Oxbridge woos Farnborough Students
Posted on Friday 10 March 2006
Admissions Tutors from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge visit Farnborough Sixth Form College
Admissions Tutors from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge visited Farnborough Sixth Form College last week to encourage students to apply to Oxbridge. Over 350 students and parents from the College and its partner schools packed the College's Prospect Theatre to receive advice and guidance direct from the Tutors.
Caroline Mawson, Admissions Tutor for Wadham College, Oxford, told the students how the teaching at Oxford and Cambridge differed from other universities. "It is not so much that we want to teach you a lot of facts", she said. "Rather what we do is teach you to explore your subject and to challenge us with your thoughts and ideas. At Oxford, you will have tutors, likely to be world experts in their field, who will teach you in groups of one or two".
Several former college students, now at Oxford and Cambridge Universities, were present to give a student perspective on questions from the audience. Zoe McCallum, 19, of Fleet, who is in her first year at Oxford studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics, said, "There are so many things to challenge you at Oxford - you have to work very hard but you can also play hard".
Rebecca Conroy, 18, of Camberley who is at St John's College, Cambridge, told the audience, "It is great living in a College because all the students really support each other to work".
Dr Richard Barnes, from Emmanuel College, Cambridge, said that over 60% of the students at his College were from state schools and colleges. He advised, "When you come for an interview, prepare well and understand that we are looking for people we would like to teach. We don't expect you to get everything right but we want you to show you can think".
This year, a record 23 students from Farnborough Sixth Form College have been offered places at Oxford and Cambridge Universities, 14 at Cambridge and 9 at Oxford. Dr Barnes said, "It is great to see students being encouraged to apply to these world-class universities and to see the ever-increasing numbers who are successful from Farnborough Sixth Form College".
College Principal, Dr John Guy, said, "We want to encourage our students to look at all universities to find the best for them. It is a great honour for us that the admissions tutors from Oxford and Cambridge should come to Farnborough to attract our students".
