Sidney Sussex College is collaborating with Colleges at the University of Oxford (Keble, Oriel and University Colleges) and University of Cambridge (Christ's, Clare, Girton, Newnham and St John's Colleges) to present a series of webinars for Year 12 students in the West Midlands.

 

Logo for West Midlands Webinar Series

 

Bringing together expertise from across the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the West Midlands Webinars 2024 will provide students with a detailed picture of Oxbridge admissions and student life, providing practical up-to-date advice for students targeting a place at Oxbridge.

The series of three online sessions, running throughout October 2024, is designed for Year 12 students at state schools or sixth form colleges in the West Midlands, including Sidney Sussex's link areas of Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.

The Webinars

The webinars will cover various aspects of the Oxford and Cambridge application process as well as preparing for student life. During the webinars participants will hear from admissions staff and current undergraduates from a variety of Oxbridge colleges, including Sidney.  

The webinars are suitable for any student hoping to apply to competitive universities (not just Oxbridge).

If you’re an ambitious, curious and high-achieving student (aiming to achieve above AAA or above at A-Level or equivalent), then these webinars will be a great start for your university journey.

The Format

The sessions will be run as Zoom Webinars. This means your camera and microphone will not be enabled, and you will only be able to communicate with the hosts and panellists via typing your questions in the live Q&A box. 

You will be able to access the sessions via any internet-enabled device and will not require any microphone, webcam, or Zoom account to participate. 

Joining details will only be sent via email to those with a confirmed place (see application details below).

 

DateTitleContent
Monday 7th October, 17:00-18:00What can Oxbridge offer?Overview of the courses, collegiate system, social opportunities, cities, university bursaries and other support available
Monday 14th October, 17:00-18:00Oxbridge Applications & PreparationOverview of the admissions process timeline, and preparing (supercurriculars, exploring subjects, considering alternative courses)
Monday 21st October, 17:00-18:00The Student PerspectiveStudents and outreach staff sharing an insight into student life and the Oxbridge experience

 

 Eligibility & Selection Criteria

To apply for this programme, you must:

  • Currently be in Year 12
  • Be attending a state school or sixth form college in the West Midlands

The West Midlands are the following regions:

Map of areas encompassed by the West Midlands Scheme
  • Staffordshire
  • Stoke-on-Trent
  • Birmingham
  • Coventry
  • Dudley
  • Herefordshire
  • Sandwell
  • Shropshire
  • Solihull
  • Telford and Wrekin
  • Walsall
  • Warwickshire
  • Wolverhampton
  • Worcestershire

We hope to offer as many students as possible a place on these webinars. However, if we have more applications than places available, we will prioritise students who match one or more of the following criteria:

  • Have lived, or are currently living, in local authority care
  • Are eligible, or have been eligible within the past six years, for free school meals
  • Are a refugee
  • Have caring responsibilities for a family member
  • Live in neighbourhoods with low overall progression rates to higher education
  • Have no parental history of higher education
  • Have a disability
How to Apply

The application deadline has now passed

BUT, we expect to be able to accommodate all eligible students - applications are on a rolling basis, so if you have found this after the deadline/after the sessions have begun, please still sign up and attend the remaining sessions.

Please see the link to apply here:  https://cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_daJPCN3GkSPTYHA

The deadline for applications was 01/10/2024

The sessions are designed to lead on from one another, so attending all is strongly encouraged but not required. 

There will also be temporary access to recordings of the sessions at the end of the series, but you must sign up in order to receive these or catch up on earlier sessions missed. You will not be able to access the sessions after the temporary access expires, so wherever possible, we'd recommend attending live.

Any Questions?

Teachers and students can send any queries to Layo at slo@sid.cam.ac.uk

If you come across this series after the first session, don't panic! You can still sign up and we will send you the details for the remaining sessions if we are able to offer you a place.