16 September 2021
Woldingham students embrace opportunities to look outside the valley for ways of widening their experience and developing skills. Recently, excellent essay writing took Upper Sixth Formers Nina (pictured) and Emily to the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, while a passion for engineering saw Lower Sixth Former Emmanuella head to UCL.
Nina’s economics essay, addressing the question of whether the minimum wage should be abolished, was shortlisted for the John Locke Institute’s Global Essay Prize 2021. This success brought her an invitation to a three-day academic conference at the University of Oxford in early September. The experience, as well as being highly enjoyable, changed her understanding of economics, as she describes here.
Emily spent two weeks in early summer studying law at Jesus College, Cambridge following her success in the Immerse Education essay competition earlier in the year. Emily writes about an unforgettable experience of life as an Oxbridge undergraduate, and her comprehensive introduction to the first year of a university law course, here.
Looking to a future in engineering, Emmanuella was also keen to get an early experience of university. After thorough research into available options, she secured a place on an InvestIN engineering programme at UCL in the summer holidays. As well as working on civil engineering design projects, enjoying a supercar experience and getting to see a prototype of a space shuttle destined for Mars, Emmanuella learnt about networking and has gained confidence for future interviews, as she explains here.