Nine Oxbridge offers and a first at Yale for Exeter School
Exeter School is pleased to complete this year's Oxbridge admissions process with the announcement that nine pupils have been offered places, two unconditionally, plus one pupil has an offer for Yale University.
In the last six years, 38 pupils have received Oxbridge offers. Exeter School has an excellent record of success in placing pupils in a range of leading universities.
At Cambridge, 2017 leaver Eka Barker-Privalova has an unconditional offer to read Human, Social and Political Sciences (HSPS) at Pembroke College. Upper Sixth Former Zachary Marsh has an offer to read History at Robinson College and Will Silver to read Psychological and Biological Sciences at Downing College.
At Oxford, former pupil Ben Haigh has been offered a place to read PPE at Keble College. Physicists Will Pearce, Evan Usher and Louis Withers have received offers to study at Lady Margaret Hall, Somerville College and St Catherine's respectively.
Lucy Zhang has an offer to read PPE at Worcester College and Charlie Austin to read Mathematical Science at Jesus College.
British rowing champion Phoebe Campbell has been offered a place to study at Yale University. She said she had always hoped to go to a top university, but had always assumed it would be in the UK.
"Intrigued by the possibility of studying in the US, I accepted the offer of an official visit to Yale, where it rapidly became apparent to me that Yale would allow me to thrive both academically and as a rower, and would actively encourage me to be the best I could be at both," she said.
"Everyone at Exeter School has been massively accommodating and supportive in respect of both my academic timetable and my heavy training schedule. I couldn't have done any of this without them.
"One of the things that appealed to me about studying in the US was their liberal arts system. Whilst I am planning on majoring in Classics, I will still have the opportunity to pursue some of my other academic interests such as languages, English Literature and Art History."
Member of Youth Parliament for Exeter, Zachary Marsh, said he had always enjoyed History and that the added detail and debate in his A Level studies convinced him this is what he wanted to study. "I loved Cambridge when I visited and wanted the challenge of applying," he said. "School was really supportive, and I'd particularly like to thank Oxbridge Coordinator Miss Hodgetts for all the advice and Head of History Mr Trelawny for our weekly preparation sessions. After university I'd like to go into party politics or the civil service."
PPE candidate Lucy Zhang said the subjects of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics were fascinating individually, and the interlinks between the three equally so.
"They are subjects that are hugely influential in how you view and understand the world, and Oxford, with its tutorial system, is renowned for this course," she said.
"The school has supported me at every stage of the long and difficult application process, from first choosing a college and recommending wider reading, to preparing for the admissions test and the interview, and ultimately receiving an offer.
"My fond experience interning at a think-tank has led to future aspirations of wanting to research and write, most likely in the subject of Economics."
Senior Prefect Will Pearce said: "Physics at Exeter School is excellent and I think it would be difficult not to find the subject fascinating with such superb teachers.
"I've always been able to ask for help and support and that's what really encouraged me to give an application my best shot."
Musical Evan Usher said he had always wanted to work with Physicists at the forefront of their fields, so it seemed natural to apply to Oxford, with its strong reputation as a research-led institution.
"I was aware that competition would be strong and the advice and encouragement provided by the school has been invaluable," he said. "I hope that this opportunity will eventually give me a chance to offer something back to the scientific community that has given me so much."
Hockey player Will Silver was particularly excited by the prospect of being part of the Interdisciplinary Faculty of Neurosciences: home to world leading academics in fields ranging from cognitive neuropsychology to computer science.
"A particular attraction to the course is its diversity, making the possible outcomes after undergraduate study almost limitless! I feel very fortunate to have received relevant advice and support from school throughout the process."
2017 leaver Ben Haigh said he chose Oxford as he wanted to read PPE at a university that stood out from the rest as the best.
"I am very grateful that, with help from school, and from Mr Mackintosh and Miss Dunn in particular, Oxford also chose me."
Physicist Louis Withers applied to Oxford because he felt it was the best place for me to study Physics up to a PhD level.
"The school, especially Dr Wilson and the physics department, provided a lot of support in preparing for my entrance test and interview," he said.
Pianist Charlie Austin said one of the reasons he applied for Maths was because he found it fascinating and it left practically all the doors open for the future.
2017 leaver Eka said she applied for HSPS because it covered so many areas of social science.
"I'm interested in people and how we live, what boundaries and possibilities we have created for ourselves and how we have built societies in an amazing variety of ways," she said.
"For these reasons I hope I'll enjoy the breadth of options offered by the course at Cambridge. I'm currently more interested in studying Politics and Sociology and I'd potentially like to end up in the Foreign Office so that I can use Russian and be part of improving relations. However, I'm also keen to explore the Criminology side of the course that couples itself with Psychology to learn more about individual human behaviour.
"Overall I'm excited to see which route I'll end up taking."
Oxbridge Coordinator Miss Hodgetts said the talented pupils had excelled in the fierce global competition to secure their offers. "They have all risen to the intellectual challenges of the entrance tests and interviews and been richly rewarded for their hard work and academic application," she said.
