Statement from the Master Concerning 2020 A-Level Admissions

I know that many of you have been concerned about the impact that the chaos over this year`s A-level scores has had on the offer-holders for Pembroke places for the coming year; and I wanted to write – especially in the light of yesterday's latest Government announcement – to let you know what is happening. I have to say that the whole process, from the Government and Ofqual, has been a shambles, with tragic consequences for some individual applicants. The initial operation of a flawed algorithm in adjusting teacher assessments for some applicants had, in particular, led to instances of injustice.   

Even before yesterday's announcement, our Admissions Team had been undertaking a very careful review, case by case, of each individual applicant who had not received a score that met their offer. As a result, we had already been able to accept a number of candidates who fell into this category. In looking at all cases, we were guided by wanting to be painstakingly fair to each individual applicant, and also fair to the cohort of applicants as a whole. We have also had to bear in mind the overall physical and academic capacity of the College. 

Yesterday's announcement from the Government has of course brought a fundamental change. We are delighted that we will now be accepting for a place at Pembroke all offer-holders who – under their teacher assessment as submitted to UCAS – have met or exceeded their offer. Whilst we will accept as many students as possible for 2020 entry (we hope that this will be able to be all) there is a lot of work under way across the University to identify whether there are particular capacity issues for particular courses that might have an impact on the preferred year of entry for a student. We will make sure that certainty is given to each individual applicant as soon as possible.

We are also now giving further careful consideration to those whose teacher assessment does not meet their offer, looking closely at their academic performance, any written assessments, performance at interview, and contextual data both about their own background and the school they attended.  And we will honour any successful appeals, and a 2021 place for anyone who successfully takes the autumn exams. Our aim throughout is to try and make sure that every student who is able to take full advantage of the opportunities Pembroke can give them has the chance to do so. 

I'm also happy to report that we confidently estimate that our 2020 cohort of students will have the highest ever proportion of those from a state school background. This whole admissions process has happened under deeply distressing circumstances, but I know that we are going to be very proud of all of our new undergraduates.

Lord Smith of Finsbury

Master of Pembroke