Cambridge and Oxford places still dominated by south-east applicants (Originally published on page 7 of The Guardian)
Katy Gregory, from Liverpool, now at York University.
Photograph: Christopher Thomond/Guardian
Katy Gregory, from Liverpool, applied to Oxford in 2010 to read history of art
Coming from an academy didn’t help as much as I thought it would. Despite good AS-level grades and my subsequent A-level results of A*A*A, I didn’t receive much encouragement from my school and was offered only basic help. My teachers were unable to guide me through the baffling steeplechase of an application process that included writing a personal response to a work of art. At my own initiative I trawled through gallery archives to put together what I hoped was sufficient to meet the department’s vague guidelines. Needless to say, I wasn’t invited for an interview.
I also unsuccessfully applied for a choral scholarship at Oxford, which took weeks of preparation with my singing teacher and choir director. Although this wasn’t an academic scholarship, I still believe that if I had gone to school in the south-east or London, my music department would have had the resources (due to the uneven distribution of government funding), time and experience to help me. However, I had no help from my music department. I don’t recall if any of the applicants I met at the choral trials were also from the north.
When I asked for feedback after the interview, the college’s response was superficial and generic, blaming the high number of candidates applying for my course that year. Although I was upset and disillusioned at the rejection, I am happy to be at the University of York.
Source: The Guardian
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