HE Fair 2018

Universities from across the UK gave students in Suffolk a dissertations worth of ideas in terms of their options after A-levels.

In total, 44 universities came along to talk to students at One. They (the universities) represented all parts of the UK, from Belfast to Brighton via Coventry and Cambridge.

Phil Page, Head of Curriculum and Stretch and Challenge at One said, "The day was set up to give our students the chance to chat directly to universities and help them make more informed decisions about their futures. We also had 18 seminars on various topics including finance, Oxbridge, revision and this year we had a special focus on careers in creative industries. Lots of our students are applying to go to Russell Group universities, Cambridge and Oxford so this events stature is growing every year. Also, more and more students are choosing to come here and that means that more and more universities want to have a relationship with us."

Dr David Bainbridge is the admissions tutor at St Catherine's College in Cambridge. "We do lots of work with Suffolk schools to raise aspirations and encourage applications to Cambridge. Widening participation is a big drive for Cambridge at the moment. The best way for us to do is to come along to events like this where there are lots of bright, young, potential applicants that we can encourage to apply."

Ashley Roberts is a 16 year old One student based in Suffolk. She said, "This event was very useful and One seems ahead of the game. We don't have to apply until the end of the year so getting a focus early on is helpful."

17 year old Charlie Keeble is also from Suffolk. He said, "I recently spent some time at Cambridge with an undergraduate so I wanted to get some more information about studying there. This event was very helpful and since studying at One, nothing has stopped me from thinking that I won't be able to go to Cambridge."

Harriet Greatrex is the schools and colleges liaison officer at Aberystwyth University. She said, "This is my first time at One and my first time in Suffolk. We had quite a lot of interest and the students really did their research."

Deputy Principal, Jenny Milsom, said,  "We want to do all we can to support our students when they are thinking about what they want to do next and this HE fair is one of the many activities we have to help them reflect on their futures right now. It's fantastic that we had universities that supported us from all four corners of the country. The overall message that we were getting was these top universities want our students."