The University of Cambridge felt near and yet so far away for Eliza Greenwood (History 2024), until access and outreach opportunities made her progression to Gonville & Caius College possible.

Eliza’s home city of Peterborough is under an hour from Cambridge and in the county of Cambridgeshire, but the cities are very different. Peterborough, historically, has a low progression rate to higher education and Russell Group universities and Eliza’s school, Nene Park Academy, does not send many students to Oxford or Cambridge.

The proximity of Cambridge offered opportunities. Since Year 7 of school, Eliza has been involved in access and outreach schemes, notably Insight, where Cambridge works with Cambridgeshire schools to boost aspirations.

Eliza found that, unlike some programmes, Insight had a more long-term interest in students. The support continued year to year, including guidance through the application and admissions process.

“They didn’t stop helping after one programme. They were sharing next year’s programme and it meant you could retain interest,” Eliza says.

“I also did a programme called Apply: Cambridge, a mentorship programme for students going into Year 13, and it covered the entire admissions process. This mentor was the only person I had contact with that was from Cambridge, had gone through the application process and now studied there. She was also a historian, which was really helpful. I think that, quite honestly, is what got me into Cambridge.

“It was just so nice to have that one-to-one help. It kept my confidence that I could apply and be part of Cambridge. 

“It had all been demystified for me from quite an early age due to these schemes. It meant when I got here that I wanted to  be an access ambassador and give back. I think that’s quite a common response from students who have benefitted from outreach, but it’s very much true.”

Eliza is now an access ambassador for Caius and a University CAMbassador, supporting the next generation of applicants.

She also undertook a summer internship with Caius’ Admissions and Outreach Department, producing videos for the Caius Schools TikTok channel.

Her internship coincided with A-Level results day, but Eliza was not privy to the finalising of offers. It did bring back memories of a year previously, though.

“It definitely brought back flashbacks, especially as I was a very worried student,” she says. “It seems very silly now, but I had composed a whole draft email, so that if I didn't get my results I could send it to the admissions team to explain that I would seek a re-mark and so on.

“It's because I came out of my A-Level exams feeling all a bit jumbled and I genuinely didn't know if I had done well or not. You just don't know what's going to happen. I wanted to be prepared.”

She chose Caius based on in-person interviews, “good vibes”, and having a large History cohort, of around 15 students per year, including those doing joint degrees (for example, History and Modern Languages or History and Politics). Once starting at Caius, she also found many other positives, including the ensuite bathrooms in first-year accommodation at West Road.

She laughs at the amount of time she spent in the laundry facilities – not sorting socks, but chatting to her fellow residents of Harvey Court and the Stephen Hawking Building (SHB) – and chatting in the corridors, building friendships which will endure.

The academic workload and teaching have been as expected, but also a pleasant surprise.

She says: “The workload is a challenge at times, but I’ve loved it. And the supervision style was not what I expected, but in a good way. It feels really friendly and informal a lot of the time, but you do learn a lot and there’s always help and support available.”