St Swithun’s Sixth-form Students Celebrate Oxbridge Offers

Sixth-form students at St Swithun’s School in Winchester are celebrating another record-breaking year of offers to study at Oxford or Cambridge universities. For the fourth year in a row, over 10% of UCAS applicants from the current upper sixth and class of 2024 have received Oxbridge offers, a school achievement not matched for at least 20 years. 

Students are now hoping to take up their places on a range of courses including maths, English, natural sciences, archaeology, earth sciences, Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic and experimental psychology. 

Offers have also been received by St Swithun’s A level students to study courses at other leading UK and international universities including Bath, Bristol, Durham, Edinburgh, Exeter, Imperial College, King’s College, Leeds, St Andrews, UCL, Warwick and York. 

St Swithun’s headmistress Jane Gandee said, “This is a significant achievement, especially in an increasingly competitive field. Our students and teachers should be rightly proud of these offers after working hard on intellectual risk-taking and challenging assumptions.  

“We are passionate about providing the opportunity for girls to thrive after they leave St Swithun’s, whatever direction they choose to go in.” 

Head of sixth form Nick Fyfe added, “I am delighted for our current year, for those potentially heading to Oxbridge or elsewhere. Our innovative academic enrichment programme gives our students the opportunity to engage and participate in academic research, enter a myriad of academic competitions, develop critical and creative thinking, and build intellectual confidence.  

“Our careers programme also supports students to secure work internships at prestigious employers and arrange work placements.”