A sixth form academy which got just one student into Oxbridge in 2014 has now seen a “remarkable” 51 pupils receive offers to study at the two elite institutions - rivalling top fee-paying schools.
Brampton Manor Academy in East Ham opened its sixth form in 2012 with the specific aim of transforming progression rates to Oxbridge and Russell Group universities in the east London area.
The vast majority of the 51 successful students are from ethnic minority backgrounds, are the first in their family to attend university, or qualify for the pupil premium for disadvantaged children - meaning their parents earn below £16,000,
Last year the school made headlines with 41 offers of Oxbridge places, and has now broken its own record.
Mr Sam Dobin, director of the school’s sixth form, puts the still-unusual success down to teachers working to “actively dispel the myth that you have to look or speak a certain way to get a place at Oxford or Cambridge” among their diverse student body.
He said: “Oxbridge simply want the students with the most academic ability and potential, and we instil within our students the confidence to make applications knowing that their talent and hard work will be rewarded.”
Melissa Rybicki Villalba, who is in receipt of free school meals, is one of the successful pupils. The 18-year-old has an offer to study Natural Sciences at King’s College, Cambridge.
She speaks English as a second language and will be the first in her family, who moved to the UK from Ecuador in search of a better life, to go to university.
Ms Villalba said: “This has proved to me if you put your mind to something you can achieve it.
“My family was delighted, with my mum phoning round family in Ecuador to let them know; it was just unbelievable for someone from our background to achieve this. I felt I owed it to my family to succeed, for all their support and everything they sacrificed for me.”
Analysis from the Sutton Trust revealed that eight private schools took 1,310 places at Oxbridge from 2015 to 2017, while 2,894 state schools sent 1,220 pupils during the same period.
In 2019 fee-paying Westminster School, which charges up to £31,491 per year for day pupils, received 88 offers of places, while Eton College sent 68 pupils to the institutions.
In a move seen as attempting to combat its privileged image, The University of Oxford made 69.1 per cent of its offers to state school pupils this week - its highest proportion to date.
Harris Westminster Sixth Form, which opened in 2014 with a similar aim to Brampton Manor, has a third of its intake qualify for the pupil premium. It is sponsored by fee-paying Westminster School, and requires an Oxbridge-style interview and entrance exams before pupils are accepted.
This week 25 students received offers from The University of Oxford, and 19 from the University of Cambridge. Headteacher James Handscombe praised “the emphasis that both Oxford and Cambridge have placed on outreach”.
He told the Standard: “These offers are significant not just because of the opportunities offered to these individuals, but because they show that students from all backgrounds can gain access to elite universities and courses if given the right support and inspiration.”
