Education BA at Cambridge
Thanks
Reply 1
Thanks
Hi ! I've just received an offer for this course, I found these links helpful when I was considering whether to apply! https://www.jesus.cam.ac.uk/quotes/education & https://insideuni.org/blog/a-week-in-the-life-of-an-education-student-at-cambridge/
Reply 2
Omg thank you so much !! Those were really helpful
I’ve been struggling to find any info about the course besides the course structure on the website!If you don’t mind me asking - what grades & subjects did you apply with & what super curriculars did you include in your ps? Also how did you find the interview & what did you do to prepare for it?
Thinking of taking a gap year to apply (I’m gutted I found the course a week after sending my ucas bc it sounds perfect!)
Thanks x
Reply 4
In terms of super curriculars, I found a lot more time to do this because of my Gap Year; I mostly researched a lot more into Education, but also because it’s such a wide-ranging subject there is kind of a lot you can talk about - a good chunk of mine were just things I was interested in anyway, and didn’t specifically pursue because they were *Education Related*
Specifically on my Personal Statement I wrote about:
•
Summer School at King’s College Cambridge where we discussed the concept of Liberty in an interdisciplinary way
•
(Following on, I applied liberty to education) - a TED talk on assimilation of Native American children in ‘boarding schools’ - example A of unjust education; I also explained why it was unjust
•
example B is a book I read called ‘They Came For The Schools’, it was basically about one American town and how extreme conservatives threatened the education of teenagers through censorship, which also helped microagressions/bigotry thrive in that community. I compared the two, and explained why this was more complex.
•
I then talked about my favourite playwright and why I think what he does in his plays is so clever; I chose an example that kind of linked to Education as it was set in the late 70s in a working class town, and I explained that within that play one of the characters wants to go to University, against his grandad’s wishes for him to become a truck driver (as everyone else in the family has). mostly though I just geeked out in this paragraph because I genuinely love the writer haha
•
I then mentioned my interest in German, having done a summer school in Berlin, and linked it to education (it gives me a more holistic view of culture/education/society)
•
My reference from my Sixth Form included also that I co-chaired Debate Club and have done performing arts to a high standard, and that on my Gap Year I tutor socioeconomically disadvantaged students in English
•
You also get an optional extra section on MyCambridge to add anything specific for the course - obviously you don’t have to but (as you can probably tell) I’m a bit of a yapper so I added stuff about being politically engaged, and interested in the intersection of this, media, and real life examples (giving the example of the headteacher who took her own life following Ofsted rating, then leading to policy changes). I also added a more personal element with someone I know having special educational needs, and linked that to the current government wanting to adapt existing schools (evaluating this positively).
The other things I researched but didn’t include (either because of space, or because I found them after I submitted my PS):
• Monkey Scopes Trial/Secular Humanism debates in America (similar to third bullet point)
• Current debates in Education (there are a couple links I can find on this if you want? BBC education is great)
• A book you can find online called ‘Philosophy of Education’ by Nell Noddings - I think this may actually be on the first year Education syllabus but obviously haven’t started yet so idk haha
• The play Spring Awakening (in essence, lutheran society’s use of censorship in the late 19th century in Germany & implications for the youth)
• Questions about Curriculum (does it preserve liberty, or censor it?)
• Daisy Christodoulou’s books (literally found these about 3 days before my interview haha but they’re v interesting!) links to potential injustice of the Education system
I know this seems like an extensive amount but it’s mostly because I had so much time being on a Gap Year, though obviously the work load at Cambridge kind of demands that your intellectual curiosity is enough to find a fair amount of research you’re interested in at application stage!
For my interview, I talked about it a LOT with my parents and we tried to predict questions (ended up predicting one each haha), I also did a mock interview with sixth form which was very helpful. I mostly created a huge document for it, where I typed out answers in full sentences - I didn’t try to memorise them but it just helped me explore ideas, and also expand on things I already thought.
I had two 30 min interviews - the first on my Personal Statement and interests, and the second was more like a mock lesson looking at a quote on education. I felt well prepared for the first one and that went well, as I’d thought a lot about the things I brought up in my application and what they could ask / justifying everything I said. The second one was a lot more challenging, but you had to kind of apply things that you know already to the source they gave you - the questions got extremely difficult, though I guess that’s intentional to see how you think even with challenging topics.
I hope all that was helpful! Also, it’s a shame you didn’t see the course before sending UCAS buttt my Gap Year has been amazing to be honest! It’s a great break from academia, plus you can pursue your own interests and/or save money; travel; spend time with friends etc! would totally recommend to anyone tbh
)In terms of super curriculars, I found a lot more time to do this because of my Gap Year; I mostly researched a lot more into Education, but also because it’s such a wide-ranging subject there is kind of a lot you can talk about - a good chunk of mine were just things I was interested in anyway, and didn’t specifically pursue because they were *Education Related*
Specifically on my Personal Statement I wrote about:
•
Summer School at King’s College Cambridge where we discussed the concept of Liberty in an interdisciplinary way
•
(Following on, I applied liberty to education) - a TED talk on assimilation of Native American children in ‘boarding schools’ - example A of unjust education; I also explained why it was unjust
•
example B is a book I read called ‘They Came For The Schools’, it was basically about one American town and how extreme conservatives threatened the education of teenagers through censorship, which also helped microagressions/bigotry thrive in that community. I compared the two, and explained why this was more complex.
•
I then talked about my favourite playwright and why I think what he does in his plays is so clever; I chose an example that kind of linked to Education as it was set in the late 70s in a working class town, and I explained that within that play one of the characters wants to go to University, against his grandad’s wishes for him to become a truck driver (as everyone else in the family has). mostly though I just geeked out in this paragraph because I genuinely love the writer haha
•
I then mentioned my interest in German, having done a summer school in Berlin, and linked it to education (it gives me a more holistic view of culture/education/society)
•
My reference from my Sixth Form included also that I co-chaired Debate Club and have done performing arts to a high standard, and that on my Gap Year I tutor socioeconomically disadvantaged students in English
•
You also get an optional extra section on MyCambridge to add anything specific for the course - obviously you don’t have to but (as you can probably tell) I’m a bit of a yapper so I added stuff about being politically engaged, and interested in the intersection of this, media, and real life examples (giving the example of the headteacher who took her own life following Ofsted rating, then leading to policy changes). I also added a more personal element with someone I know having special educational needs, and linked that to the current government wanting to adapt existing schools (evaluating this positively).
The other things I researched but didn’t include (either because of space, or because I found them after I submitted my PS):
• Monkey Scopes Trial/Secular Humanism debates in America (similar to third bullet point)
• Current debates in Education (there are a couple links I can find on this if you want? BBC education is great)
• A book you can find online called ‘Philosophy of Education’ by Nell Noddings - I think this may actually be on the first year Education syllabus but obviously haven’t started yet so idk haha
• The play Spring Awakening (in essence, lutheran society’s use of censorship in the late 19th century in Germany & implications for the youth)
• Questions about Curriculum (does it preserve liberty, or censor it?)
• Daisy Christodoulou’s books (literally found these about 3 days before my interview haha but they’re v interesting!) links to potential injustice of the Education system
I know this seems like an extensive amount but it’s mostly because I had so much time being on a Gap Year, though obviously the work load at Cambridge kind of demands that your intellectual curiosity is enough to find a fair amount of research you’re interested in at application stage!
For my interview, I talked about it a LOT with my parents and we tried to predict questions (ended up predicting one each haha), I also did a mock interview with sixth form which was very helpful. I mostly created a huge document for it, where I typed out answers in full sentences - I didn’t try to memorise them but it just helped me explore ideas, and also expand on things I already thought.
I had two 30 min interviews - the first on my Personal Statement and interests, and the second was more like a mock lesson looking at a quote on education. I felt well prepared for the first one and that went well, as I’d thought a lot about the things I brought up in my application and what they could ask / justifying everything I said. The second one was a lot more challenging, but you had to kind of apply things that you know already to the source they gave you - the questions got extremely difficult, though I guess that’s intentional to see how you think even with challenging topics.
I hope all that was helpful! Also, it’s a shame you didn’t see the course before sending UCAS buttt my Gap Year has been amazing to be honest! It’s a great break from academia, plus you can pursue your own interests and/or save money; travel; spend time with friends etc! would totally recommend to anyone tbh
)Thank you! This was extremely helpful, I hope everything goes well
Reply 6
So much of it I’ve never considered before, it’s made me realise what a broad subject it is and that I’ve got a lot of reading to do over summer haha! Thanks again, and all the best for October !! Quick Reply
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