New courses and updated information for teachers

Outline

• Research Update

• Predictive value of GCSE, AS UMS and admissions tests – the Great Multiple Regression Study

• Predictive value of IB performance

• Performance at Cambridge by school background

• New courses/routes

• Student Finance 2013 Entry

• Information Tools

The Great Multiple Regression Study (GMRS)

• Research into how well performance at GCSE, at AS Level and in aptitude tests predicted subsequent performance in Cambridge exams

• Four years of Cambridge exams used (2006 to 2009)

• Analysis of subjects for which a sufficiently large dataset existed for the findings to have statistical significance

• Part of an ongoing study

The GMRS – Main Findings 1

• AS UMS scores provide a good, and in many cases very good, indicator of potential for academic success at Cambridge in every major subject, except Mathematics

• Performance in Mathematics STEP II and III predict performance in the Cambridge Mathematics course very well

The GMRS – Main Findings 2

• GCSEs mostly correlate reasonably well with Cambridge exam performance, but are generally a less effective predictor than AS scores and tend to add little to the predictive validity of any model once the best indicator (AS scores or STEP) has been included; GCSEs are still useful in the absence of AS

• Some aptitude tests correlate more consistently with Cambridge exam performance than others; none are as effective a predictor as AS scores but they can be useful if no AS scores are available

The GMRS – AS Levels

• In general, for Arts courses stronger correlations are obtained when the best three AS Level scores are considered without the 'relevance' of the subjects to the course being taken into account

• Conversely, for Science courses the best correlations are achieved with the three most relevant subjects

The GMRS – Pearson Scores

• Scores on a scale of –1 to +1- a score above 0.35 indicates a good and useful

predictor- scores above 0.4 are very good- scores above 0.5 are excellent and very difficult to

achieve

The GMRS – Pearson Scores

Performance of IB Students: Arts Courses

University average University average

Performance of IB Students: Science Courses

University average University average

Cambridge admissions decisions are fair

New course structures: HSPS and PBS

Human, Social and Political Sciences, first year:

HSPS second and third year

Psychological and Behavioural Sciences

An exciting new course for 2013 entry, Psychological and Behavioural Sciences offers a broad and flexible degree covering all aspects of

psychology

The course covers, for example, cognitive psychology, psychopathology, language, brain mechanisms, gender, family

relationships and influences, personality, and group social behaviour, and will be BPS-accredited.

Course requirementsEssential No specific subjectsUseful Mathematics, science subjects, humanities subjects

Student Finance 2012 Entry

‘Committed to the principle that no UK student should be deterred from applying to the University of Cambridge

because of financial considerations, and that no student should have to leave because of financial difficulties.’

Student Finance 2013 Entry – We will… 1

• Charge tuition fees of £9,000 p.a. to UK/EU students for all our courses

• Give all UK students from families with incomes below £25,000 p.a. financial support of £3,500 p.a. (£5,650 for mature students) which they can choose to use as a maintenance bursary or to reduce their fees

Student Finance 2013 Entry – We will… 2

• Give all UK students from families with incomes between £25,000 and £42,000 p.a. financial support on a tapering, sliding scale descending from £3,500 p.a.

• Additionally give £6,000 p.a. fee-waivers to students from particularly disadvantaged backgrounds

Information Tools: BeCambridge.com

Questions?