Oxford SU Sabbatical Officers call for ‘all UK offer holders to be admitted to Oxford’
As the Sabbatical Officers of Oxford SU, we welcome Worcester College’s decision to accept all offer holders regardless of their results awarded on results day. In light of this decision, we call on all Oxford Colleges and Permanent Private Halls to follow suit. We believe all UK offer holders should be admitted to a place at Oxford regardless of the grades they were awarded on results day.
As Oxford SU’s Class Act campaign highlight in their open letter:
“Offer holders have found themselves losing their places at Oxford despite having been awarded the grades needed to attend Oxford by their teachers, or having already achieved them in mock examinations. These students have been judged on their socio-economic backgrounds over what they have shown they can achieve to their teachers and their schools.
This decision by the government has disproportionately inflated the grades of private school students at the expense of state school students and students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Thus, the decisions made by Oxford colleges to reject students who have missed their grades will have a disproportionate effect on these students.
If the University of Oxford is to work actively to combat classism, the University and constituent colleges must all take decisive action to provide places to those disadvantaged students who have been denied the opportunity to take up a place they have already earned through undergoing Oxford’s rigorous application process. Forcing students who have missed their grades to appeal or to ‘resit’ exams in order to defer or apply next year is not good enough. This is a lengthy and stressful process with little guarantee, as well as being attached to a fee.”
We believe that educational equity should be one of the core values of the University of Oxford. By admitting students on the basis of a flawed results system, the University is reinforcing classism prevalent in our social structure. All of the offer-holders for 2020 admissions, by virtue of receiving offers, have proven that they have met the academic standard required by the University.
We believe that as Oxford should admit all 2020 UK offer holders regardless of A-level results and create a safe environment for all students, staff, and community, the university must give all admitted students the option to start in 2020 or in 2021.
We call on the University to:
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Admit all offer holders regardless of their results awarded on results day. Worcester College has taken the lead on this, and we call on all Oxford colleges and halls to follow suit.
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Endorse the joint statement from NUS and UCU, which calls for teacher-assessed grades to be reinstated with no moderation, a fair and free appeals process to combat individual cases of discrimination, and a longer-term commitment to tackling educational inequality.
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Reverse their decision to make students admitted after August 13th defer to 2021 entry. The University has stated that this decision was made over a concern over “the health and safety of our students, staff and community” yet we believe that the University has the resources and the duty to accommodate all offer holders wishing to attend Oxford in 2020.
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Reverse their decision to prohibit admitted students from deferring to 2021 entry. This decision, in our opinion made in order to prevent students unable to physically study in Oxford in 2021 due to health issues or travel restrictions from deferring, must be reversed if the university is truly concerned about “the health and safety of our students, staff and community”.
We would like to take this opportunity to tell all offer holders that there is a place for you at Oxford, and your Student Union has been, and will continue, fighting for the rights of all students, present and future.
Nikita Ma – President (president@oxfordsu.ox.ac.uk)
Tucker Drew – VP Access and Academic Affairs (vpaccaff@oxfordsu.ox.ac.uk)
Ben Farmer – VP Charities and Community (vpcandc@oxfordsu.ox.ac.uk)
Lauren Bolz– VP Graduates (vpgraduates@oxfordsu.ox.ac.uk)
Amelia Holt – VP Welfare and Equal Opportunities (vpweo@oxfordsu.ox.ac.uk)
Alex Foley – VP Women (vpwomen@oxfordsu.ox.ac.uk)
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Sign the NUS A-Level Results Petition: https://www.nusconnect.org.uk/nus-uk/a-level-results-sign-the-petition