Some of the brightest sixth-formers at a rapidly-improving comprehensive in the West Midlands are considering making applications to Cambridge, following a day spent exploring the University earlier this month.

Five year-12 students from Ellowes Hall Sports College, near Dudley, visited the university as guests of Girton College, Cambridge, which works with state schools in the West Midlands. The visit was coordinated by Kym Moussi, Girton's schools liaison officer.

At Girton College, the Ellowes Hall pupils were given a talk about Cambridge's collegiate system and the university's applications process. They met four current Cambridge students, two of whom come from the West Midlands. After lunch, the pupils did a quiz that involved exploring the town, including some of the museums and colleges.

The pupils were accompanied by Ellowes Hall head of sixth form, Jenny Waller, who said that aspirations among the school's pupils were rising, along with academic performance, opening up wider opportunities in terms of higher education choices.

“It's great that Girton is able to offer a day like this,” she said, “Ellowes Hall doesn't have a strong record of sending pupils to Oxbridge so it makes a huge difference to the pupils to be able to meet people from similar backgrounds who are studying at Cambridge and clearly enjoying life so much.”

Several of the pupils said that they would definitely consider making an application to Cambridge in the autumn. Sam Gibson, 17, was interested in studying theology. “I especially like Girton College. Everyone is nice and friendly, and the buildings and grounds are really beautiful,” he said.

Emily Nash, also 17, was thinking about applying for oriental studies, possibly at one of Cambridge's two women-only colleges – Newnham and New Hall. “I think I would like the atmosphere of an all-women environment,” she said.

Among the Cambridge students who took the pupils on a tour of Cambridge was Liz Howse, 20, a second-year veterinary student at Girton who went to Aldridge School, near Walsall.

“Cambridge is looking for enthusiasm, and a genuinely high level of interest in your subject, on top of good grades,” she told the pupils, “If you can offer both, you should think about applying.”

Another of the student guides, Michael Smith, a former pupil of Queen Mary's Grammar School in Walsall, now studying natural sciences at Girton, agreed: “I'm so glad I applied as I absolutely love Cambridge – in fact I can't imagine being anywhere else.”

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