u*****a
发帖数: 6276 | 1 牛津大学招生条件苛刻，4/5的申请者被拒，这所世界顶级名校的录取过程想必也是很
多人想要了解的。据BBC中文网9月22日报道，牛津大学本科招生负责人尼克森表示，大
学录取的实际情况是很复杂的。
据报道，牛津大学本科招生负责人尼克森(Mike Nicholson)在作为牛津的“把门人”8
年后离职。
尼克森谈了他如何在鼓励最优秀的学生申请牛津，与对应社会成见之间取得平衡。
尼克森本人考大学时没有申请牛津，而他以前供职的大学大多数都在英国精英大学“
罗素集团”之外。
牛津大学聘任他是希望他作为一个外人，“认真审视牛津的录取制度”。
据报道，尼克森回忆说，他接手负责牛津招生之时，最大的争论是“公校或私校”之
争。
当时，一个公立学校的女生虽然在中学会考中取得10个A*，仍被牛津拒绝，却被美国
哈佛大学录取。
尼克森的挑战是从“新闻标题”的背后探索大学录取的公平机会究竟意味着什么。
尼克森说，实际情况是“很复杂”的。
比如，在去年牛津大学录取的58%的“公立学校”的学生中，既有来自贫困家庭的，也
有来自富裕家庭的，学校则包括从成绩最差到最好的，类型则包括普通(
comprehensives)、重点(grammars)、学院(academies)中学等。
贫困家庭的申请者中，有1/3是来自私校，因为他们获得了奖学金。
尼克森说，应该把他们算作贫困阶层，因为他们来自贫困家庭，还是把他们算作自富
裕阶层，因为他们接受的是私校教育?
尼克森说，现在回过头看，可能过分注重提高贫困生的录取比例，应该把精力更多的放
在提高少数族裔学生的比例上。
报道称，与此同时，最新数据显示，英国公立学校和私立学校学生考入名牌大学的比
例差距悬殊。
对英国公立和私立中学学生考入一流大学的人数第一次正式的详细分析证实，二者之
间有巨大差别。
2011年，私立中学中，每20人中有一人考入牛津或剑桥大学。
同年，公立中学学生每100个人中才有一人升入这两所学校。
英国教育部说，发布这个详细的数据，是便于家长对孩子学校的表现有更好的了解。 | u*****a
发帖数: 6276 | 2 贫困家庭的申请者中，有1/3是来自私校，因为他们获得了奖学金。
尼克森说，应该把他们算作贫困阶层，因为他们来自贫困家庭，还是把他们算作自富
裕阶层，因为他们接受的是私校教育?
尼克森说，现在回过头看，可能过分注重提高贫困生的录取比例，应该把精力更多的放
在提高少数族裔学生的比例上。
结论：尼克森支持 AA。
He says there are no backdoors, no private deals and no single person can
make the decision to admit a student. | u*****a
发帖数: 6276 | 3 Mike Nicholson has been running Oxford's admissions for eight years
Hundreds of thousands of young people are getting ready to start university.
They will have negotiated the admissions process - exam grades, interviews
and finding the right words of persuasion for their personal statements.
But there is no admissions system more intensely scrutinised than at Oxford
University. It's a symbolic gateway. It's seen not just as an academic entry
process but a barometer of social inclusiveness.
Four out of five applicants get turned down - but are they being turned down
for the right reasons?
Mike Nicholson, the man who has been in the hot seat as Oxford's director of
undergraduate admissions, is stepping down after eight years.
He has had the balancing act of encouraging the highest-achieving youngsters
to apply while countering the stereotypes of social privilege.
If he is a gatekeeper of a bastion of privilege, he's a very genial figure.
Meritocratic?
And Mr Nicholson has empathy with those approaching with some hesitation, as
he says he arrived at Oxford expecting a "hostile environment".
As a student he hadn't applied to Oxford and had mostly worked in
universities outside the Russell Group of research-intensive universities -
but the university had wanted him as an outsider to "take a long hard look"
at its admissions. | u*****a
发帖数: 6276 | 4 Admissions to the University of Oxford have become a symbol of social
mobility
"When I arrived the only real debate was about state versus private," he
says.
The big topic was still Laura Spence, the state school girl from the north-
east of England who had 10 A*s in her GCSEs and had been turned away from
Oxford - eventually studying in Harvard instead.
This had provoked the wrath of Gordon Brown, then chancellor, and Mr
Nicholson says it had come to be seen as a "touchstone for why Oxford isn't
meritocratic".
His challenge was to get "behind the headlines" and to develop a much more
detailed understanding of what fair access means in university admissions.
"It is really complex," says Mr Nicholson, who is moving on to run
admissions at Bath University.
Within the 58% of last year's Oxford entry who were "state school" pupils,
there is a mix of privileged and disadvantaged youngsters, from high and low
-achieving schools, grammars, academies and comprehensives.
Greatest need?
Even wanting to attract more low-income students, he says, is not always
straightforward.
Among applicants from deprived families, about a third have been to private
school, presumably with a scholarship. Does this make them disadvantaged
because of their family income, or privileged because of their private
education? | u*****a
发帖数: 6276 | 5 Laura Spence became a high-profile story when she was turned down by Oxford
With schools in London outperforming the rest of the country, does this mean
that region should be taken into account? The most recent figures show
there were about 60 pupils accepted from the north-east of England compared
with more than 660 from London.
Should deprivation be judged by where pupils live or where they go to school
, which could be in another higher-achieving local authority? Or should it
be the type of institution. Fewer than 2% of entrants went to a further
education college.
Looking back, Mr Nicholson says much of the focus was on poorer applicants,
but more might have been done to recruit from among ethnic minority students.
The university has made big efforts to have this debate in the open,
providing vast amounts of data about its admissions process and putting
information such as interview questions into the public domain.
But it's as much a moral maze as an administration process.
Outreach work
The admissions system looks at those youngsters who apply, but the other
side of the question is those clever youngsters who don't even consider it.
The number of applications to Oxford is less than 40% of the number getting
AAA* grades.
The outreach work with state schools has become much more professional, says
Mr Nicholson.
This includes a recognition that there is little impact from one-off visits
or events. It's not realistic to think that teenagers will "just come along
and feel inspired and everything falls into place".
Instead there is an emphasis on sustained links with schools and pupils,
better use of tracking data, making contact before sixth form and more
intensive introductions such as summer schools. | u*****a
发帖数: 6276 | 6 Independent schools have a disproportionate number of top A-level grades
Since Mr Nicholson arrived, annual applications have risen from 13,000 to 17
,500.
But this is controversial territory.
Just as the university is attacked for elitism, it also faces complaints
that its efforts to encourage applications from poorer youngsters create an
unfair bias against talented independent school pupils.
So how does social background - so-called "contextualised information" - get
taken into account in the admissions process?
"All the candidates who apply go through the same processes, such as
aptitude tests, they will have their applications reviewed by a number of
tutors, they may have to produce coursework. The tutors will then have a
shortlist of interviewees," says Mr Nicholson.
"If we see that there's a candidate who has had a lot of challenges, we will
bring them in addition to those shortlisted for interview.
"No-one loses out."
From the 2013 admission figures, about 190 of these students flagged up as
being disadvantaged eventually got a place, with a success rate of about one
in six applicants, lower than the average.
Self-confidence
But how is such disadvantage defined?
The two key factors are the applicant's home postcode and the academic
profile of their school. Eligibility for free school meals is not taken into
account, as Mr Nicholson says it is not seen as a reliable measure. | u*****a
发帖数: 6276 | 7 不知道能贴出来否?
Disadvantage is identified by home postcode and exam results at the school
"If you are the only person in your school, or even the only person in your
town, who might be making an application to Oxford, it's a difficult and
challenging thing," he says.
In contrast, there is a great deal of self-confidence to be gained from
being in a school that has a regular conveyor belt into Oxbridge. | u*****a
发帖数: 6276 | 8 Angry parents
But should university admissions be about fairness or should it just be
about picking from the most able?
Mr Nicholson says it is about trying to get students with the most potential
in the most transparent way.
And the distribution of top A-level grades will mean that independent school
pupils will continue to be over-represented. In independent schools, 51% of
A-level entries gained an A* or A grade, compared with a national average
of 26%. It means that Oxford's intake will reflect this.
There could also be an element of tactics. State school pupils are more
likely to apply for a small number of mainstream, oversubscribed subjects.
Only 18% of applicants for maths get a place, 20% for English - but for
those applying for classics, there is a 40% chance.
It's hard getting turned down. Mr Nicholson says it is parents, rather than
their children, who find it most difficult to accept the rejection - and
every year some of them get in touch to complain.
There can also be unsubtle attempts to lobby: "I had a Christmas card from
the president of a country suggesting this particular student was a worthy
chap."
He says there are no backdoors, no private deals and no single person can
make the decision to admit a student.
There are people who want to "perpetuate that idea that it's exclusive, that
there's a trick or technique that allows you to get in," but he says that
perception is "totally at odds with my experience".
"What we've done is open up the opportunity for more people to apply who in
the past might have thought it wasn't for them." | u*****a
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