Overview
St Catharine's College is collaborating with Brasenose College (University of Oxford) to deliver a series of free webinars in 2021 for Year 12 (or equivalent e.g. S5) students at state schools in the UK.
Kathryn Singleton and Joe Organ (outreach staff at the two Colleges) will be delivering sessions with Oxbridge academics and students to:
- Introduce life and learning at Oxbridge
- Dispel common myths about the two universities and address prospective students' concerns
- Give in-depth guidance on the Oxbridge application process
- Provide strategies for looking after mental wellbeing
- Give insights into studying subject(s) of interest at university
- Provide information on and opportunities for subject exploration outside of the curriculum, including taster lectures and Q&As
Registration
The registration links for webinars for which booking has opened can be found in the programme below. Students from our outreach 'Link Areas' will have priority, however, we anticipate most of the webinars will have plenty of spaces for students from across the UK. The St Catharine's and Brasenose Link Areas are:
- North Yorkshire (Catz and Brasenose)
- Suffolk (Catz)
- Rutland (Catz)
- East Berkshire (Brasenose)
Webinar Programme
Introducing Oxbridge | Jan 30th 2021 | Recording available here
We'd recommend watching this recording before joining later events as the webinar: introduces Oxbridge and the College system; breaks down myths about Oxbridge; gives an overview of the application process; and introduces the kinds of things you can start to do in Year 12 to prepare for a strong university application in Year 13.
Subject Exploration | March 2021 | Recording available here
We hear of super-curricular research all the time – and that it can help students gain a fascination for a subject and bolster university applications. But what exactly is a super-curricular activity and how is it done? Find out more in this session which covers where to find inspiration at home, at school, and, once pandemic restrictions are loosened, at museums, art galleries and elsewhere. We will also cover thinking critically and building up intellectual ideas and arguments.
Taster Lecture Series | April 2021
Building on from the subject exploration session, we will run a series of lectures (with Q+As) delivered by Oxbridge academics – aimed at sparking and maturing academic interests and intellectual curiosity.
- Life Sciences: Careers in Healthcare and Engineering: Exploring Medical Device Development | This webinar has taken place and a recording is unavailable.
- Humanities: Philosophy: What Physics Cannot Do | Recording available here
- Arts: How Not to Draw Conclusions: Relationships Between Art and Empire | This webinar has taken place and a recording will be uploaded to this webpage over the summer.
- Physical Sciences: Nanoscience | This webinar has taken place and a recording will be uploaded to this webpage over the summer.
Managing Mental Wellbeing while preparing for University Applications | April 2021 | Recording available here
Mary Simuyandi, the College’s experienced Welfare Officer, will lead a session on mental health coping strategies, balancing academic workloads, and making post-18 decisions during turbulent times. We will be joined by current Oxbridge students who will be speaking about their experiences of studying A-Levels and applying to university during the pandemic.
Personal Statement Workshops | May 2021
How do you build up a personal statement? What does a typical Oxbridge personal statement look like?
We will run a session looking in depth at a real recent examples of personal statements - critically evaluating them and then asking attendees to discuss ideas for their own draft paragraphs. Current Oxbridge students will reflect on and provide insights from their own personal statement writing experience. This webinar is aimed at students applying to Oxford, Cambridge, or other selective universities.
Science session | 10th May 6-7.30pm | Recording available here
Arts & Humanities: 12th May 6-7.30pm | Recording will be made available over the summer
Admissions Q&A Sessions | June 2021 | These events have taken place and recordings are unavailable
Two admissions sessions (one for Arts/Humanities and one for Sciences) will give prospective students the opportunity to ask questions directly to Admissions Tutors on any aspects of the Oxbridge admissions process. Advice will be given on how prospective applicants can prepare over the summer, before the mid-October Oxbridge application deadline.
Subject Study Evenings | June 2021 | These events have taken place and recordings are unavailable
Admissions staff, subject tutors, and current students will be leading engaging subject-specific workshops in mid-June for the following subjects: English, Chemistry, Classics, Geography, Engineering. These sessions are aimed at students considering these subjects - or similar subjects - at Oxford or Cambridge. Each event will consist of:
- A tutor-led academic session
- A Q&A session with current Oxbridge students
- An admissions session, giving guidance on the application process for the subject
Open Days | June - September 2021
Throughout this period, we encourage students applying to Oxbridge in October 2021 to take part in the huge variety of virtual events offered by Oxford and Cambridge. These events and resources are an excellent way for applicants to engage with current students, tutors and staff from across the colleges and departments at both universities.
- University of Cambridge Open Days
- St Catharine's College Cambridge Open Days
- University of Oxford Open Days
- Brasenose College Oxford Open Days
Interview Workshops | October - November 2021
We will run a series of interview workshops for Year 13s applying to Oxford or Cambridge – providing authentic insights into the interviewing process. Using current students to help us, we will run subject specific interview topic discussions to help reassure applicants. We anticipate that these webinars will be filled by students from the St Catharine's and Brasenose outreach link area schools (see the 'Registration' section above). However, if spaces become available, we will open registration for non-link-area students and allocate places based on Widening Participation criteria.
Webinar logistics
The majority of our sessions will take place using Zoom's webinar function. You will receive an email from Zoom once your place on a webinar has been confirmed. This email will include the link for the session. Just before the session is due to take place, you will need to click the link in the email to join the webinar.
Your camera and audio will be disabled during the session but the Q&A feature will allow you to type any questions you have. These questions can be anonymous if you prefer. We will answer the majority of questions aloud but some answers will also be typed by the panel.
If you have concerns about having access to the internet, please be reassured that the majority of these sessions will be recorded. Links will be uploaded to this webpage in due course.
Automatic closed captioning will be enabled.
Contact
If you have any questions about this event, please email:
- Kathryn Singleton, Outreach Manager, Catz Cambridge: outreach.manager@caths.cam.ac.uk
- Joe Organ, Schools Liaison Officer, Brasenose Oxford: joe.organ@bnc.ox.ac.uk
