CRGS Oxbridge Conference 2018
On 21st March, hopeful Oxbridge candidates from CRGS and Thomas Whitham Sixth Form, attended the annual Oxbridge Conference at the Sixth Form Centre.
Orock Nsoatabe, Schools Liaison, Outreach and Recruitment Officer from Oxford University gave practical advice on applying to the right college and detailed each part of the application process. This helped students understand the somewhat complicated application process and gave them an opportunity to ask questions about it. This was followed by a speech from three Year 13 students who have recently gained Oxbridge places this year. They also gave helpful advice on preparations for interviews and admissions tests.
Dr Clarke and Mr Westworth then conducted mock Oxbridge interviews with the successful students to give potential applicants an idea of the real thing.
Finally, ex-students of CRGS Sixth Form spoke about their experiences in their first year at Oxford and Cambridge. There followed an opportunity for open questions to all speakers – providing us with a valuable insight into the specifics of admissions tests and other parts of day-to-day life at Oxbridge.
Year 12 students were very grateful to all the guest speakers for giving up their time.
Grace Atkinson
Year 12
McWhirter Conference – Oxford 2018
On 12th March we visited Oxford to attend the McWhirter Conference 2018, to discuss the question – “Economic Wealth = Social Wellbeing?”
We heard four lectures over two days from a variety of speakers on the topic and finished with a ‘Question Time’ style panel.
The first speaker was Cecile Wright from the Momentum movement within the Labour Party and she was followed by the Director of Policy for NHS Providers, Saffron Cordery. They both gave interesting views on the topic and the syndicate groups that followed discussed their viewpoints in detail to help come to their own conclusions.
This was followed by a formal dinner where we had the privilege of sitting at a high table with the current head of the McWhirter Foundation, Alisdair McWhirter.
The following day we enjoyed the two remaining lectures: one from Andrew Simms, an author, analyst and co-founder of the New Weather Institute. His views centred around the environmental impact on Social Wellbeing as a result of economic health and gave the syndicate groups plenty to discuss. The final lecture was from Matt Kilcoyne, the head of public relations for the Adam Smith Institute – a group that advocates a free market to encourage economic wealth.
The event ended with a talk from the Principle of Trinity College, Oxford and a small speech from Alistair McWhirter.
We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and would encourage future students to take the opportunity to attend the conference in the future.
Grace Atkinson and Esther Doggart
Year 12
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