School Gate: How to make a tactical application to Oxbridge and up your chances of getting in

The University of Cambridge is planning to offer one-year foundation courses for pupils who fail to win a place because their A-level grades are not good enough.

The idea is to provide a second chance to applicants who have the potential to succeed at Cambridge by helping them with their retakes and, where appropriate, giving financial support. The extra help could take place either at the university or colleges near the pupils.

The scheme is part of a renewed drive to make sure that bright students have the opportunity to study at Cambridge, regardless of their backgrounds.

Yesterday the university announced that it had appointed a new director of undergraduate recruitment as part of these plans.

Jon Beard, previously the head of the admissions and outreach office at the University of East Anglia, will take up his new position in December.

Cambridge, along with other elite universities, is attempting to increase the number of candidates from state school backgrounds.

The newly created post is one result of a £4 million donation to the university earlier this year that was designed to help to increase participation from the state sector.

Mr Beard said: “As a state school student who very nearly didn't go to university at all, I understand some of the reasons why others never apply. The widening participation agenda is important to me because of that.”

Geoff Parks, head of admissions at the university, said that Mr Beard's appointment tied in with several new initiatives that had been made possible by the donation.

The idea of a foundation course to give students with potential a second shot at gaining entrance to the university came from the observation of admissions tutors at Cambridge of a certain type of promising student - the “if only” student.

“There are students you see with great potential and you think, 'if only they had a bit more support they could get the right grades' or 'if only' they had studied different subjects, then they would be a very competitive applicant',” Dr Parks said.

The university is also considering using social networking sites to reach out to students from state schools or deprived backgrounds who might not otherwise consider applying to Cambridge.

It is also investigating the possibility of using viral marketing campaigns - a technique in which internet readers are encouraged to “send to a friend”.

At the same time, it is expanding its Area Links scheme, which links every local authority with a Cambridge college and offers state sector pupils the chance to visit the university, as well as mentoring for bright students.

Earlier this month Cambridge said that 59 per cent of admissions this year were from state schools and colleges - the highest proportion since 1981.

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