for Exeter College Medical and Oxbridge Applicants

Students from @ExeterCollege applying to study medical-based courses at university are celebrating as a massive 70% of applicants to these courses have been successful in securing offers on these highly sought-after courses.  

Applications to study medical-related courses at university generally begin earlier in the academic year than normal courses and can be a demanding process as students outline their ambitions in the field. 

Fortunately, thanks in part to the work of Exeter College’s exemplary Reach Academy, students have excelled in their applications, with 22 students holding offers to study medicine, two for veterinary medicine and one for dentistry. This means that 25 of the 36 applications made have been successful, which is a great result.  

The College’s Medical Society, which specifically focuses on students seeking careers in veterinary, dentistry or medicine has also supported these students to achieve their goals. This has included specific talks from medical professionals and university admissions teams. Find out about the Medical Interview Masterclass the society attended in January 2020.  

Exeter College Vice Principal Jade Otty, who leads on academic performance at the College, said,

“I’m thrilled we’ve been able to support these incredibly talented students to achieve their goal of going on to study their chosen courses at university.  

“These courses are incredibly tough to get in to and achieving an offer to study any of them is a great achievement that is a result of months of hard work on the part of students.” 

The Reach Academy at Exeter College supports academically gifted students to achieve their aim of getting in to their first choice university with a range of skill-building workshops, seminars and application-building sessions. During the exceptional circumstances of the Coronavirus pandemic, support from the Reach Academy moved online and worked with students through online seminars and activities to support their university applications.  

Jade said, “The Reach Academy has done tremendous work in helping these students to achieve their goals. It’s great that it has had such an impact for these students and helped them to go on to their chosen universities. I can’t wait to see what they go on to achieve in the future.” 

Students with Exeter College also get the chance to take Extend an option alongside their academic studies to build skills outside of the curriculum. The Medical Technologies Extend option gives medically minded students the chance to develop background knowledge on all things medicine, including diagnostic and therapy techniques.  

Oxbridge Success 

The medical application success follows on the heels of Exeter College’s Oxbridge applicants having received the news of their offers to study with the world leading universities.  

Over a half of students invited to interview at Oxford and Cambridge were offered a place, with a total of 14 students offered a place at one of the world leading universities. These students were also supported by the Reach Academy, helping students to navigate the lengthy process of applying to these universities.  

Eight students hold offers to study with the University of Oxford, with courses ranging from Biochemistry to Ruskin Art. Six students have been given offers to study with the University of Cambridge, which is a remarkable conversion rate of 75% from the eight students who were invited for interview. 

Rose Smith, who studied the International Baccalaureate with Exeter College, has been offered a place to study Archaeology and Anthropology at Oxford. She said,

“It’s great to have an offer to study with Oxford. There has been a lot of hard work but the support from the College has been second-to-none.” 

Bideford’s Tom Matthew has an offer to study Human, Social and Political Science with Cambridge having studied A Levels in Geography, Sociology and Politics with Exeter College. He said,

“It feels quite surreal to have got an offer, to be honest. 

“Going to Cambridge is always something I’ve had in the back of my mind but didn’t always think it would be realistic. However, I’ve been helped by the teachers at Exeter College to put together a competitive application and I am really happy to say that I’ve got an offer to study at Cambridge.” 

The outstanding Oxbridge application success follows on from the news that International Baccalaureate student Charlie McNamara has received an offer to study Liberal Arts at Harvard University.  

Exeter College Vice Principal Jade Otty said,

“I would like to congratulate each and every student that has been offered one of these highly sought-after places at world leading universities. 

“To receive an offer to study at an Oxbridge university is an incredible achievement and the result of years of hard work on the part of the students. 

“It’s not enough to only show academic excellence to join Oxford or Cambridge, these students have also demonstrated exceptional work outside of the classroom and I’m thrilled that we have been able to help these talented students on their educational journey.” 

Offers made to students will be subject to them achieving the required grades when results are revealed this summer as part of the Government’s reformed method for calculating grades following the Coronavirus pandemic.