h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I know I am sticking my head above the parapet here - but I think that parents are the ones that make the difference.

They may choose to pay for private education; or they may choose to pay - via money and/or time - for cultural enrichment - but it is parental support that enables places like Oxbridge to be available to all.

All those outings to cinema, theatre, heritage sites etc - plus time spent in helping children to deveolop enthusiasms is the key.

I am sure that Annie will agree that an applicant who can show real enthusiasm at interview have a head start. Interviewers are looking for "signs of life" in the adolescant mind - a thing that facts alone rarely inspired.

Having said that, the facts are important. They contribute strongly to informed opinion.

Mrs Lintott and Hecor make a good team.

Prue

Absolutely - that's what we always tell them at Open Days. Interviews are not a test of how much they know - what interviewers are looking for above all are applicants who are passionate about, and committed to their subject. The interview is also like a mock teaching session, so it enables the interviewer to see how they think the applicant would respond to the kind of small-group teaching for which Cambridge (and Oxford) are justly (IMHO) famous.