The Masterclasses were subject specific offering a flavour of undergraduate study and an introduction to university life. They provided an opportunity to explore topics of interest beyond what is covered within the school curriculum and offered the chance to experience typical undergraduate teaching at Cambridge.

Each Masterclass included two taster lectures delivered by leading academic staff from the University, the opportunity to discuss and ask questions, an introduction to the Cambridge admissions process and a chance to hear about life as a Cambridge student from current undergraduates.

Luca attended the genetics and biochemistry Masterclass. He said ‘I wanted to attended the Masterclass as I thought it would be an interesting opportunity and something that would help my personal statement. I learnt about the Genetics of Mitochondria and some of the deeper electronics of the human body.

‘It taught me a lot about the more niche topics in biology, mostly about where the human race comes from. I think that there is so much to learn in subjects like biology and I want to push myself to learn even more.’

Matthew attended the physics Masterclass. He said. ‘I found the Masterclass very interesting. We learnt about spin, movement and forces and looked at how you can use those to find forces that you didn’t realise were there. We also looked at how applying a different force can change the way an object falls and turns in the air.

‘I’m thinking of studying physics at university and thought the Masterclass would be a good thing for my personal statement, giving me something that other applicants wont have. It was also good to get a feel of how physics is taught at one of the best universities in the country.

‘I learnt lots of new physics skills and as I was the only person from school who went, I got to speak to a lot of new people that I hadn’t met before which was great for my confidence and it was good to see the enthusiasm towards physics across a wide range of people.