Oxbridge
Sixth Form Oxbridge Successes
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Rebecca C - Psychological and Behavioural Sciences – Cambridge Rebecca T - Modern and Medieval Languages – Cambridge Leticia G Italian and Spanish - Oxford Suse T - Natural Sciences– Cambridge Charlotte E - Economics– Cambridge |
Please follow the link for a list of student destinations and courses.
MASt and G&T - Applying to Oxford and Cambridge Universities
Cambridge Year 10 MASt Trip
Lewis Poulter: Firstly, we visited the constituent Churchill College in the University of Cambridge. Where we met Dr Matt Bullimore, a prestigious member of the college, and a participation officer there; Then Dr Bullimore then went on to explain, in front of us and various other schools, the importance of the subjects that we choose to take at A levels and GCSE’s, and how they will give us a better opportunity, to make it into such a distinguished university as that of Cambridge. After that we went on a tour of the college, with a current undergraduate of law, she gave us an extremely helpful insight into what life is like in the college for students, how much time she spends studying, how she copes with her finances whilst at the university etc. Furthermore, she was grateful enough to show us round her student accommodation, and further explain how she coped with the pressures of her degree. After a quick stop for lunch, another undergraduate, this time a computer science student, accompanied us as we went to king’s college, yet again another highly respected college. Once in the college we had a brief look at the café, and then we looked at the famous and very impressive king’s college chapel. Finally, we walked back through the beautiful city and witnessed the punting that can be seen throughout the city.
Fleur Butler-Wright: We visited Cambridge University today and I wasn't sure what to expect as this was my first university visit. First of all, we were spoken to by Dr. Matt Bullimore about the university, what it has to offer and what it expects of us as students. He also went into some detail about our choices for A-Level; I found this extremely useful as I have not yet decided what route I would like to take in the future. An undergraduate then gave us a tour of Churchill College where she talked to us about life at the college and the accommodation their newest block. I found this helpful because at Cambridge you decide yourself which college you would like to be accommodated in and where you would feel most comfortable, so an inside look around really helped us to get the feel of Churchill. After we ate lunch in the Hall, we headed to an older style college which was Kings College. After looking around, I decided this was my favourite as the buildings and the teaching style were more traditional. At Kings, you are taught to respect your tutors and this appealed to me. Overall, I thought our trip to Cambridge University really helped me to understand what I am working towards and how to pick my A-Levels in order to prepare for University.
Lucy Dixon: Today, my peers and I visited Cambridge University, in particular Churchill College and King’s College. First, we visited the Churchill College and had a talk with Dr Bullimore and he explained very compelling reasons why to attend Cambridge. I have learnt that I need to focus more on subjects that will aid my chosen degree. It also inspired me as there aren’t many women in the STEM sector at Churchill, which is very sad. We then had a small tour of the campus from a undergraduate, which was very helpful as we got her views on life at University. She highlighted the importance of the libraries at University and how much time we should spend there to complete further research or just read up on our chosen area. Additionally, she explained the supervision sessions we would get weekly, in which we work closely with an academic. I believe this would be very helpful to solidify understanding and further knowledge. We then walked to King’s College, which enabled us to see the beauty of Cambridge. King’s College was far more traditional and we saw the differences between the two. Overall, this experience has made me realise that my GCSE’s do matter and that if I would like to reach a prestigious university, such as Cambridge, Oxford, Durham or another Russel Group university, then I must work extremely hard and do further reading and extra work too make sure I achieve excellent results in both my GCSE’s and my A-Levels.
Emilie Baudot: On Tuesday 5th February, we went to visit two Cambridge colleges - Churchill College and Kings College. Churchill College was much more modern and more relaxed whereas Kings College was old, traditional and fairly formal. I preferred Churchill College because I prefer how modern it is but Kings College is more practical because of its location in the centre of town. It was interesting to see the differences between a secondary school and an university and it was also interesting to see the differences between a modern college and a more traditional 15th century college. It was nice to see the inside of one of the students rooms and hear their opinions on university life. Looking inside the church situated on Kings College grounds was fascinating because of the size and detail that went into the building of it. Shortly after our arrival, Dr. Matt Bullimore (who works in the Admissions Office of Churchill College) gave us a talk about Cambridge University in general, Churchill College specifically, and also what we need to do to be able to get into Cambridge (or another high level) University. He showed us a list of what kind of things the college looks for when choosing who attends Churchill College. Sharing the aims of Churchill College was also interesting and the list contained things such as a supportive environment for students to grow and learn and to help people to find employment after graduating. I really enjoyed this trip and found it really interesting and helpful. Thank you for the opportunity to see two Cambridge colleges today.
Oliver Murat: Yesterday, on our trip to Churchill and Kings College, Cambridge, I learnt many new and interesting things. Firstly, after arriving we entered into Churchill College and sat in an assembly led by one of the senior members of the college. He then led us through a talk, detailing what the process would be for us to apply and the grades needed. This also consisted of an explanation into the intercollegiate system it utilizes. Out of all the things we learnt yesterday, this was probably the most confusing to understand. At the end of this talk, we were introduced to four or five undergraduates, one of whom was 'JQ'. She then led us around different parts of the college such as the dining hall and the playing fields before we all visited her room. That was a very interesting part as before I could not really imagine what a university room would look like despite hearing many stories from my family. After this, we were taken to have lunch before being introduced to another student. He then took us through the city to Kings College. It was here where we saw the more traditional aspects of Cambridge University, seeing buildings, which had been around since the 1400s. This was very different to what we had already seen as modern buildings dominated Churchill College. The chapel at Kings was probably the most visual and interesting thing we saw that day. The roof was high in the sky, meticulously sculpted and adjourned with tapestries and stained glass windows. After visiting here, we began our walk back, passing the famous shunting boats in the river before arriving back at Churchill and bidding our farewell.
Charlotte Evans: A group of Year 10 students were given a fantastic opportunity to visit both Churchill and King’s College at Cambridge University. We met students and staff and gained an insight into what university life is like there. The morning started with a talk on admissions highlighting what universities look for in applications and advice on the steps we should take to pursue certain courses. Afterwards, a second year law student, who showed us the facilities available and answered our questions about her experience at Cambridge, took us on a tour of Churchill College. After lunch, we visited King’s College, which was much more traditional and had a different feel to Churchill. Overall, a very valuable trip was thoroughly enjoyed by all and helped us to consider our options for the future.
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Year 12 Oxbridge Visits
Many Year 12s who are predicted A grades at A Level visit a variety of Oxbridge colleges and faculties.
SJL has built up a bank of reading lists recommended for wider reading by prospective applicants and these are given to individual students to guide their reading as well as being used to augment the SJL Library. We have a bank of Oxford past entrance papers as these become more readily available online supplemented by our own resources. We recommend the school's JSTOR account for further wider reading.
These hard copy resources are used in the first term especially of year 13 to tutor where possible prospective candidates for the Oxford and Cambridge entrance exams which take place at the beginning of November. Additionally, we help provide interview practice to successful Oxbridge and Russell Group candidates.
