Tonbridge’s Upper Sixth heading to top universities across the globe

Tonbridge’s Upper Sixth leavers will be taking up places at a number of leading universities across the world, including Oxford and Cambridge, later this year.

A total of 16 Tonbridge boys have been offered places to study at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge in October 2021: six have received places at Oxford, and 10 at Cambridge. The subjects they will be reading include Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Computer Science, Engineering, Economics and Management, Land Economy, History, English, Geography, Classics, Modern Languages, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Chemistry and Law.

In terms of applications, the most popular UK universities for Tonbridge boys belong to the ‘Russell Group’ of world-class, research-intensive universities. These include, in order of popularity, Durham, Edinburgh, Bristol, Exeter, University College London (UCL), Warwick, Nottingham, Leeds, London School of Economics (LSE) and King’s College London.

There have also been offers made to boys from a number of highly prestigious US and North American universities, including Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Berkeley, Dartmouth, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Princeton, University of Southern California, University of Virginia, Duke, Vanderbilt and the University of North Carolina.

Study awards gained include a Sport Scholarship (for rugby) at Dartmouth, a Jefferson Scholarship (University of Virginia), a Robertson Scholars Leadership Program (Duke University), a Carolina Arts and Humanities Scholarship (University of North Carolina) and a Vanderbilt University Chancellor’s Scholarship.

This year’s university applicants are facing the stiffest competition for places in many years. Many universities are oversubscribed, due partly to the effects of Covid, with students deferring their places from last year, and to more 18-year-olds in the system. The high-tariff, elite universities have seen the greatest increase in applicants.

The School’s Headmaster, James Priory, said: “Our Upper Sixth has performed extremely well and I offer them my warmest congratulations on the university offers they have received thus far. With competition from national and international candidates stronger than ever, such high-quality offers are notable achievements. It will be exciting to see our Upper Sixth leavers start out on the next stages of their educational careers this autumn.”

For those studying in the UK, the highest number of university offers, starting in 2022, are for degree courses in Politics, Philosophy, History, Business, Geography, Engineering, Languages and Economics. Crucially, each year the large majority of the School’s Upper Sixth leavers gain places at their first-choice destination.

Many are now opting for degrees with a particular career focus. Alongside the more traditional choices of Law and Medicine, boys will be embarking on degrees in Arabic and Business, Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science, Economic and Global Stability, Architecture, Computer Science and Innovation, and Earth Sciences.

There is growing popularity among Tonbridge leavers for spending either a year in industry, in a professional placement or a year abroad, as part of their degree courses, which will equip them still further with the skills needed in the modern workplace.