Layo Akinola, our Schools Liaison Officer, spoke to Holly Hubbard, who came to Sidney’s Enigma Residential in 2022 and will be joining us this October to study Medicine.
Sidney runs several residentials, each aimed at different groups. One of these is our Enigma Residential, a two-night programme for female and non-binary students interested in studying a STEM subject at university.
Holly attended the residential in 2022, at the start of Year 12, having never visited Cambridge before. She notes the long journey down from her hometown in Lancaster, in one of Sidney’s Link Areas, and how instrumental the trip was in her decision to apply to Cambridge.
“What I thought was really good about it was they paid for me to get the train down from Lancaster to Cambridge, which is really quite hard and expensive. So that was the only time I'd visited Cambridge or Oxford. It was just a really great opportunity to actually get to see the city”
“I don't know if I would have applied otherwise.”
The Enigma Residential includes subject tasters and guidance sessions to help participants make competitive applications to top universities. Other useful activities in the programme include tours, Q&As, and the headline “Enigma Session”, where students get to interact with the College’s Enigma machine, and learn about its significance during World War Two, with a spotlight on female contributors.
She says: “they gave us time to walk around the city, explore, and have a look at the different Colleges. They gave us a tour of Sidney Sussex, and, I thought, these are such gorgeous buildings and I love all the people here.”
“They did a few Cambridge-style lectures. I had one from some current medical students, giving a lecture on the nerves in the face. Then they talked about some of the differences between Cambridge and Oxford, and other medical schools.”
“It was good because they really introduced you to a range of subjects, and what you could do with a STEM degree.”
Holly emphasised meeting the other participants as a particular highlight of her stay at Sidney.
“I felt like the cohort of people that year was so nice. Everyone got along really well and they were all very like-minded people”
She summarises: “the community and the fact that like I got to actually see Cambridge and got a free journey down was amazing too.”
On why she chose Sidney when applying at the start of her gap year, Holly says “it was the one I was most comfortable in because I'd actually had a proper look around it and I'd stayed there.”
“The attitude of everyone there was very welcoming. Maria [Sidney’s School’s Liaison Officer at the time], was so lovely.”
“And then on top of that, I thought, they are running a free programme to get more women into STEM, so, I'd like to help out with that.”
Holly started her gap year preparing for the UCAT, the admissions assessment for medicine. She also worked at a local hospital, which further solidified her decision to study medicine.
After receiving her offer in January, Holly spent a few months travelling, beginning in Europe, then casting her net further to New Zealand and Thailand.
She offers the following advice inspired by her experiences on the Residential and applying to Sidney: “don't be scared to apply to Cambridge and don't be put off because you think you're not good enough. Stop second guessing yourself and put yourself out there.”
“I just thought, why isn't everywhere running something like this? I wanted to be able to get involved and tell other people to do it.”
We’re looking forward to this year’s Enigma Residential, which begins on Friday 12th September, after the Colleges Open Day. As ever, we’re grateful to Sidney alumnus Dr Phillip Judkins, whose generous donations make this programme possible.
You can view our Medicine Subject Information Page here.
Applications to join our next Enigma cohort will open in Summer 2026. Join our Outreach Mailing List to find out about more events and opportunities.
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