7 December 2021
‘How to make a competitive application to Oxford or Cambridge’, the subject of a virtual session on Wednesday 1 December, was part of Woldingham’s tailored and specialist support for students applying to Oxford and Cambridge universities. After a talk full of excellent advice from Dr Michael Sutherland, Admissions Tutor at Corpus Christi Cambridge, students in Years 10 to Lower Sixth joined small group breakout sessions with current or former students from both universities. The guests, among them Woldingham alumnae, shared recent experiences of seven different colleges and a wide range of subjects, including English, law, PPE and medicine.
These subjects are among those the 13 Upper Sixth students invited to attend an Oxford or Cambridge interview this month are hoping to study, along with history of art, human, social and political sciences, architecture, economics, modern foreign languages, natural sciences and classical archaeology and ancient history. As part of their vigorous preparation, the students have taken part in a number of specialist mock Oxbridge interviews.
Miss Jamie Gallagher, Director of Higher Education & Careers
We have held more than 50 mock Oxbridge interviews to date, at lunchtimes, after school and on Saturday mornings, working assiduously to ensure sessions are tailored to students’ individual needs with the help of Woldingham staff and specialised Oxbridge contacts, such as Cambridge medic Riyaad, pictured with student Jungwon and me. We also organised interview ‘swaps’ with both Benenden and Whitgift this year to give our applicants the opportunity to further develop their critical thinking skills and deepen their subject knowledge with an unfamiliar interviewer.
Extensive interview preparation is vital for minimising nerves, boosting confidence and helping students gain an in depth understanding of what to expect on the day. We wish all our students the very best in their imminent interview assessments at Oxford and Cambridge colleges.