A sixth form college in Hackney has spent £10,000 creating a copy of an Oxford tutor’s study.
Formerly a staff room, the “Red Room” in BSix Brooke House Sixth Form College has been designed to make inner-city students feel less intimidated by interview surroundings. It aims to help encourage them to apply to Oxford and other top universities.
£4,000 was spent on building the room and £6,000 on appropriate furnishings, including an adjacent garden with replica classical sculptures. It is modelled on the colours of Pembroke College, Oxford, as part of the “Pem-Brooke” partnership programme between the school and the College.
Dr Peter Claus, senior research fellow in history at Pembroke, teaches BSix students in the Red Room three days a week, running tutorials and seminars throughout the year. He believes that all academics ought to perform a similar “public duty” in light of “urgent” social mobility problems.
Last year, three quarters of the 319 BSix students who went to university were the first in their family to do so. Only 10 of those attended Russell Group institutions while just one student went to Cambridge in 2011, and another to Oxford in 2010.
Headmaster Ken Warman said he was keen to grow the strategy and improve such figures. He told Cherwell, “We work with 13 other universities on similar programmes. In 2010, 10 students were on such a scheme. Our goal is that, by 2015, every student will be.”
Luke Pearce, a 16-year-old student at BSix, who wants to be the first in his family to study at university by reading PPE at Oxford, approves of the room, saying, “Just stepping in makes you feel quite inspired and privileged.”
Mr Warman stressed that, “If you go to Oxford it is a daunting experience. But if our students have already done it, they will be much more able to cope without being thrown by the unfamiliar surroundings.”
A first-year at Wadham, also educated in East London, commented, “Although it seems like a good idea, I feel there is more emphasis on “style over substance’”, but went on to state, “that said, this style of practice might be the perfect stimulus for some students, especially in regards to self-esteem and their perception of Oxford”.
Simone Webb, a first-year PPEist, was more critical, responding, “I think that £10,000 could be better spent on improving the quality of education at the sixth form, which would far better prepare students for Oxbridge admissions.”
However, Mr Warman pointed out that he was “devoting the whole institution to the pursuit of high standards for all” and explained that use of the room would be open to all Hackney schools.
Helen Robb, St Anne’s JCR President, felt that, “At interview, one of the most important things for all applicants is to feel confident in expressing their ideas regardless of their environment. If the study can help this in any way, then of course it’s a good thing for those applicants who have access to it.”
Yet Hertford student Rhys Owens remarked: “If you’re the kind of person who gets intimidated by a building or a room, I’m doubtful as to whether applying to Oxbridge would really be the right choice.”
Reacting to accusations that it was “intimidating”, the University emphasised that it is “holding more than 1,500 outreach events across the country, trying to break down some of the myths that still persist about Oxford and its admissions process”.
Charlotte Hendy, Pembroke JCR President, was supportive of the scheme, adding, ‘The link between Pembroke and BSix has been an extremely successful initiative. The replication of the study at the school is just one of a number of phases that students go through to give them insight into what studying at Oxford, and other such institutions, is like. It recognises just how important it is to make the student feel comfortable and prepared for the interview process, and we hope that it will aid the scheme as it continues to go from strength to strength.’
