QUESTION BANK FROM SESSION 1: ‘INTRODUCTIONS’ – 14/01/2025

PRE-UNIVERSITY (APPLICATIONS AND ENTRY REQUIREMENTS)

What are the GCSE requirements; do you use GCSEs to compare students?

There aren’t any minimum GCSE requirements BUT sometimes the people considering your application will
look at your GCSE results. However, GCSE results are looked at in context (for example, they are notified if you
went to a ‘low GCSE attainment school’ where lower GCSEs were common). They’re also not the most
important thing (probably near the bottom of importance on an application) so keep working hard at your A
Levels!

Does an Oxbridge application count as 1 of 5 UCAS applications or is it separate?

Firstly, to clarify just in case, you can’t apply to both Oxford and Cambridge in one year. An
application to Oxford or Cambridge will count as one UCAS application, like an application to any
other uni.

With an open application, does it risk you not getting a place unlike specifically putting a
college down

No – an open application doesn’t affect the outcome of your application. The people interviewing
you don’t see whether you applied directly to them in the first place or not. So no, it doesn’t alter
your chances.

An open application is good if you don’t mind the college you’re assigned to (this will be a college
which has fewer applications that year for your subject).

When should I start writing my personal statement?

We suggest that you have a rough draft of your personal statement (it may change and develop as you do new
supercurricular activities and/or change your mind) by the summer. Some schools have earlier internal
deadlines for Personal Statements in June/July, so aim to have at least something down by then, but it does
not need to be set in stone by then.
For personal statements how many supercurriculars do we need (and do you have any examples please)

There’s no set number of supercurriculars you need to have (annoying answer, I know!) but everyone’s
personal statement looks slightly different. For example, in my personal statement I wrote about some
lectures I’d watched on a free trial of Massolit and some additional books I’d read and a summer camp I
volunteered at (this last bit was probably skimmed over). Other people may write about: plays they’d been to
see; placements they’ve done; residentials they’ve been on; Masterclasses they’ve attended; projects they’ve
completed; essay competitions they’ve been involved with; ‘mini med schools’ they’ve completed; maths
Olympiads; hackathons – or whatever they can get their hands on! I’d say mention of 2/3 supercurriculars (1
big one, 1 medium one and 1 small mention if you have one) would suffice. Most of the time, universities host
events for Year 12s to get involved with things related to their subject – so have a look at these!

The idea is what you say about it and what you’ve learnt from the supercurricular, rather than how many
you’ve done! They’re not going to count them and prefer someone who’s done 20 or 30 random things over
someone who has done 2 or 3 smaller things but has really gone into depth on explaining why they were so
crucial to their self-development and their interest in the subject. Keep in mind the classic: quality over
quantity.

If you do not have any of the recommend subjects, can you still receive an offer?

This is a tricky one because it (as usual) depends subject to subject and college to college! It is always looked at
on a case-by-case basis so I can’t give a clear answer to this without the context, I’m afraid.

Humanities subjects will usually require you to have an essay-based subject so that you’re prepared for the
written nature of the course, but are not always required (you can study Philosophy, for example, with a set of
science A Levels, but for English this is not the case); Science subjects will usually be clear about the subjects
they NEED you to have studied beforehand.

I’d suggest you make sure you have the subjects listed as required as a starting point, but if you really want to
know – please reach out to me separately so we can have a look at this!

Do different colleges have different entry requirements?

For some subjects – yes. This varies per subject, so make sure you check your subject pages to make sure what
these requirements are. For example, to study Law at Cambridge, only Sidney Sussex college has a minimum A
Level offer of A*A*A, while other colleges have a minimum offer of A*AA.

Also, other requirements such as written work may vary college to college. To use the example of Law again,
Pembroke and St Edmund’s require two pieces of written work to be submitted prior to interview (most
Humanities subjects require you to submit written work beforehand).

I know this sounds a bit complicated – annoyingly, everything varies college to college and subject to subject!
But as long as you just have a short list of subjects you’re interested in, or if you know which subject you’re
applying for already, just look at the ‘Entry Requirements’ section of their page for exact details.

Is this program something we can put in our application?

Well, that depends how! If you just put:

‘I took part in the Robinson Access Programme.’

It’s not quite going to impress anyone and the question they’ll ask themselves is,

‘Okay … and?’

However, if you put something like:

‘When I was enrolled on the Robinson Access Programme in Year 12, a session which particularly
stuck with me was the English Taster Lecture on approaches to psychological frameworks in the
modern novel. I had also attended the Psychology Taster Lecture which allowed me to compare
the methodologies and approaches of both fields of study on similar topics. I was initially
deciding between the two subjects, yet the English lecture consolidated my interest in close
reading, which had been a particular strength of mine in my essays on Macbeth at school, as a
method of analysing frameworks of thinking. This led me to explore sociolinguistics further […]’

then, that’s more of the sort of thing we’d be looking for!

What degree did you do at Cambridge?

I studied English and graduated with a First Degree and received two prizes for my results from the college
after having received them (one of them was for significant improvement from my first year, because I had a
lot of catching up to do compared to the intensity and quick pace of the Cambridge course!) but I really
enjoyed the challenge and interdisciplinary nature of the course. We had lectures which were linked to Art
History, Sociology, History, French, Classics and Linguistics! It was very broad and gave me the opportunity to
explore new topics I didn’t think I’d enjoy (like Medieval!) and then specialise on what I was interested in later
on.

How to study for entrance exams? (Particularly English)

Past papers are always a good place to start. Some people do lots of these, but I’m personally not a massive
fan of them myself. If you’re like me and want another way to prepare, I’d say to read fairly regularly and find
what you enjoy. Once you’ve found this, practise writing essays about this (maybe compare this to a text
you’re learning about at school) and if you can, ask your teacher to look over this for you. This will help you to
prepare writing essays, building arguments and thinking through your ideas; once you get closer to the time,
you can start to condense this into timed conditions, but you have enough time now to start just seeing how
far you can stretch your thinking. What theories can you apply to what you’re reading? Where does it sit in the
history of literature? Is it a reference to anything, if so, how has it been adapted? What criticism and
scholarship is out there on this given text (have a look on JSTOR or Google Scholar)?

AT UNIVERSITY (ACCOMMODATION, COURSES)

If you’re not enjoying your course, can you transfer course and if so, how would that work?
In some cases, this may happen, but it’s a quite difficult and sometimes complicated process! I’d say it’s best to
look into the course pages of the course(s) you want to study to make sure it’s definitely something you want
to do before you start studying it at uni. There’s no set process for changing courses across all universities, so
it’s up to the course director, your tutor and also whether there’s enough spaces on your desired course.

There may be requirements such as reinterviewing with the new course director or getting a First (top grade)
in your first year to be permitted to change course. Often, you’ll also have to restart from year one in your new
subject, meaning adding an extra year onto studying (and taking out an additional year loan from Student
Finance).

What are the main big differences between the accommodation on campus and the houses?

College site:

- Closer to the Porter’s Lodge (picking up parcels, help if you’ve locked yourself out of your room … any
other strange things students may need help with at 3am)
- Robinson has all ensuite rooms in the main college building, HOWEVER, the kitchens are smaller

Houses:

- Some of the biggest rooms are in the houses

- The kitchens are bigger
- They have a more homey feel than the staircases in the college building
- In the gardens

PLEASE NOTE: These answers are for Robinson ONLY and this varies between the colleges (there’s so many!
And they’re all so different in how they’re built!)

Are there events to help you integrate within your college?

Yes! When you join (and also throughout the year) there are plenty of opportunities to help you integrate
within your college. Some examples include: subject drinks/dinners (you don’t have to drink if you don’t drink
it’s not a requirement that’s just what they’re often referred to as!), games and quiz nights, socials organised
by the Students’ Association (eg. the Working Class Social, BME Social, LGBTQ+ Social), sports socials and
events … and many more! There’s always something going on and there’s plenty to get involved with in your
college.

Are there 3 terms to Cambridge or two?

There are 3 terms at Cambridge: Michaelmas, Lent and Easter. They are 8 weeks long (but people usually stay
in college a week before and a week after term, if they choose to).

Is the accommodation cost included within the tuition fee at Cambridge?

Unfortunately not … (although that would be handy) The accommodation cost is separate to the tuition fee.
The tuition fee is capped at £9,250 a year for any university, including Cambridge. Most people take out a loan
from Student Finance to cover this and this gets paid directly to the college you will be attending (you never
personally see this money!)

However, the accommodation cost is set by your college and is completely separate. Students either take out a
full maintenance loan (for living costs and accommodation) from Student Finance, or take they may take out a
loan and also receive financial support from other sources (for example, the scholarships and bursaries which
are non-repayable which we talked about in the session!)

Do you have to pay extra for a bigger room if you have physical accessibility issues?

When choosing a room, you will let the accommodation organisers know of your physical accessibility issues so
that you can get a room which suits your needs. For example, if you needed a room on the ground floor with
enough room to move in a wheelchair, this would be accommodated. You would typically pay the price of the
room, but you could apply for financial support to cover the cost if it is more expensive than you are able to
pay.

Does the accommodation apply if you were to stay on for a masters?

The master’s system for accommodation, teaching etc. will be completely separate to your first undergraduate
degree if it is a separate master’s degree. However, some courses (Maths, Natural Sciences, Engineering) offer
a fourth year which is known as an ‘integrated master’s’, for which the accommodation is classed as if you
were staying on for a fourth year (like in Languages or the four-year Classics course).

Do you have to move out after every term?

Most of the time, this is the case, but if you need to stay in college outside of term time for whatever reason,
this is usually accommodated. Some colleges (including Robinson) have long-term rent contracts which allow
you to state at the start of the year that you’ll be needing to stay for longer.

Could you give the range of prices for accommodation?

Since prices vary per college and per type of room that you have sometimes, it’s quite hard to give a range! But
the median rent for the year at Cambridge is around £5,400 (£1,800 a term). Remember that this price
includes rent, electricity, water, housekeeping, internet and other services such as onsite IT support and a
Porter’s Lodge (almost like a reception – but more!) which is open 24/7, you’ve got your teaching, friends and
other activities on your door step and the accommodation is guaranteed … so it’s not just like renting a room
somewhere random.

How much do normal dinners cost, roughly speaking?

Roughly speaking (if you pay a member, aka. student/staff price at a college) then you’re looking at around £4-
6 a dinner – not bad! You can, of course, make your dinners yourself a lot cheaper, but it’s nice to meet up
with your friends in the canteen to eat where it’s prepared ready and warm in the evening (especially when
you have a lot of lectures and work during the day!)