As one of the world’s most prestigious higher education institutions, the University of Cambridge is an understandably competitive institution at which to win a place.
On average, across all subjects, there’s a one in five chance of getting in (which are actually better odds than at many other Russell Group universities).
However, some demographic groups are more likely to apply and to be successful than others. Independent school applicants, for example, accounted for 26 per cent of UK applications in the 2018-19 admissions cycle, which is disproportionate to their percentage of the population.
Over the past two decades, the university has made significant progress in widening access and increasing diversity among its students, and has recently committed to its most ambitious Access and Participation Plan ever. This October, the university will admit 70 per cent of its first-year UK undergraduates from state schools and 22 per cent from areas with the highest multiple deprivation.
Lucy Cavendish College, however, wants to go further, becoming broadly representative of UK society across its “home” undergraduate student body. It has the opportunity to do this as it increases its undergraduate course intake from 65 students this year to 130, starting in October 2021.
A new university admissions policy
Founded as a college for mature-age women in 1965, Lucy Cavendish College provided opportunities for a marginalised group to study at the university. Over half a century, however, demographics have changed, and the college’s admissions policy is changing accordingly.
From October 2021, the college will admit highly talented students aged 18 and over of all genders. It is seeking to attract as wide a range of applicants as it can, including particularly those from non-traditional and underrepresented backgrounds.
College president Professor Dame Madeleine Atkins is leading the initiative and says that a more diverse intake will bring benefits for all.
“We know that diversity matters greatly, and that diverse groups of students perform better than homogeneous ones,” she says.
She hopes the college will be in a financial position in due course to offer scholarships to more low-income, talented, international students, “thus further increasing the diversity of our community and providing yet more opportunities for students to form networks and friendships globally”.
“Our scale of change is ambitious but achievable,” Professor Atkins continues. “By 2026, we will have added the equivalent of a new college to Cambridge.
“Within this, Lucy Cavendish has committed to two specific targets: first, that approximately three-quarters of our undergraduate students will be drawn from the UK, and second, that by 2026 those UK students will be broadly representative in their backgrounds of the UK population.”
Dr Mark King joined the college in March 2020 as admissions director to oversee this transition. He explains the logic of the college’s decision as a continuation of existing good work.
“Opening the door to talented students from underrepresented groups has always been in Lucy Cavendish’s DNA, so it is entirely appropriate that we should use our expansion to make more places available for students who are currently underrepresented at Cambridge,” he says.
“Students want an educational environment that combines the best of Cambridge’s traditions with a community in which they feel at home and can be themselves. This is what we aim to build at Lucy Cavendish.”
Proactive outreach activity
These ambitious targets are supported by a comprehensive outreach programme, with Lucy Cavendish working with schools and colleges across the UK to encourage and support talented students to apply.
In normal times, this would mean more school visits, subject experience days, summer schools and other targeted events. But where the pandemic has forced much of this provision to move online, Dr King sees an opportunity.
“Online events allow us to reach more teachers and parents, and to engage with students who wouldn’t typically be able to travel to Cambridge for a day visit,” he says.
“We plan to restart visits to the college and the university once it is safe to do so, but for now we are treating the pandemic as a chance radically to rethink our outreach programmes, informed by the latest research into what works.
“Students from underrepresented backgrounds typically find most of their information about universities online anyway, particularly through sites like YouTube, so we need to increase our presence in the media channels where they feel comfortable and engage with them there.”
Preparing for the first term
When any student is accepted, the college ensures that they settle in smoothly to Cambridge life, both socially and academically. They are invited to attend a unique, free Bridging Week course, with the aim of encouraging a seamless transition into their first term.
“Having been out of school for longer than most of my course mates, I appreciated the chance to acclimatise to my new surroundings instead of being thrown in right away,” says first-year student Miriam Emefa Dzah, 21, the student body’s BME officer, who took part in the 2019 Bridging Week.
“It gave me a way to make friends from around college, meet my director of studies, and get to know the town in a more relaxed way.”
Hailing from an underrepresented community, Dzah says it’s important to recognise that every student comes from a different starting point and the Bridging Course then gives them the personal and academic confidence to overcome initial anxieties and to thrive.
“The difference in the ability to adapt to these new surroundings affects how easily students feel at home and thrive at Cambridge. While some feel confident trying out new societies or sports, others end up locking themselves up in their rooms to cope with the workload. Imposter syndrome is common and feels even more intense for BME students or those from a working-class background,” she adds.
Responding to the coronavirus crisis
As the Covid-19 pandemic threw the country and its universities into turmoil, thousands of students were affected and Cambridge, with its requirement that every student has to be a member of a college, was left with a shortage of places for those who had met the terms of their offer.
And so Lucy Cavendish took decisive action to help, bringing forward its admission of 18-year-old women in order to make places available to students whose original colleges could no longer accept them (men will be admitted as planned in 2021).
Dr King says the college felt a moral imperative to help. “In many ways, it was an obvious step for us,” he says.
“These students have been disadvantaged by the system that was supposed to support them this year - they are by definition the very kind of students we will be keen to attract in future years.
“Many come from backgrounds or regions currently underrepresented at Cambridge and don’t have the means to support themselves during an enforced gap year, especially in the current job market.
“It would have been tragic if the results fiasco had denied them the places they had worked so hard to achieve. We are delighted to have been able to help, and they are incredibly excited about joining us in a few weeks’ time.”
Natalie Gil is a freelance writer and journalist based in London
