Teachers from all over the country spent two days at Cambridge earlier this week at a conference on student life at Cambridge, organised and hosted by Fitzwilliam College, Murray Edwards College (New Hall) and Sidney Sussex College.

The 80 teachers came from a spread of schools and colleges that included comprehensive schools, further education colleges, selective state schools and independent schools.

Their programme covered a variety of areas including admissions and interviews, finance, subjects offered at Cambridge and a student forum. Participants got a first-hand taste of Cambridge through staying in student accommodation and eating in College dining rooms.

At the end of their visit, the teachers had the chance to question a panel of six undergraduates studying a range of subjects at the three Colleges involved.

Questions ranged from “How can we encourage more of our students to apply to Cambridge?” (Answer: bring them here on visits) to “We've heard how wonderful Cambridge is, what is the downside?” (Answers: you do have to work hard! You might not have time to do everything you want to do.)

Many teachers were keen to use the conference to discover what Cambridge is looking for in prospective students, apart from excellent exam results.

Louise Butcher (pictured), a geography teacher from Fulford School in York had written on the back of an envelope a list of what she had learnt from talks given by Admissions Tutors Dr Kirsten Dickers (Sidney Sussex) Dr Hilarie Bateman and Dr Paola Filippucci (Murray Edwards) Professor David Cardwell and Dr Rosemary Horrox (Fitzwilliam).

Her notes read: “Enthusiasm for subject, intellectual flexibility, potential and eager for challenge and stretch, prepared to go 'up a gear' from A levels.”

Among the teachers visiting Cambridge for the first time in a professional capacity was Anna Mearns, an English teacher at St Brendan's Sixth Form College in Bristol, who said: “The last two days have really shifted my perceptions of how Cambridge looks for problem-solving skills and intellectual curiosity. I will be encouraging more of our students to consider applying.”

Beth Linklater, Student Support Manager at Queen Mary's College in Basingstoke, said that the conference had been a valuable opportunity to get a feel for three Cambridge colleges with very different buildings.

She said: “Our students might not be keen on the idea of an all-female college - but having experienced Murray Edwards, I will be able to tell them that it might be a good choice, giving them lots of support.”

Another teacher, Roger Lockey, head of Year 12 at Sir Thomas Rich's School in Gloucester, had been taking pictures to show to his students. “It will be great to be able to show them that Cambridge is modern as well as traditional, and that the University has a wide range of students with plenty of them from ordinary backgrounds,” he said.

Dr Kirsten Dickers, Admissions Tutor at Sidney Sussex College, said: “We hope the conference was valuable and allowed teachers to get a feel for Cambridge, ask detailed questions, and also interact with other teachers from different schools.”

Feedback provided by participants showed that they found the conference extremely informative, and that would help them to give more focused advice to their students. They also appreciated the opportunity to make new contacts with other teachers.

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