Seven of Withington’s Year 13 cohort are celebrating offers to study at the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford.

Of the seven offers, three have been made from Cambridge for Medicine (Jesus and Sidney Sussex) and Natural Sciences (Churchill), and from Oxford, Geography (Jesus), Law (Somerville), Law and German (Pembroke) and Philosophy and Theology (Oriel).

Additionally, one student has been placed in the summer pool for Natural Sciences at Cambridge. Over 10% of this year’s cohort will take up places at the two universities should all eight places be confirmed upon receipt of results.

Miranda Bate, Class of 2020, will also matriculate at Oxford in September where she will complete a fully funded DPhil in Molecular Cell Biology in Health and Disease. Miranda is in her final year as a Biology major at William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, USA. She attends the university on a lacrosse scholarship to play Division 1 (the highest level) lacrosse.

She said: “I am absolutely thrilled to accept this offer from Oxford. I’ll be working in the Stracy Lab on antibiotic resistant bacteria which is my passion! I wanted to say a massive thank you to Withington for everything you did for me. I am forever grateful!”

All applications by students and alumnae applying this year have been submitted. With the UCAS deadline this week, offers have already arrived from some of the UK’s top universities such as Cardiff University, Durham University, Imperial College London, King’s College London, Lancaster University, Newcastle University, University of Bath, University of Bristol, University of Edinburgh, University of Leeds, University of Manchester, University of Nottingham, University of Sheffield and University of Warwick.

The course choice is diverse and includes Accounting, Architecture, Biomedical Science, Classics, Computer Science, English, Environmental Science, Fine Art, Geography, History, Japanese, Law, Linguistics, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Medicine, Neuroscience, Philosophy, Physics, Product Design Engineering, Psychology, Social Sciences and Theology.

Headmistress Mrs Sarah Haslam commented: “We are overjoyed for all our students, past and present, whose success reflects their exceptional abilities and hard work, as well as the unwavering support of our committed staff. Withington fosters a special environment that encourages intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, and a love for learning, enabling our students to truly shine in whatever they choose to do.

As we celebrate with our Year 13 students, I would like to thank them for their outstanding contributions to the life of the school and the wider community and send my very best wishes for the months ahead.”

Dr Cristina Vilela, Head of Chemistry and Oxbridge Coordinator, said: “Each year, I have the pleasure of working with our remarkable students as they make their applications for some of the most competitive university courses in the country. It is an absolute delight to see them succeed. Support for our students is further enhanced by the time and expertise of our wonderful alumnae who mentor students each year. Thank you very much.”

In 2023, eight students from the Class of 2023 joined two 2022 leavers in taking up their places at Oxford and Cambridge. With the vast majority of those who applied securing their firm offer at prestigious universities across the UK, 18 students (26.5% of the cohort) began courses of study in Medicine and Dentistry.