Onward Routes for our Upper Sixth blog post 1
Here at Norwich School we are delighted to celebrate the talented diversity of our Upper Sixth cohort as UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) offers continue to roll in.
Following on from Norwich School successfully hosting several Norwich Science Festival events during the recent half term, we have chosen to focus on pupils choosing to study STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Medicine).
Studying STEM is strong at Norwich School with consistently large numbers of both girls and boys choosing Sciences, Maths and Further Maths for A level: 81 of last year’s Upper Sixth cohort took Maths A Level with approximately 40 taking each of the three Sciences and 19 taking Further Maths.
And there is much to celebrate and get involved with STEM within school; the pupil led Med Soc (Medical Society) have arranged for two external speakers to come in the next 2 weeks and two Upper Sixth pupils (Alex Brown and Ren Damodar) have recently been selected to take part in the selection process for the UK’s team at the International Biology Olympiad following their gold awards in the British Biology Olympiad.
We hear from three pupils who are hoping to study STEM at university.
Eliza Prior
Tell us about the university offers that you've received so far i.e. what course(s) at which unis:
I have received offers to study medicine at Newcastle, UEA and Bristol. I have also received an offer to study Biology at Newcastle as my non-medical back up option.
On top of the usual UCAS application form, what else have you had to do as part of the admissions process to be considered for these highly competitive courses?
Over the summer I had to prepare for the UCAT test, which has verbally reasoning, decision making, maths skills, pattern recognition and ethics based questions. I sat it at the beginning of September and scored in the top 4% of the 35,000 people who sat it which was mind-blowing to me. I just love that my hard work paid off. I also completed work experience at the James Paget Hospital for a week as, although not mandatory, most courses encourage that you do it in some form. I then sent off my application in October and had to wait for any interviews to come through. I had in-person interviews at UEA and Newcastle in December, an online interview at Bristol in February and then and in-person interview at Southampton (the outcome of which I’m waiting for) towards the end of that month.
How did Norwich School help you achieve these offers?
I was incredibly lucky as the school ran an interview mock session in Michaelmas which was really helpful as it meant I knew what the interviews would be like before I went to them. When I was in L6, the U6th ran a UCAT advice session where they told us all their tips for how to effectively revise and what not to do. I got to talk to them throughout the year about how their applications were going and find out a bit more about some of the universities. I also went to a talk at the school’s Medicine Evening with my parents about picking choices wisely based on what different universities look at.
What have you been involved with outside of the classroom at Norwich School during sixth form?
I keep myself quite busy outside the classroom. I am in six weekly music ensembles meaning I get to perform at Gala Night, Jazz Night and the Dyer’s Service in London. I have also performed at musical theatre nights and Unplugged which are always enjoyable due to their relaxed setting. I have been in the last three Senior Musicals which has been one of my favourite things to do at the school and I hope to do something similar at university. I am in the girl's 1st XI football team which has been a great two years as I stopped playing when I left primary school, so it’s been nice to get back into it. I am a young leader with the school’s Cubs pack once a week which is great fun as I get to use my skills to help the younger pupils learn and grow. I am also Head of School this year which has been the most amazing opportunity. I have met so many amazing people at various events, as well as helping out with the day-to-day prefect jobs.
Which offer do you think you will pick as your CF (conditional firm) and what most excites you about that course?
Newcastle will be going down as my firm choice. I love the fact they use a case-based learning style as well as early clinical exposure at great teaching hospitals. My brother George is in his 3rd year there reading Geography, so I have visited the city and campus a number of times and always loved the atmosphere. I can see myself being really happy there for the next 5 years.
Joseph Philpott
Tell us about the university offers that you've received so far i.e. what course(s) at which unis:
So far, I have received offers to study Mathematics at Warwick, Bath, and Bristol universities. I am still waiting to hear from the other two universities that I applied to.
On top of the usual UCAS application form, what else have you had to do as part of the admissions process to be considered for these highly competitive courses?
I sat the MAT (Maths Admissions Test) for Imperial (who I’m waiting to receive a decision from) and TMUA (Test of Mathematics for University Admission) for Warwick and Bath Universities. Both tests were taken in October of Upper Sixth.
How did Norwich School help you achieve these offers?
The Maths department were very helpful with preparing for MAT and TMUA and helped me with my personal statement.
What have you been involved with outside of the classroom during sixth form?
I play in the school 1st team for football and for tennis. I also play tennis outside of school and currently have an LTA national U18 ranking of 106.
Which offer do you think you will pick as your CF (conditional firm) and what most excites you about that course?
I am still undecided about which university I want to go to but if I had to pick now it would probably be Warwick because it is one of the top universities in the country for Maths, so I am looking forward to the opportunities it can provide.
Sophie Hough
Tell us about the university offers that you've received so far i.e. what course(s) at which unis:
I applied to read Earth Sciences (Geology) at Exeter College, University of Oxford, and have decided to make this my conditional firm choice. This course combines my A-level subjects of Maths, Physics, and Geography, and I am particularly excited for the modules on volcanology and palaeontology.
On top of the usual UCAS application form, what else have you had to do as part of the admissions process to be considered for these highly competitive courses?
As well as applying conventionally through UCAS, I had to sit through two interviews, although I was lucky in that my course doesn’t have an admissions assessment. My interviews were with senior professors in my field so I did lots of revision and preparation beforehand — I knew I needed to impress them, especially with this forming the main part of my application! However, their questions were mostly about my A-level content and the things they knew I was interested in.
How did Norwich School help you achieve these offers?
Thanks to Mrs Grant and the UCAS team, I felt quite prepared by the time it came to my interviews. School was really good at helping me with my application. The Geography department bought some books for the school library that were specifically on the suggested reading list, which I could delve into over the summer. In October, I had a mock interview with a professor at the UEA, arranged by Mrs Grant. Every time I had a wobble or felt like I might not perform well enough, there was always someone there to give me support. This support has been readily available throughout my time at Norwich School.
What have you been involved with outside of the classroom during sixth form?
Since joining in the sixth form, I have been involved in lots of clubs and societies, my favourites being Model United Nations (MUN), the Amnesty Group, and FemSoc (Feminist Society). I am about to sign off my Gold DofE award, and with MUN Society, I have been lucky enough to attend — and run! — multiple Model Arctic Council conferences. I also enjoy playing the piano, although I take my lessons outside school. As a prefect, I am glad to be this year’s Red Gown for Girls and Young Women, a job that has kept me on my toes organising events with FemSoc. Stepping into this role has been one of my proudest achievements in my time at NS, and I will definitely be attending my university’s feminist society.
What excites you most about the Oxford course?
Looking ahead to the autumn, I am excited, if a little nervous, to be going off to university. I can’t wait to get stuck into the course. If I make the grades for Oxford, I am most looking forward to the small tutorials with leading experts in the field, and of course the field trips, especially to places like Greece! I’m not sure which career path I’d like to follow, but currently I am considering post-doc research in volcanology, which would take me all over the world to practise real-life science.
