Over 10,000 teenagers attend Cambridge and Oxford Student Conferences

By the end of the month around 10,700 students from 681 schools and colleges will have attended the conferences. The events, which are an established part of the calendar for sixth-formers, provide potential applicants with up-to-date information about the two universities.

The conferences are held at major venues in Edinburgh, Newcastle, Merseyside, Lisburn, London, Cardiff and Leicester. The opening event took place in Edinburgh on 15 March and the final event of the series is taking place in Leicester today (26 March).

All the conferences are ticket-only events and were fully booked.

At each conference, sixth-formers attend a series of talks that cover the application process, student finance and careers, academic study and student life.

“Students also have the chance to meet current Cambridge and Oxford undergraduates and talk to Admissions Tutors. This is a fantastic opportunity for prospective applicants to find out first-hand what studying at the universities is like” said Tayma Cannon, Schools and Colleges Liaison Officer at the University of Cambridge.

For the second time, conferences have been held in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, and in Cardiff and they have met with an enthusiastic response from schools and colleges in these regions. Attendance at Lisburn, for example, was up by 25 per cent.

The largest conference was held at the Emirates Stadium in North London, with more than 3,000 students attending.

Phil Bunney, a teacher at Devizes School, Wiltshire, commented: “This is the second year that I’ve brought students to the conferences. They are an excellent way for students to find out more about what’s expected of them by Oxford and Cambridge. As a teacher, I too welcome the opportunity to learn more about how I can support students through the application process.”