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AC A D E M I C
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Oxbridge 2020
Emilia Hitching, U6W
Many congratulations to the eleven members of the U6 who have
been offered places at Cambridge (nine places) and Oxford (two)
conditional upon their A Level results in the summer. In addition,
two of last year’s leavers have been offered unconditional places
at Cambridge. In the following article, Emilia Hitching describes
the Oxbridge preparation process at Bancroft’s.
Although the hallowed days of hearing from Oxford and
Cambridge fell on the 14 and 15 January this year, the Oxbridge
process for our year group began way back in the spring term
of 2019. Following preliminary talks from Dr Hunn about what
the next few months would entail, we began our preparation in
earnest in the summer term.
While each subject encompasses a range of widely different
disciplines and the content covered in each session is led by the
pupils’ particular interests, the format of the in-school preparation is
largely the same.Whether for English or Engineering, we embarked
upon weekly or twice-weekly sessions with subject mentors - ours
was the omniscient Mr Jones - covering questions or exercises that
might be likely to come up in our admissions tests and learning new
ways of thinking. Not only was exploring different genres and eras
of writing great practice for my entrance exam and subsequent
interview, but I found some novels and areas of literature that I
never would have discovered otherwise, from eighteenth century
letters to criticism published in the last five years.
While this breadth and depth of learning may sound daunting at the
outset, any pupil who loves their subject enough to want to dedicate
three or more years of study to it, regardless of the institution, is sure
to enjoy these sessions.The most important aspect of this part of
the process is learning what your interests are. I started to draft my
personal statement sure that I knew exactly what I wanted to talk
about and ended up going in entirely another direction. Being led by
your passions is the most fulfilling part of the application, allowing you
some creative control over a totally unpredictable few months.While
it may not lead to you actively enjoying the admissions tests, finding
your areas of interest certainly helps to reduce anxiety.
Once we had completed the tests during October half term, we
moved onto general interview preparation, asking each other
questions based on our personal statements and tackling unseen
material in the
moment.Wealso learned about more psychological
aspects during mock interviews: whether we spoke too quickly or
failed to look the interviewer in the eye. Such advice will be useful
later in life regardless of the outcome of the Oxbridge process.The
mock interview exchange with Forest and Chigwell was particularly
useful, with each pupil going to a different local school and having a
taster of another environment: as close as you can get to the true
interview experience in December.
Every student involved in Oxbridge preparation comes away
with a wealth of super-curricular knowledge which enhances their
A-Level studies and feeds their curiosity about the wider subject.
In addition to this, we have a great appreciation for all the teachers
who supported us, both emotionally and intellectually, throughout.
Erasmus Essay Competition
Miss L Jones, Head of RS
Three Bancroftians were invited to a prize-giving lunch at the City of London School for Boys on Thursday 16 January in
celebration of their participation in the prestigious annual Erasmus Essay Competition.
Entrants had been required to produce an essay in timed conditions
on the topic of authenticity, having read books and articles over
the summer to prepare themselves. Ben Hughes (L6S) won the
second prize of £300, in recognition of the success of his analysis of
authenticity, especially in light of the increasing secularisation of society.
The guest judge of the competition was Christopher Hamilton of
King’s College London. He addressed pupils who attended the lunch
on the topic of the philosophical issues of authenticity and whether it
is possible to develop a genuinely authentic sense of personal identity,
in light of factors such as historical circumstance and psychological
barriers to genuine self-knowledge. Eleanor Channer (L6S) and Nikki
Wang (L6W) also had essays submitted for judging and both are to
be commended for producing thought-provoking and insightful work.