Surferfish wrote:
I agree that its strange and just confuses the 11+ argument. How could you possibly not have academic selection at 18 for universities? Would it mean that 18 year olds who lived in Oxford and Cambridge would automatically get selected for the universities in those towns ahead of people from other areas of the country regardless of GCSE and A level grades?
I think the 18+ selection bit was bolted on to the debate as a nod to the fact that the conference was an HE event. I don't think what you're suggesting was the thrust of the argument or a proposed solution. It was more about considering the wider merits of applicants beyond just A level grades. To an extent, many universities do that, but one argument was that it should be extended, the opposing argument being that it should be solely on academic results if universities and their degrees are to uphold their status.
My daughter applied to Oxford, had an interview but didn't get an offer. Her first choice university has a tougher grade requirement than Oxford would have asked of her. She realised that whilst she may go on and attain, or perhaps even exceed what Oxford would have asked for had they offered, she is not the right type of student for them. She has two exceptionally academic friends who also didn't get offers from Oxford in one case and Cambridge in another, even though those friends are highly likely to attain 4 A*s this summer. That seems a reasonable approach to me because Oxford and Cambridge have clearly taken other things into consideration beyond purely A level grade predictions.