This young entrepreneur claims he can get you a spot at Oxbridge – if you pay him £10k

A 21-year-old entrepreneur from New Zealand is charging students upwards of £10,000/year to land them spots at top international unis.
If you’ve ever tried getting into a top UK uni like Cambridge or Oxford you’ll be aware of just how competitive and difficult the process is.

But this week, 21-year-old entrepreneur Jamie Beaton is launching his business, Crimson Education, in the UK - a service that all but guarantees wannabe Oxbridgers a spot at their uni of choice... if they can spare a few grand, that is.

Beaton claims his company is “committed to breaking down educational barriers" but apparently barrier-breaking is only for the wealthy, as a year-long admissions program package could set you back as much as £10,000. Ouch!

Ironically, traditional UK universities are currently working hard to shake the image that you have to be from a wealthy family to gain a place there.

Last year, Cambridge announced it would be offering a 'studentship grant' to those students affected by the maintenance grant scrap, and Bristol Uni recently decided to lower entry requirements for students from disadvantaged backgrounds in order to diversify student intake.

How will Crimson get me into a top uni?

One of the many reasons applicants miss out on spots at top unis is because they don't have adequate extracurricular experience.

Therefore, Crimson are offering a solution: For a cool £10,000 a year they'll assign you a mentor to offer you guidance on what extracurricular activity and community service you should be doing to impress the admissions office.

Or you could just read our guide to extracurriculars, free of charge. You're welcome 😉

In addition to this 'extracurricular support', Crimson also offer the following:

• Tutoring - With 2,000 “comprehensively-trained and expert” tutors worldwide, they apparently cover all subjects and curricula, both in person and online, to help all students “achieve their potential". Prices start at £2,000/year.
• Leadership projects - Students are given “hands-on assistance” to carry out their own community-focused projects solo to help make them the leaders of tomorrow.
• Career mentoring - Support both current students and graduates, mentors “who are at the top of their respective field” guide Crimsonians down their chosen career path, further helping them to navigate applications for competitive jobs.
• Application consultation - Their trained staff will give clients full support in the uni application process for upwards of £10,000/year.

Are people really paying for this?

It would seem so, yes. Whilst forking out £10k to get a place at uni might seem extreme to most, Beaton's company has apparently had a lot of success in the last year or two and the company is now worth a whopping £113.2 million!

They claim that as much as 85% of all students from New Zealand who got into Harvard and Stanford in 2015/16 were accepted thanks to Crimson.

They also claim that 93% of students who apply through Crimson get accepted onto their preferred course - and have already nabbed 21 Oxbridge places for their clients.

Interested? Well, one thing Crimson do offer for free is a consultation for those interested in applying for uni through one of its programs. But the savings end there!

An Oxford graduate is currently suing the uni because he didn't get a first. Let's hope he didn't pay £10,000 to get in too!