Oxbridge Tea and Workshop
Oxbridge Tea
To provide pupils who are applying to Oxford or Cambridge with one-to-one/small group interviews to help them to identify strengths and weaknesses in preparation for future Oxbridge interviews that they might have.
Oxbridge Workshop
To help to prepare pupils for the subjects that they will be in the process of applying for. The workshops run, where possible, with a specific subject focus for an hour and allow pupils to explore interview styles, entrance exam preparation and written work requirements. There was also an emphasis on the supra-curricular aspects of the application.
Aims
To give pupils a taste of the expectations of an Oxbridge interview outside of their typical school environment to support them with their ongoing preparations
To enable pupils to work through the ‘daunting’ aspect of an interview process when they are interviewed by individuals that they don’t know
To provide pupils with an opportunity for subject-specific mock interviews to support them in their preparation over half term. For some,, this will be their first experience of an interview.
To help support pupils to develop their resilience with the provision of structured feedback
Background
While Truro School had support in place for those applying to Oxford and Cambridge, it is clear that both Truro School and many of the local Sixth Forms are at a disadvantage when applying for Oxbridge due to the location in Cornwall and its rural isolation. This arrangement addresses issues both from Truro School, who as an independent school cannot access the outreach support that the local state schools ahve availalbe and also can provide expertise to students and facilities to state school pupils. Overall this appraoch strengthens the regions approach to applying for and achieving places at Oxbridge. This would hopefully have a positive impact on the number of pupils who would consider applying for Oxford or Cambridge in the future from Cornwall.
We are working to support pupils at Truro School and in the local Sixth Forms to apply for Oxford and Cambridge. These workshops were designed to provide support pre- Summer holidays for those who were considering Oxford or Cambridge. It also meant that pupils had subject specialist support if not available from their own school.
Resources
Staff time, refreshments, venue
Free to all attending.
Tea 23 members of staff- 13 Truro School staff, 10 staff from state schools and 1 retired Oxford Professor.
Workshop
14 Truro School staff, 6 staff from state school and 1 retired Oxford Professor
These continue to be highly successful, well attended events that will be run annually.
Impact
The Oxbridge Tea achieved all of its aims and set the ground for the possibility of running it as an annual event alongside future workshops. 19 different interviews were run alongside each other at the same time. From the feedback gained, pupils found the interviews useful and all felt more prepared. It was also established at the Tea that staff from the local Sixth Form schools would like to be involved in future Oxbridge events which are run and were happy for Truro School to act as a ‘hub’ due to its geographical location and the availability of facilities.
The Oxbridge workshop helped to develop the relationship with other Sixth Form Schools and fed into the success of Oxbridge Tea, with double the number of interviews provided in the second year.
Pupil Involvement
43 pupils (17-18) - 31 from state schools for Tea
53 pupils (16-17) - 28 from state schools - Workshop
Frequency
Ongoing
Two events per academic year.