Two years ago I failed my admissions test… Now I study Economics at Cambridge

I wasn’t sure whether to write this article. Opening up about failure is hard. But when I look at what I have achieved since then, I wanted to share the successful ending to my story, and to help others make their dreams come true and study at Oxbridge. I guess this is my story… I hope it helps!

Two years ago I was just starting to think about sitting my TSA test for the PPE exam. I felt pretty good. My Personal Statement was great – I checked this later, everyone said it was really strong. I had done one practice in the summer for the TSA and got a decent score, around 65% so I knew I had a good starting point. After this first good effort, I have to admit I took my foot off the gas a bit. I thought about the interview and about pre-studying for the final year of A Levels. I didn’t need to worry too much about the TSA.

Then, at the end of September, I did some practice on the TSA and took another test. This time, I got a 60. I couldn’t work out why. I knew the test this time, I had done some practice, but for some reason my score went down. This really hit me hard. I didn’t know why it wasn’t good and I’m such a logical person. If I had done more work, why would my score fall??!!! It doesn’t make sense! Anyway, my confidence fell just as fast. I could barely look at a TSA paper without panicking. In the end, I didn’t do any more practice for three weeks. I just couldn’t face it. When I did I was so nervous I couldn’t focus. What happened to me?

You might have guessed that when it came to the real test I failed… badly.

Then last year I decided to give it another go. I really wasn’t sure if I should, but I thought ‘why not’. I went for Cambridge this time and applied for pure Economics. This was partly because I’d done so badly last year I didn’t want my previous scores to affect my new application. This time, I took no chances. I was much more methodical and started training for it as soon as I finished my A Levels. I took a mock paper every two weeks slowly I watched my grades get better (mostly, I had some shocking scores of course!). This helped my confidence. Long story short, I passed in the end. I think the big difference is that this time I was WAY more organised. I practised each section separately and looked at the different elements carefully to see my strengths.

You can do it too. I believe. In 4 weeks I start at Cambridge. I never thought I would be able to say that. Just be organised and plan. You’ll do it!

- A Libra student