YEAR 12 and 13 students from Queen Elizabeth's have been involved in scheme designed to help them get into the top Universities.

The QE Aspire Scholars Programme is aimed at enriching the curriculum for the most academically able Sixth Form students and at supporting those who are applying to the most competitive universities, or for the most competitive courses.

Students can apply to join when in Year 11 or when enrolling for the Sixth Form.

This term has been focused on UCAS applications and preparation for university interviews.

Pat Laver, Sixth Form Maths teacher, has lead three after-school sessions aimed at developing self-confidence and interview skills.

These sessions were largely drama based, and demanded concentration, an agile mind and a sense of humour.

They culminated in students interviewing each other, before they went on to their practice interviews with either QE staff or outsider interviewers.

The group has been lucky enough to have interviews from different organisations; volunteers from the Met Office who interviewed students applying for Maths, Physics and Computer Studies and the Bishop of Crediton, Bishop Nick, who kindly interviewed our one candidate applying for Theology.

These interviews form a particularly important part of the Oxbridge application process, and this year we have more students than ever applying to either Oxford or Cambridge. Encouragingly, many of them have already received offers from other leading universities, such as Imperial College London, Manchester (where Brain Cox heads the Physics department) and Nottingham -which has made our Theology candidate an unconditional offer!

Margaret Moran-Mylett, Law teacher and co-ordinator of the Aspire group, said “We are very grateful to all who have contributed to the success of the Aspire Scholars Programme this term. And speaking of success, after our Christmas holiday, we are looking forward to the visit of Exeter Rugby Chiefs' coach, Rob Baxter, on January 23rd”.