What’s it like to study at Cambridge? One of the best ways to find out is to take part in the Cambridge University Students’ Union shadowing scheme and spend two days in the company of a current student, living in college and attending lectures and supervisions.

This is what 240 sixth-formers from schools and colleges around the country will be doing over the next few weeks. All are academic high-achievers from state schools and from backgrounds with little history of higher education. They will be matched with current Cambridge undergraduates with the same or similar subject interests to get a real insight into university life.

For the first time, CUSU is running a diary-writing competition for students taking part in the shadowing scheme, inviting them to capture their experiences and thus encourage more sixth formers from under-represented groups to consider applying to Cambridge.

The winning entry and extracts from the runners-up will be published on the university website. A first prize of £100 worth of book tokens has been donated by Emmanuel College, with Cambridge University Press (CUP) supplying a second prize of £80 of CUP vouchers, and Trinity Hall and Sidney Sussex each donating £50 book tokens for joint third prizes.

The competition will be judged by journalist and broadcaster, Juliet Rix, who is a freelance contributor to the Guardian, Times and Independent. An alumna of St Catharine’s College, Cambridge, where she studied Natural Sciences and History of Art, Juliet writes on education, health, travel, and family and social issues.

She said: “I look forward to reading these diaries. I’ll be looking for observant details and lively, succinct writing with individual voices coming through. I’d urge entrants to enjoy their time in Cambridge and tell us all about it!”

The CUSU Shadowing Scheme, now in its ninth year, is run by students for students. Charlotte Richer, CUSU Access Officer, said: “The scheme has gone from strength to strength. Each year we have participants who go on to make successful applications to Cambridge – and quite a few of them then offer to take part in the scheme as “shadowees”.”

On a college basis, the scheme is coordinated by undergraduate access officers. At Emmanuel College, this role is held by Zoe Plant, 19, who is in her first year studying Spanish and Russian.

She went to a comprehensive in west London where no-one had been accepted to Cambridge for several years. “I had very little guidance from school and it was only when I visited Cambridge for an open day that I felt that it was somewhere that I would fit in. That’s why I wanted to support a scheme that gives people the chance to see for themselves what it would be like to study here,” she says.

Zoe is pictured above right with Danielle Murrell, 19, a first year medical student, who is one of the eight Emmanuel undergraduates who will be hosting sixth-formers over the next few weeks.
 

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