West Midlands Webinar Series

Bringing together expertise from across the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford, the West Midlands Webinars 2022 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 four online sessions, running from October through November 2022, 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, academics, 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 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).

The Programme

Date & Time	Session Title	Hosts
Thurs 6 October 17:00-18:00	An Introduction to Oxford and Cambridge	Newnham College Cambridge & University College Oxford
Thurs 20 October 17:00-18:00	Oxford & Cambridge: A Student’s Perspective	Sidney Sussex College Cambridge, Clare College Cambridge & current undergraduates from Oxford and Cambridge
Thurs 3 November 17:00-18:00	The Oxbridge Application Process: a Masterclass	Christ's College Cambridge and Keble College Oxford
Thurs 17 November 17:00-18:00	Competitive Applications: Preparing in Year 12	St John's College Cambridge and Oriel College Oxford

 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:
    
    • 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

Any student wanting to attend will need to complete the application form that can be found here.

We will then be in touch via email to let you know if you we have allocated you a space. If you want to ensure that you receive the details for the first webinar on 6th October, you must complete this application form by the end of Monday 3rd October 2022.

BUT if you come across this series after the 3rd October, 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.