Lily Goulder (Linguistics 2022) made a late decision to apply to Gonville & Caius College and the University of Cambridge.

As an access ambassador for Caius, Lily shows school groups and prospective applicants around the College. She is doing similar ambassadorial work in her native Yorkshire, endeavouring to change the stereotypical image which has formed in people’s minds.

“I find it a shame the way people I speak to up here in Hull look at Cambridge,” says Lily, who attended Kelvin Hall Secondary School and Wyke Sixth Form in Hull.

“People ask me a lot ‘don't you feel really out of place?’ and ‘isn't everyone really posh and stuck up?’ Things like that.

“I find that really sad, because the people that say that to me are some of the most like intelligent and passionate and hard-working people I've ever met.

“They're the kind of people that would thrive in Cambridge and Oxford environments. And I'm sure they would have a great time.

“But it's just that mentality of ‘it's not a place for us’. They may never have spoken to someone that's actually gone to Cambridge before. So I think just saying ‘I've been and it's been great’ is sometimes all they need to know to realise that it's not so scary.

It's important to me to tell people that there is a space for everyone in Cambridge... because people will accept you and it is very supportive

“It's important to me to tell people that there is a space for everyone in Oxford and Cambridge, and if you feel like there isn't a space for you, you need to just make that space, because people will accept you and it is very supportive.”

Lily added Cambridge to her UCAS application only a month before the deadline.

“You get five options and that's quite a lot. I thought ‘why not try Cambridge?’” she adds.

She enjoyed the application process, experiencing an interview which was “constructive and educational”, having thought more deeply about her subject when writing her personal statement and completing the admissions test.

“I gained confidence just through doing the application. So my advice would be – just give it a go,” she adds.

She took encouragement from Wyke Sixth Form, particularly her English teachers and the Oxbridge Programme Coordinator.

She says: “They had the attitude that all sorts of people get into Cambridge and Oxford. You can just give it a go and you've got as much chance as anyone. So I'm really grateful that I went to a sixth form like that that just pushed us to try.”

Speaking on A-Level results day provided a moment for reflection 12 months on from her own results. Lily is now going into her second year at Caius, is enjoying her course and the lifestyle.

She adds: “It sounds silly, but it's been more fun than I expected, because you do think Cambridge is all about the academic side of things, like long hours in the library. It is, but then there's always something fun to do afterwards.”