Master Classes encourage pupils to look at languages afresh

The Year-11 pupils were given an introduction to Cambridge and the application process, a taste of undergraduate teaching with talks by three academics, and a tour of the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages. Divided into groups, they had lunch at Trinity Hall and Pembroke and St Catharine’s Colleges and later took part in a question and answer session led by current undergraduates.

The day focused on Italian and was aimed at gifted and talented students at state schools taking one or more modern language at GCSE.

Ten pupils came from King Edward VI School in Bury St Edmunds. Rory Hird, 15, (pictured far left) said: "Before today my picture of studying at Cambridge was that it was all work, work and work. The talks we had made me realise that it would be a pleasure to be studying - you'd think of it differently as it would be so interesting."

Fellow pupil Kate Brown, 15, (second from left) agreed: "The lectures showed that studying languages at university is much more than just learning grammar and vocabulary - you study the history and culture surrounding the language and how it's developed."

The King Edward VI pupils were accompanied by languages teacher Alex Reall. He said: “A day like this exposes pupils to an environment which is very different to the classroom. It also gives them a chance to look around and think where they might be in a few years time. Many of our pupils know Cambridge quite well but won't have been inside the university itself."

Clemency Cooper, Schools Liaison Officer for Pembroke and St Catharine's Colleges, said: ‘The Master Classes showed students that there’s more to languages than they first imagined in terms of the topics you can study and the places it can take you. The enthusiasm of the first and second year undergraduates helping with the event was infectious.”