St John’s hosts Target Oxbridge visit day
Target Oxbridge is a free sustained contact programme that aims to help Black African and Caribbean pupils and pupils of mixed race with Black African and Caribbean heritage increase their chances of getting into the Universities of Oxford or Cambridge. Since launching in 2012, Target Oxbridge has helped over 350 students to secure Oxbridge offers.
St John’s is proud to sponsor two places on the programme, and we were delighted to welcome pupils to the College last week.
Our Access team worked with Target Oxbridge and the central university outreach team to deliver a fun and educational experience for the visitors, ably supported by fantastic student ambassadors from across the University. The programme was designed to give visiting pupils a holistic experience covering the university application process, academic sessions and life at St John’s.
The day started off with welcome talks in the auditorium, before pupils were split into groups for tours of St John’s led by the Access Team. After a lunch in Hall and the opportunity to chat informally to current students, pupils headed off to admissions and interview workshops focusing on different subjects and led by academics from St John’s and across wider the university.
These sessions gave pupils the opportunity to watch a mock interview and hear from current students about their interview experience, all with the aim of demystifying the process as much as possible.
Finally, pupils headed back to the auditorium to hear the student ambassadors’ top tips, plus a final opportunity to ask questions before heading home.
We’re particularly grateful to the St John’s Computer Science Tutor Professor Stefan Kiefer, who delivered an engaging workshop with support from two current St John’s students.
We’d also like to thanks colleagues from the wider university including Dr Martin Galpin and Dr Matt Williams for leading information sessions.
We loved welcoming Target Oxbridge to St John’s, and hope to see many of the students back again soon!
