University boss with ‘aim high’ message for pupils

Cambridge University’s vice chancellor Professor, Sir Leszek Borysiewicz took part in an interview masterclass as part of an event aimed at encouraging sixth formers from Leeds and Wakefield to apply to the prestigious institution.

Academics also attempted to dispel the myths surrounding the interview process facing candidates who apply to Cambridge or Oxford.

The event at Notre Dame Sixth Form College, in Leeds, was part of Cambridge’s Area Links Scheme, which is aims to support applications from state school pupils.

Sir Leszek said: “What we want to get across is the idea that if you have the ability then Cambridge University is as much for you as for anyone else.

“We want to raise students’ aspirations to get into the very selective universities as well as considering the local options.”

Sir Leszek told the Yorkshire Post he was determined to challenge the idea that anyone would say: People like us do not apply to top universities.

“This is something you often hear people say and something I heard in my own upbringing in South Wales,” he added.

Cambridge’s fees will rise to £9,000-a-year from 2012, along with much of the higher education sector.

However the vice chancellor said students should not be deterred from applying to Cambridge because of the cost.

“Our bursaries are the most generous in the UK and I would point to our record of increasing the number of state school students from 50 to 60 per cent.”

About 60 per cent of the first years who started in Cambridge this month are from state schools compared with 53 per cent in 1999. The university has set the target of increasing this to 63 per cent in future years.

With fees rising to £9,000-a-year from September 2012 Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has warned both Oxford and Cambridge that they would need to “drastically increase” their numbers of students from lower income households if they planned to charge top-level fees.

Under the tuition fee system, universities charging more than £6,000-a-year had to have “access agreements” showing the support they will give poorer students approved by the Office for Fair Access.

Cambridge’s agreement includes annual bursaries of £3,500 which will be awarded to students with family incomes below £25,000. This money can be taken as either cash support or a fee-waiver.

The university also intends to provide fee waivers of £6,000 to students from the most disadvantaged backgrounds.

The interview masterclass at Notre Dame was the final stage of a three-part programme which also involved a conference in Leeds for students in the first year of their sixth form and a residential summer school at Selwyn College to give pupils a taste of university life.

Dr Mike Sewell, admissions tutor at Selwyn College said: “We greatly value our links in Leeds and Wakefield and are delighted that what began with a few dozen students a decade ago has now grown to the point where we are meeting several hundred students each year from a wide range of schools and colleges across the area. The scheme has seen many excellent students encouraged to come to Cambridge and, we hope, has raised the aspirations of many others.”

Selywn College works with schools in Leeds, Wakefield, Barnsley, Kirklees and Calderdale as part of the university’s Area Links Scheme.

The Cambridge staff at the event at Notre Dame included school liaison officer Anthony Fitzpatrick, a graduate of the university who less than ten years earlier had attended the same meeting as Notre Dame students. The 25-year-old from Leeds who graduated two years ago said: “I had never consider applying to Cambridge before I reached sixth form so it is great to be able to come back here and make sure people have the information they need to give them the best chance.”