On the 13th of February, Lister Community school visited St Catharine’s college in Cambridge University as part of The Access Project in order to better students’ understanding of university life and exemplify the fact that one should always have high ambitions, no matter what their background, race or ethnicity is.
The Access Project is an organization, which alongside providing free tutoring for state school students, works with students from year 10 onwards to help them make informed decisions about university and further education. The help they provide includes support choosing GCSE and A-level subjects, picking the right university and degree for them and running personal statement clinics and practice interviews. Also, the project provides three extra-curricular societies for sixth form students, bringing together students from across schools who are interested in applying to Oxbridge, Medicine, Dentistry and Law, to offer the extra support needed for a successful application to these competitive courses.
During the trip, students engaged in lectures with university professors who are experts in history and biological engineering and were taken on a tour of the accommodation and student halls by students currently studying at the university. Nazeerah Patel, a high-achieving student from Lister Community School mentioned that” It was great to hear from a student's perspective on Cambridge and hear about the day to day life of a student at Cambridge. It just goes to show that Cambridge is just like any other university, besides its selectiveness, and shows that going to university is not only about studying, it is also about making friends and joining societies i.e. having fun whilst learning. Learning about how important your grades are, even GCSE grades, gave me a lot of inspiration to work as hard as possible and strive for the best, so I can have the best opportunities open to me.” Naseerah Patel, an extremely hardworking pupil at the school also stated that “I felt like I had a better understanding of how to apply and get into the universities that I want to go to. I also enjoyed it and it was an experience I will never forget.”
The day began with an introductory session on what the university and college offers- pupils from across the schools who work in partnership with The Access Project were informed on societies, financial support such as bursaries and the grades college/sixth form students will need to achieve in order to gain a place at this extremely selective and prestigious university. Later, Lister students were taken on a tour of the living and communal areas and college library. Finally, the experienced ended on two fascinating lectures given by university professors on the use of engineering in healthcare and the effect of music in the 1960s.
In conclusion, the experience focused on university life (social and studying) and the support in which you can receive i.e. student loan. In addition, it taught Lister Community students that anyone has the ability to succeed in education and can break stereotypical barriers associated with them whether that is concerning race, gender or ethnicity by attending reputable universities such as Cambridge University.
Halimah Ali, Lister Community School
