Outreach
at Clare

I have been in post as Schools Liaison Officer at Clare for two years: a milestone for anyone working with sixth formers, as I have worked with a full cohort from their first encounter with Cambridge early in Year 12, through the university application process in Year 13, to the completion of their A-Levels and their progression to undergraduate study. 

It has been two years full of change for our Outreach work. We've transitioned back to predominantly in-person outreach events following a move online during the pandemic, and have since welcomed over 1500 high-achieving students aged 11 to 18 to visit the inspiring setting of Clare for a day trip or a week’s residential. The majority of these young people have been from our Link Areas of Coventry, Warwickshire, Hackney, and Tower Hamlets. We aim to engage with these students multiple times through their schooling, through Key Stage Three, GCSEs and A Levels into university applications, which we achieve through regular trips in-region, subject-specific webinars, and online support for those applying to Cambridge. Particular accomplishments in our Link Areas during the past two years were the return of an in-person HE+ cohort for high-achieving Year 12s in Coventry, and a day visit in Cambridge for students from underrepresented ethnicities, delivered jointly with the Union of Clare Students. 

We have also expanded our work with teachers; our biannual Teachers’ Conferences in Clare form the cornerstone of this support. At the first such conference I ran, I met several teachers who were in Cambridge for the first time, subsequently brought their Year 12s to visit Clare, and are now supporting their high achievers to apply to the University; it’s been rewarding to develop these enduring relationships that will benefit generations of students. 

The past two years have seen us expand the academic programmes we run, in keeping with a nationwide shift in outreach strategy in which greater emphasis is placed on using university resources to supplement students’ school curriculum for a more targeted and subject-focused approach. We support the running of two such collaborative programmes: ClickCambridge, for British Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Arab Year 12s, and STEM SMART, a university-wide outreach initiative led by Isaac Physics that aims to challenge the brightest A-Level science students from Widening Participation (WP) backgrounds. STEM SMART had just begun advertising for its first cohort when I joined the College, and now, almost two thousand participants, two residentials, and a new Biology stream later, we have a new cohort signed up for the third year of teaching to begin in January 2024. It was gratifying to see STEM SMART mentioned in many Personal Statements in the last admissions round and to see participants draw on their strong scientific ability as they tackled their admissions assessments, interviews and A-Levels.

The most memorable project of my time here so far, however, was Cambridge Future Museum Voices, a super-curricular outreach programme funded by a grant from the Isaac Newton Trust Widening Participation & Induction Fund. This innovative programme leveraged two unique Clare assets: our close ties to the University Museum of Zoology through Ed Turner, our Tutor for Access and Outreach, and the many Clare researchers whose work relates to biodiversity and sustainability. Nineteen high-achieving Year 12 students from across the UK spent a week in Clare taking part in workshops, lectures, and tours led by university experts, culminating in the co-curation of Tangled Planet, an exhibition at the Museum focusing on the human impact on Earth’s biodiversity. Feedback from the participants was glowing, and several students highlighted the unprecedented behind-the-scenes access they had to a university department. The residential offered them insight not only into undergraduate life, but also into the work of many world-leading researchers, inspiring and challenging these very able young people. The students’ exhibition is currently open at the Museum and I encourage readers to go and view it.

I couldn’t reflect on two years at Clare without spotlighting another group of young people who are intrinsic to our work: our undergraduate ambassadors. The freshers who supported my first outreach events are now looking ahead to their finals as our most experienced ambassadors, having been involved in many school visits, webinars and residentials since. Some Clare undergraduates go on to design successful WP programmes, such as the Enhancement Scheme, our short bridging course for a small group of freshers from less advantaged backgrounds. The scheme was conceived and run by two second years during my first month at Clare and has now seen its third iteration come and go, still delivered by outstanding students.

It is wonderful to work at a College with a community so keen to support and grow our outreach programme. We were delighted to receive donor funding earlier this year that allows us to recruit a second Schools Liaison Officer. This will continue to strengthen our connections with schools in East London and the West Midlands through a greater in-region presence and year-round visits to Clare while expanding our nationwide super-curricular programmes and support for teachers and advisors.