How to increase successful rates?

At OXBRiDGE Advisers, we always believe that our pupils are in a better position when applying for schools when they are well prepared and have an interesting tailor-made portfolio.

1. Attending School Open Days

While all schools have beautiful websites and photographs, our advisers always suggest parents and their child go visit the schools. It is crucial for you and your child to go and meet the pupils, have a chat with the staff, view the facilities and have a feel for the school’s culture and academic regime. It may also be important to you to see whether the school is conveniently located. Open days and school visits are very popular and slots can be fully booked early on. Upon appointing OXBRiDGE Advisers, our team will help you to plan and book school tours directly with the admissions department. We offer full service school tours from booking appointments, arranging special requests with the schools during the tours, UK airport pickups and drop offs, arranging hotel accommodations and local transportation. Our advisers can also accompany you to school tours (if required), translate and communicate with the schools if you have further questions, discuss special needs teaching (SEN). * Get in touch with us and we can arrange a private tour and a meeting with the Head.

2. Build your own Portfolio

Most of the top UK independent schools receive more than 1,000 applications each academic year. With so many applicants how do you differentiate yourself? Whether your child is sporty, academic, artistic, musical or creative, it is important to build a unique portfolio for your child when applying for schools.

At OXBRiDGE Advisers we specialise in recognising the potential of each child. With years of experience working with overseas parents and children, we help advise on how to build engaging portfolios and how best present yourself when applying to schools. Many schools consider more than just academic ability when screening applicants. They want to see children who can make a wide ranging contribution to their school community.

3. Academic and the English Culture

Whatever year of entry you are applying for your child, academic performance is one of the key areas during the selection process. If you’re applying for secondary schools, it’ll be even more important for your child to be able to articulate his or her favourite subjects as well as the knowledge of English culture.

4. Prepare for Entrance Examinations

If you are applying for your child from 7+ entry, most of the selective independent schools will arrange to test your child to see if they are suitable for the UK curriculum. The most common tests are CATs, CAT4, ISEB, CEM, and the schools’ own entrance exams. It is always recommended to prepare and familiarise your child with the format of the tests well in advance.

At OXBRiDGE Advisers, our advisers can draw up a self-study or tutoring plan. This tailor-made service allows your child to benefit from having more time to prepare based on their areas of weakness and strength.

5. Interview Skills – Practise make perfect!

No matter how old your child will be when you apply for schools, the admission team will conduct a personal interview with your child. Depending on your child’s age, this may be a one-on-one online or face-to-face meeting. This is an opportunity for the admission team to know more about your child through observation of social interactions, ability to engage in conversation, and possible involvement in school activities or a  combination of all three.

There are a lot you can do to prepare your child for the interviews. In addition to an interesting portfolio, well-planned interview practices with native English tutors help many of our pupils to perform confidently during the most challenging interviews.

At OXBRiDGE Advisers, we believe that our pupils are able to better present themselves if our advisers get involved at an early stage. We offer expert local UK tutors specialising in this area, and arrange interview courses to make the whole experience enjoyable for your child.

6. Develop Strong Writing and Analysis Skills

It is common nowadays to include some sort of writing and essay analysis tests during interviews. The admission teams will rely heavily on written responses to see how well your child fit into the school community and whether they have the potential to meet the academic requirements. These questions usually prompt pupils to reflect on their English comprehension, numerical analysis, critical thinking and whether the child is ready to flourish in the coming years.

At OXBRiDGE Advisers, we offer one-on-one writing tutorial sessions, which will be delivered through online platforms from UK tutors specialising in the areas.

7. Letters of Recommendation

Well written recommendation letters are useful as supporting documents for UK independent school applications. These letters should be written in professional English and give a positive and reflective view of your child’s strengths and abilities.

Letters from headmasters, teachers, head coaches or alumni will be highly considered by the admission teams. At OXBRiDGE Advisers, we can advise on how to prepare recommendations letters for school applications.

8. Don’t Miss the Deadlines

REMEMBER – It’s important to make sure you have a clear grasp of the timeline. The deadline for accepting applications vary from each school.

At OXBRiDGE Advisers, our advisers will help to manage application timelines to make sure everything is on tract. You won’t miss any crucial steps.  Upon request, our advice can also help you to submit late applications and manage wait lists during the application process.