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Inside the ivory towers
Thursday 9 September 2010
Categories: Education, Extra curricular, Higher Education
Responding to an Oxford admissions director’s claim that elite universities do not value extra-curricular activities – Why being a fancy flautist won’t help win a place at Oxford, Gillian Low writes in favour of a more balanced approach…
It is disappointing Oxford has chosen to tell its aspiring students that it only values academic achievement. Anyone wishing to study there needs to have first-class academic achievements and the potential for more, but how can they get the best out of university if they do not have a breadth of interests and an enquiring mind beyond their subject area? However clever a young person might be, if he or she finds no joy or reward in, say, music or sport, can’t work with their peers or organise their lives, they will not be prepared for life. These skills come from playing in the school band, charity work and schemes such as the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Oxford will not get the best out of its students if it denies them a life beyond academic success.
Read a related blog post: Young people need adventure as well as exam results
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