As part of our continued efforts to support schools and colleges in our Link Areas, every year Peterhouse runs a programme of events for maintained sector schools in these regions. These opportunities are advertised in our outreach opportunities newsletter. If you have any questions about any of these events, or would like to discuss further opportunities with the College, please contact our Outreach Team via the email slo@pet.cam.ac.uk.

Visits to Schools

In order to encourage students to consider pursuing Higher Education, and applying to Cambridge in particular, our Outreach Officers go on the road during the Autumn and Spring Terms to tour our Link Areas, visiting schools to deliver talks and workshops. In the Autumn Term, we tend to prioritise providing advice to Year 11s on A Level subject choices and post-16 options, and in the Spring Term, we offer sessions for groups of Year 12 students focused on providing information and guidance on how to make competitive applications to University. We are also happy to discuss both the possibility of running more bespoke sessions tailored to the needs of your school, or online sessions if you are unavailable while we are in the area.  

Year 10 and Year 12 Taster Days

We also regularly host visiting school groups at Peterhouse through our Year 10 and Year 12 Visit Days. Between January - April Peterhouse typically hosts four Taster Days for high-aspiring Year 12 state school students. Students have the opportunity to meet current undergraduates and teaching staff, experience sample lectures and other university-style teaching and tour the College, all with the aim of demystifying the University of Cambridge and raising aspirations. Also in the Spring Term, we host a number of Visit Days for Year 10 state-school students. These days are intended to provide students with an opportunity to find out what a university is, what university life might be like, and why they might enjoy it. They also provide a change for students to experience subjects and teaching-styles that they might not have come across before. If you want to know what happens on a visit day, click here for an account of a visit day written by a Year 10 pupil. 

Progress2Uni

Progress2Uni is an online programme for Nottinghamshire Year 10 state school pupils run by Peterhouse, Cambridge and Magdalen College, Oxford. Progress2Uni consists of four online sessions, run between November - May, which are designed to support, inform, and empower students to explore their post-secondary options, and set goals for their future education and career. Sessions include 'What is University' and 'Student Loans and Student Life', and typically involve an interactive activity, or the opportunity to engage in a Q & A with student ambassadors from both universities. There is also an optional fifth in-person session held at the University of Nottingham. If you are a teacher/ advisor from a Nottinghamshire state school and you would like further information, please do get in touch. 

Visits to Cambridge

If the above dates don't fit in your timetable, you could consider bringing a school group to one of our Open Days. Depending on staff availability, we would be very happy to organise a tour of the College for your group on these days. 

Just because your school isn't in one of our Link Areas doesn't mean we don't want to hear from you too! The opportunities below are available to a wide range of teachers and students anywhere in the UK.

Peterhouse Essay Competitions

A great way to stretch intelligent young minds, Peterhouse currently organises the Kelvin Science Essay Competition. The prize provides sixth-form students with an opportunity to attempt the type of independent study they would experience at university and to have their entry assessed by members of the teaching staff at Peterhouse. 

University of Cambridge Events Listing Page

The University provides a detailed list of all of the upcoming in-person and online opportunities across the University, including College open days and events. You can use the Event Search to filter by keyword, target audience and event type. Cambridge Admissions Office run a Teachers and Advisers' Webinar Series.

Open Days

Peterhouse runs a number of Open Days throughout the year for students wishing to spend a day experiencing the College and University. 

Peterhouse Outreach Instagram

To find out more about our events, opportunities, and resources please follow us on Instagram. 

What age groups does Peterhouse work with?

Most of our work is done with Years 10-13 or equivalent. However, you know your students better than we do, and we are happy to work with younger students if you feel they would benefit from it.

I am new to advising Oxbridge applications - how do I find out more?

The University of Cambridge offers a number of events aimed specifically at advising teachers. If you have any questions about Cambridge, Peterhouse, our courses or the application process, our Admissions Team are here to help.

I advise year 11s on A level choices - how do I help them make the right decisions for them?

Every student is different, and it's important that they take their time to make the right decision for them. The most important decision they will make in their University career is which subject they will study at University, and in some cases the decisions they make at the end of GCSE can affect which opportunities are left open to them when they reach the end of sixth-form. The Subject Matters events and resources provide guidance on advising prospective Cambridge students, and the Russell Group have created a website which provides more general advice on A level choices for competitive university applications. 

What type of students should I be encouraging to apply to Cambridge?

At Cambridge we are looking for academically able students who are passionate about their subject with the potential to excel in the teaching environment we offer. Our typical offers (depending on the course applied for) are A*AA-A*A*A, so if you have a student who looks like they might achieve this, we want to hear from them! We are looking for students with the potential to flourish at Cambridge and who have a strong interest in their subject. There is no particular 'type' of student we are looking for.

Be careful not to exclude from your cohort of Cambridge candidates those who have not performed that well in their GCSEs. Here at Cambridge, we don't have any GCSE requirements and some of our best students are those who didn't show their full potential until they reached A level/IB age. Students on an upward trajectory should be encouraged to think about Cambridge as much as the high-fliers who have been excelling at school from a young age - remember, it is potential that we are looking for, as much as academic achievement.

If you have an applicant whose paper application does not match their potential for reasons beyond their control, we also want to hear about that through our Extenuating Circumstances Form, so we can put their application in the proper context.

What can I do to stretch my academically able students?

 Super-curricular activities - activities which enable students to explore their subjects beyond the curriculum - are really helpful for prospective students. This is largely so they can confirm their own interest in their subject, and find out what really fascinates and excites them. This includes reading beyond the syllabus, listening to podcasts, watching documentaries, undertaking relevant projects or visiting places of interest connected to their chosen field of study. Super-curricular exploration should therefore be led by your students' own interests, but there are a number of ways you can help them with this. Cambridge University runs a number of Summer Schools, Challenge Days and HE events, and Peterhouse offers essay competitions, all of which are great ways of encouraging super-curricular explorations with a bit of structure. Year 12s may also like to make use of the University of Cambridge bank of super-curricular resources.

Which is better - A levels or the IB?

The answer to this really depends on the student in question. Some students prefer the breadth of the IB, and others prefer the depth offered by A levels - here at Cambridge, we don't have a preference, and consider applicants from both qualification systems equally, on their own merits. The typical conditional offers for students taking A levels (A*AA-A*A*A) and the IB (41-42 overall and 776/777 at Higher Level) are set following research by the University which indicates that students who achieve these typical offers go on to perform similarly at Cambridge. It is also worth pointing out that these are only typical offers and all offers are set on a case-by-case basis, in light of the candidate's circumstances, performance and academic profile.

Should my students take the EPQ?

The EPQ is not currently typically used as part of a conditional offer at Cambridge, but this isn't to say it's not useful and we don't notice it. The EPQ is a great opportunity for students to explore something about their favourite subject in depth, to foster their own passion for that subject and to practise the kind of independent study they would be expected to undertake at university. It can also be a topic for discussion during interviews, giving us the chance to have an academic discussion with your student about a topic they are familiar with and excited about.