University access initiative to be pioneered in Shropshire primary schools

Schoolchildren in Shropshire will usually make their first visit to a university in year 11 or 12, but St John’s College, Cambridge, is taking a new approach to inspire the county’s children to think about the options available to them in higher education from a much younger age.

For the first time, primary school pupils in Shropshire are taking part in an initiative at St John’s College, University of Cambridge, to give children in year six a taste of university life and make them aware of the opportunities available to them in higher education. 

Most children will only find out about student life and university-style teaching when they attend a university open day during sixth form.  Prior to this, they will not normally have had the chance to see for themselves the options available to them when they finish school.

Now, St John’s College is developing a strategy never-before implemented in Shropshire, involving children from 11 state primary schools across the county.

The programme was launched at the end of October when a group of 55 year-six pupils visited St John’s, breaking the mould of single one-off visits normally offered by universities exclusively for older children.

The initiative aims to build a stronger personal relationship with pupils by allowing time for consistent contact and further visits during the course of their education.

Having made this initial point of contact, the children will encounter St John’s again through various secondary school programmes.  This will give the College further opportunities to develop a more meaningful connection with talented Shropshire pupils, in the hope of giving them the skills and ambition to apply to St John’s in the future.    

During their visit to the College last month, the group had the opportunity to experience a university-style science tutorial and talk to current students about their experiences of living and studying at St John’s and the many social, sporting and extra-curricular activities on offer.

Access Officer at St John’s, Megan Goldman-Roberts said: “Even in year six they start thinking about university – or at least they have got aspirations about what they might want to do when they get older. This is about getting them to experience what life could be like at University. Whether they want to be a farmer, scientist, or vet, the more we see people consistently through their educational development and introduce them to the idea of St John’s the more they are likely to think about it seriously when they get to the right age”.

The College has launched the programme with primary schools in Shropshire due to its particular connection with the county through the University of Cambridge’s Area Links scheme. Each of the 31 colleges that together make up the University of Cambridge has designated Area Links, which together enable them to build relationships with schools and sixth-form colleges around the UK. This gives schools a personal contact point within the University, through which they can get advice and guidance about applications, and feed back local perspectives on how to make Cambridge as accessible as possible to students who have the potential to thrive there.

The schools taking part in St John’s primary schools programme include Holy Trinity, Meadows, Trefonen, Whittington and Woodside.

Any school in Shropshire that wants to find out more about visiting St John’s College, can contact Megan Goldman-Roberts, via AccessOfficer@joh.cam.ac.uk, or call 01223 338703.

More information on the University of Cambridge Area Links scheme can be viewed here: http://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/colleges/area-links

For guidance on applying to St John’s and Cambridge in general, please visit http://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/applying.