Lizzie Arnold (Education 2024) has confounded her own preconceived ideas and perceptions when she describes Gonville & Caius College and the University of Cambridge as “the perfect place for me”.

When Lizzie was growing up on the border of North Yorkshire and County Durham, she says she struggled at primary school and early secondary school and was frequently absent. Now she is the Gonville and Caius Students’ Union Access Officer.

Lizzie is keen to share her story – and why access and outreach are so important to her.

“Society is inherently unequal. That can mean often places like Cambridge can be dominated by people who have already had an advantage in life,” she says. 

“So it’s so important to give people who have the academic ability but haven’t had the resources to be able to get here, to give them a chance, to provide them with support. 

“Cambridge is a place for everyone; it’s not for certain individuals from a certain background. Coming to Cambridge is life-changing. It opens so many doors and you get to meet so many amazing people. I think everyone should get the chance to come here and have that opportunity.

“I want to be involved in making everyone feel like they’re welcome here and encouraging everyone to apply. I want to be part of the reason why people feel like they can apply here and make a change for people.”

Right up until arriving at Cambridge, four hours’ drive from home, Lizzie was uncertain. No more.

“I was very scared to come and was having second thoughts, even when I got my offer,” she adds. “I did the Bridging Week – I got to come down a week early – and that was such an amazing opportunity to meet people with similar backgrounds. I’ve met such likeminded people, but also different minded people who I really appreciate. Some of my best friends went to top private schools, but they’re so lovely. 

“Everyone is in the same boat – they want to make friends and have a good time here. My expectations were pushed away. This is such an amazing place. I couldn’t imagine myself anywhere else. It’s the perfect place for me.”

It was not always the case. Lizzie’s primary school in rural North Yorkshire had mixed year group classes and she did not receive the support she needed. It was belatedly, in Year 13, that a screening showed slow cognitive processing and she was granted additional time in examinations.

“I had been made to feel I wasn’t academic and I was mediocre,” she adds.

The issues continued into secondary school and Lizzie developed anorexia during the Covid-19 lockdown. She returned in Year 10, the first of her GCSE years, with medical appointments to help her recovery adding to her absence record.

She adds: “When it came to GCSEs you could take things more into your own hands with revision guides. I thought ‘I am not going to listen to what other people tell me about my abilities, I’m going to try hard and do what I can’. 

“I had to teach myself. I shouldn’t have done well in my GCSEs, but I was determined and I ended up getting good results. I really loved sixth form. The teachers supported me. It was very chill, referring to them by their first names. It was a great learning environment for me. I was able to get good grades, but I wasn’t set on going to Cambridge.”

Lizzie had learned about Caius and Cambridge through social media, particularly Caius Schools on TikTok. Supported by her parents, Lizzie visited the Cambridge open days, but she did not immediately fall for Caius. She took part in Caius Explore and was invited to visit two weeks prior to the UCAS deadline.

“I loved it,” she says. “I thought it was amazing and I got to talk to my prospective Director of Studies over lunch. It was nice to be validated as she liked my essay. 

“I had written my personal statement but I was on the fence about applying. After that, I submitted it.”

The support available at Caius – including Bridging Week and Transition and Participation Advisor Dr Katharine Radice – has helped Lizzie to thrive.

Through school visits and tours with prospective students, she now shares her advice with those in the position she was in not so long ago.

She adds: “When you talk to the students, you just have to tell them to give it a go and believe in yourself. Even if others don’t, believe in yourself. If you’re passionate about your course and you really want to come here, give it a go.”