Head's Newsletter 13 December 2019

a presentation about the university process and the complexities of applying to ‘Oxbridge’. Then, we grilled five current undergraduate students about all things Oxbridge in a Q&A, ranging from the collegiate system to the Assassin’s Guild society! Afterwards, the undergraduates gave us a tour of Homerton College and disclosed what university life is really like. Next, the students were greeted by a Tiffin alumnus, Max, who recently joined the college. He presented the personal statement workshop, which took us through the core structure and content of the document. We took a bus into the heart of Cambridge, where we were taken round Trinity College by another Tiffin alumnus, Adam. We stopped by the gilded chapel, the numerous courtyards and the dining hall, as well as learning about the long history of the college and the connection with Isaac Newton. In a somewhat daunting setting, seeing the student that we once saw on prefect duty in the canteen at such a prestigious institution made the prospect of going to Cambridge or Oxford less surreal.

Visit to University of Oxford On Thursday 28 th November, a small group of year 12 Tiffin students went to the University of Oxford to have a look around some of the colleges. The day began at Somerville College, which is north of the main town of Oxford and is a relatively large college. As Tiffin School’s link college, we had the opportunity to go around the building, library and gardens. We were then invited to have a taster seminar of history, which helped us see one of the main teaching methods that we would encounter at Oxford. After lunch, in their notably ornate main hall, we proceeded to walk down to the Museum of Natural History, where students studying, for example, biology and art, are able to study artefacts. We were able to spend an hour or so in the town to help us get a sense of its atmosphere, which is as important as the educational aspects of the university when it comes to deciding whether to apply. The town was buzzing and is comparable to a very condensed London. To finish the day, Vith, an ex-Tiffinian, gave us a tour of Pembroke College. It is, similarly to Somerville, one of the larger colleges, and we were able to talk to Vith about his experience thus far at university. He gave us some helpful subject-specific information and the day helped us see what Oxford is really like and definitely helped us to decide where to apply next year. Visit to University of Cambridge The day began in the drawing room of Homerton College where we took our seats along two long oak tables. The Homerton schools’ liaison officer delivered

Thanks to Chloe Hunkin for the Oxford write-up and Arjan Madaher for the Cambridge piece.