Member Article

Cambridge University student returns to inspire A Level hopefuls

A former Queen Alexandra Sixth Form College student, who is now studying Medicine at Cambridge University, returned to the College to give an account of the fantastic time that she is having at Cambridge.

Jade Stephenson, from Blyth, who achieved A Level grades of A*s in Biology, Chemistry and Maths whilst at Queen Alexandra Sixth Form College was awarded her well-earned place at Cambridge and began her studies at Peterhouse, the oldest Cambridge college, in October last year. Jade returned in December to meet with current students and give them an insight in to her university experience so far.

Jade talked the students through the university application process explaining to them the importance of extra-curricular activities that could be added to their personal statement – Jade worked in a pharmacy part-time whilst studying for her A Levels, which allowed her to get an understanding of pharmaceutical dispensing and basic medicinal practices and helped support her application.

She told the students about the importance of visiting a number of universities before making definite application choices and gave advice about how to make sure the application process goes smoothly.

Jade, who is thoroughly enjoying her time at Cambridge, told the students about the fantastic network of support that she has received from her ‘House’ and college family and how the new friends that she has made have helped her settle in and establish a study timetable and also an exciting social life. Jade described the many types of clubs and societies that students can become involved in and told them about the clubs that she has joined which include rowing, football and badminton. She said that she is enjoying following the ‘work hard - play hard’ ethos and that because of this philosophy most of the clubs are free to join.

Jade said:

“It was great to come back and talk to the students about my time at Queen Alexandra Sixth Form College and tell them about the amount of support that I got from my teachers which led to me being successfully accepted at Cambridge.

“As well as studying for my A Levels I was made to realise the importance of planning my university application process and preparing myself for the interviews should my applications be successful. I hope that I managed to get this important piece of information over to the students during my talk.

“I also wanted to impress upon them that anything is possible if they work hard and are determined – I didn’t think that I would stand a chance at being accepted to Cambridge but I prepared to the best of my ability and was totally myself throughout – a plan which worked for me!

“Thanks to studying strategies that my teachers at Queen Alexandra helped me to learn, my transition into university life has been quite a smooth one. I am now more confident than ever before and am looking forward with excitement to my next three years here at Peterhouse, Cambridge.”

Denise Bolton, Head of Queen Alexandra Sixth Form College, said:

“We had two students from Queen Alexandra Sixth Form College who were accepted to Cambridge last year and I was delighted that Jade agreed to come back and talk to our current students.

“Her talk was inspirational and motivational, she was very clear and confident throughout and her story helped the students realise that they too can follow in Jade’s footsteps.

“Jade was an exceptional student whilst studying here at Queen Alexandra Sixth Form College, incredibly achieving 100% on her A2 Biology exam which was amazing! She took on board all of the advice, guidance and support that we are able to offer our students.

“I am confident that Jade will continue to do well and enjoy her time at Cambridge and I hope that she will be back at some point in the future to see us again.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lisa Dawson .