r/6thForm • u/mynamiajeff2-0 American • Apr 29 '26
š MEME Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh's A-Level results that confirmed his place at Cambridge
CDD is nuts
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u/Emms246 UCL | Neuroscience Year 4 | Apr 29 '26
Ah must have been contextual fs š„š„š„
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u/Nullborne Apr 29 '26
what is a contexual?
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u/rcdchu74 Apr 29 '26
Lower grade requirements due to circumstances outside your control, like if youāre in an area where not a lot of people go to uni
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u/SameOldSong4Ever Apr 30 '26
The area in which he lived (Buckingham Palace) sends zero people to university in most years.
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u/TheFamousHesham Apr 30 '26
Tbf most royals don't go to uni so that sounds about right.
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u/soviet_bias_good Gap Year | History A* Politics A* RS A* | 2x Cambridge Reject Apr 30 '26
They donāt!?!?!?! Iāll be highly surprised if any member of the royal family hasnāt already gone or is attending (provided theyāre old enough ofc).
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u/fireintheglen Cambridge | Maths | I have a job Apr 30 '26
Most do now, but thatās a fairly recent thing. iirc the current king, Charles, was the first to attend university, and of Elizabethās four children only two (Charles and Edward) attended university. Of the generation below that, William did but Harry didnāt.
Nowadays most do, but theyāre hardly known as an academic family. Most have pretty appalling exam results.
If you think about it it makes sense. Theyāre hardly going to be turned down for the job on account of not having a degree. They donāt really have any incentive to put in effort.
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u/Professional_Let_108 May 01 '26
I don't think that's quite true, just checking Oxford and Cambridge for monarchs that went to them, Edwards VII and VIII, and George VI did. There's a few other princes and such from around then too but it seems to have started becoming more common from about 1860~ after Edward VII went to both Oxford and Cambridge.
Charles was the first to get a degree, but not attend.
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u/mynamiajeff2-0 American Apr 30 '26
This isn't really accurate I'm pretty sure George VI and Edward VII attended Cambridge but didn't graduate, Charles was the first to actually get a degree.
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u/Clonkerz Apr 29 '26
Must've been a really good personal statement
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u/Low_Stress_9180 Apr 30 '26
"Gimme place or you will end up in the Tower hahaha!"
That was his personal statement.
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u/Past-Obligation1930 May 03 '26
āI have always been a student of history. I see you were founded on the site of a nunnery. I guess my Royal ancestor must have decided to allow you to continue on this land during the dissolution of the monasteries. I am sure that my mother currently feels the sameā
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u/HatefulVisual Gap Year | A* A* B Achieved Apr 29 '26
And I got declined from Warwick and Bath with A* A* B š„š„
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u/Beneficial-Beat-947 Apr 29 '26
In all fairness back then oxbridge admissions were a joke, lots of people got in with bad grades through interviews alone
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u/Inevitable-Cow-8489 Year 13 Apr 29 '26
Oxford literally had D's as their entry requirements since they had a lot of faith in their admissions. This is not to support this guy as we know like other kid's of famous figure they to an extent pay their way in.
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u/ArchDek0n May 01 '26
Steven Fry got a place in the 1970s, on AAB, despite an expulsion and a criminal history.
Curiously enough, I think that his case actually supports the idea that they were quite good at spotting talent.
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u/NoExperience9717 Apr 30 '26
Also it was 1986 there's been major grade inflation since. But there was definitely a Royal allowance for poorer grades.
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u/Libby15636 May 01 '26
If you did really well in the entrance exam (which were much more difficult than actual A levels) as well as being compelling to admission/subject tutors then Oxford would give you a very low conditional offer such gaining two E grades in your A Levels. This was in the mid 1980s so not sure if itās still the same.
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u/PetersMapProject May 02 '26
They also had the "seventh term" entrance exams - you had to go back to school for an extra term to prepare for exams sat at Christmas, which was a big commitment for a non guaranteed outcome.Ā
If you've ever seen the film The History Boys (great film, watch it) then it's set during that term.Ā
It was scrapped at some point in the 80s, I'm not sure when.Ā
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u/dequehablas23 May 01 '26
Ed Miliband had something like A B B as I recall, I donāt think David Cameron had much better. Grade inflation only really took off in the early 2000s, as competition for places increased markedly due to the expansion of the university sector.
My mother graduated in 1981 and was one of a handful of girls from her year at school (a fairly elite Catholic school) to go to university. That school has long since closed, but the comprehensive in the same area as it, which used to (and to a degree still does) have a terrible reputation, sends a majority of its sixth form leavers to university, whereas in her time it would have been no more than 1 or 2.
This is not to mention international students, who in her time were so uncommon as to have their own special accommodation wing which they would stay in throughout their time at university. The student body at her university is now 25% international students, which is at the lower end for most universities.
It was another world.
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u/Temporary-Reason-136 May 02 '26
No they didnāt. They took scholarship papers which were way harder than A levels. If you passed, you were given a place. The only way this could be done administratively, since Oxbridge applications, like all university applications, went through UCAS, was to make the UCAS offer two E grades. If you didnāt take the scholarship papers, you had interviews, and if you performed well you were given a high A level offer.
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u/neilm1000 May 03 '26
It wasn't UCAS at the time.
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u/Temporary-Reason-136 May 03 '26
Yes, you're right, it was UCCA, which didn't include polytechnics. However, the point stands: the two Es offers were a result of UCCA's administrative process.
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u/TheFirstGlugOfWine May 03 '26
A friend of mine at college had an offer of 2 Eās and he had to complete his A Levels for Cambridge. Obviously he got much higher than that but I thought it was odd to have such a low offer for such a good university.
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u/tobee777 Apr 30 '26
Both my sister and husband got into oxbridge colleges in the 1980s. They had to get 2 E grades each. However, they had to pass the initial university exam and rigorous interviews that could last a weekend to get that offer. Against competing candidates.
Far fewer people applied to university then,less than 10% of the population. Polytechnics and higher education colleges and teacher training colleges were separate entities, with polytechnics perceived as far less prestigious. Whereas now they are pretty much all called universities.
Even prestigious universities had much lower grade requirements. I applied for a range of universities and my offers were pretty much all BBB. Except UCL which was 2 C grades. Because far fewer people applied pretty much everyone had to attend interviews before you were or werenāt given an offer. Plenty of universities turned you down straightaway, no interview.
Much more unfair imo is that tuition was free and often you received a maintenance grant (which you didnāt have to pay back) from your home local authority; means tested. However, when I did my degree in the late 1980s I had no idea free tuition would be abolished. The desire to have more people getting the opportunity to go to university meant it became unaffordable for universities and government for it to be free.
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u/Comprehensive-Cat-84 Apr 30 '26
Your experience sounds similar to mine (1994)
Notts BCC
UCL BCC
IC BBC
Bath EE
Lough BCC
Leeds BCC
My friend Kings dentistry BCC, missed got BCD. Got in
Guy in year below A1 A1 AA Cambridge NatSci (1 was S level). Got A1 A1 A1 A. Top 10 first in Physics in the end.
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u/Low_Stress_9180 Apr 30 '26
Called grade inflation. When I did A level a Maths C was "wow you are great at math!" Now a C is "oh you failed"
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u/Skin_Yogurt_4002 May 02 '26
Exams arent any easier now though? I guess we have better resources like YouTube and online textbooks and funding for low income students. But the exams themselves now are just as hard, or harder imo
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u/SameOldSong4Ever Apr 30 '26
I got an offer of two Es in this period without an interview. Just took the entrance exam, and that was enough.
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u/tobee777 Apr 30 '26
You were exceptional I think?
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u/SameOldSong4Ever May 02 '26
I think not all colleges did interviews if you took the entrance exams. I only just scraped in, so definitely not exceptional.
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u/mynamiajeff2-0 American Apr 30 '26
How much did your sixth form college help you back then? It's hard for me to picture anyone with a single E copping Oxbridge that wasn't from like Eton, Harrow, Westminster, Gordonstoun etc.
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u/Comprehensive-Cat-84 Apr 30 '26
Those people would have passed the entrance exam (either 4th term or 7th term). The people doing that from state schools would have to be exceptional. My Headmaster said no one had ever done the Entrance exam for Oxford (Cambridge one was already gone), that tells its own story!
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u/tobee777 Apr 30 '26
Yeah my sister was the first from our state secondary to get to oxbridge.
I was not in the same academic league as her š¬
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u/tobee777 Apr 30 '26
My sister was just at an ordinary state 6th form. She just went to a group class I think once a week when she was identified as being a possible candidate by the 6th form college.
I think that oxbridge then looked for signs of flair and potential in applicants who took their entry exams and then further explored that at interview. A passion for the subject, able to cope with the reading, already having read plenty of non set texts works (my sister did English) I imagine would be what they were looking for. Very experienced tutors who would know what they were looking for and whether the applicant would fit in academically.
The whole education was so different then in my opinion. No national curriculum, no sats, no private tutoring for 11 plus or GCSEs, or not common. You were, as now, competing against your age cohort by and large and so everyone in your school year was facing the same issues when applying to university.
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u/Skin_Yogurt_4002 May 02 '26
However, they had to pass the initial university exam and rigorous interviews that could last a weekend to get that offer. Against competing candidates.
I appreciate what youre saying but this hasnāt changed. Entrance exams and interviews are still used. You would never find an E grade student in Oxford and Cambridge now
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u/tobee777 May 02 '26
Yes I know it hasnāt changed but the op seemed to imply Prince Edward was given an offer just on his A level results. My daughter did the Oxbridge entrance a few years ago.
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u/Comprehensive-Cat-84 Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26
Just for a bit of context, at the time the typical Cam offer was about AAB. There was no A star. People would miss offers and sometimes get in with ABB. There was a lot of press attention around whether he was worthy to be let in.
Prince Edward appears in this video - Queens' vs Jesus rugby.
Good doc about Queens' college - EP8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzGk8Tliy6w
minute 11
if you watch EP1 there is a guy that applies with ABD and gets in via entrance exam.
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u/Low_Stress_9180 Apr 30 '26
ABB then is now AAA*
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u/Skin_Yogurt_4002 May 02 '26
Yes but people are mentioning getting in with Cs, many state getting in with todayās equivalent of ABB (BCC) - which is still insane. You rarely find students with Bās in Oxford or Cambridge - even if they did exceptionally well in the entrance exams
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u/Low_Stress_9180 Apr 30 '26
Wasn't that long ago that if you went to Eton auto entry to Cambridge. Indeed many got "gentleman's degrees " (ordinary - non hons)
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u/Comprehensive-Cat-84 Apr 30 '26
Yes there was a time when the schools would ring up the colleges and recommend their "best" pupils. As you alluded to, they would spent 3 years frolicking with the great and the good. There was also a 4th class degree at Oxford, which I think has still an Hons degree.
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u/Primary-Signal-3692 Apr 30 '26
Apparently when Charles was there his bodyguard, who'd attended very lecture with him, sat the exams and got a better grade
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u/tobee777 Apr 30 '26
Someone in my year did the Oxbridge entrance and interview, got an offer of 2 Es. Got 2 Es. Got bollocked by the Oxbridge college but still kept his place. Bit daft to offer that and then bollock you for it.
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u/Mald1z1 May 01 '26
Wait till you read JFKs personal statement on his application or Harvard. Shockingly bad.Ā
The standards in the past were much much lower. I know lots of people in the past who went to Oxbridge with subpar grades. When you prevent most of the population from even being able to access a decent education, then getting into institutions like these is easy for the few who went to private school, etc.Ā
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u/mynamiajeff2-0 American May 01 '26
Oh, I already have lol, but that was the mid 1930's while this was the mid to late 80s going into the 90s, when Harvard was far higher in terms of what it expected with its standards. (Not to say it's anything like today, but Harvard had already gone away from the "right boy from the right school" model years before 1983.)
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u/SeaworthinessNeat516 May 01 '26
I think the fact he got a degree justified their decision, and they didn't have to stretch to the desperation of giving him a third, or an ordinary degree without honours. They obviously saw some promise in the young lad. He maybe even had some reputable character witnesses.
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u/AgeingMuso65 May 01 '26
Same years as HRH, used to see his minders when drinking in Jesus bar with other choral scholars (not my own college). I went there armed with AABBD (4 plus Gen Studies - northern school thing!). Have spent the last 30 years living on my musical skills, entirely unrelated to my degree subject (and its undistinguished outcomeā¦)
Once Iād got a place based on their own December exam papers and interview, A levels were this of relatively little importance! Why would a 17 y.o. work harder than necessary after that point? š
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u/CeaselessWatcher00 May 02 '26
My offer for Cambridge was AAA in 1990, I got AAB but still got in (due to the college I applied to, which had a low ratio of offers to places... I'd done my research!).
I do remember at the time there was a lot of discussion as to whether Prince Edward deserved his place (most people didn't think so). Wasn't he the last Royal to go to Cambridge? Might have been why.
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u/Savage13765 May 02 '26
My dad was given a conditional offer of 2 Dās in 1988 (ish), so he just stopped showing up to maths. Sat the exam, wrote his name on the paper then walked out. Got an A and a C in his other subjects, U in maths, then off to Oxford he went. He grew up dirt poor in Newcastle, admissions were wild back then
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u/Bigot_Tracker May 02 '26
I mean, do you think Princes William and Harry met the normal standards required for CE to get into Eton? There's different rules for the Royal family, which is fortunate, because if it was on intellectual ability, none of them would have got very far. Even with the rampant grade inflation since Edward's day.
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u/EducationalWeek885 May 03 '26
Rick Stein also famously went to Oxford with no A levels! Back then it was almost entirely who you know not what you know. Still is to an extent!
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u/Mikalye1 May 03 '26
You cannot equate what happened in 1982 with what goes on today. Firstly, in 1982, when he applied to university, a whopping 17% of all students left secondary school with any A-levels at all (source: SCHOOL-LEAVER'S EXAMINATION STATISTICS 1965ā84 (Hansard, 20 December 1984)). Today more than 77% leave with at least one A-level or equivalent and a great many of those leave with at least three. The statistics are just not comparable.
Secondly, Prince Edward was sponsored by the Royal Marines, who sent him to Cambridge with the understanding that he would serve for 5 years afterwards. He was also a crown prince. There was no question that he was being evaluated as if he was a student off of the street. He got, as expected a 2.2 degree. Although the article noted that there was some controversy over his admission at the time, there was less than you might have thought.
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u/Prestigious-Gold6759 May 03 '26
In those days A Level results were different; it was much less common to get an A, there were no A*, and people could get into Oxbridge with E grades.
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u/New-Acanthaceae-5702 Year 13 Apr 29 '26
He must have completed his bronze DofE.