Trinity supports Target Oxbridge

Trinity has committed £30,000 to Target Oxbridge for 2018 to enable more black and minority ethnic students to benefit from this innovative programme.

This year 160 black students will benefit from the initiative, up from 45 in 2017. Target Oxbridge provides 16-18 year-old African and Caribbean students with detailed advice, mentoring and role models in a structured, one-year programme that includes residential visits and academic sessions. When they visit Cambridge, participants will have an immersive experience of life at the University, including taking part in lectures and meeting staff and current students.

Admissions Tutor at Trinity, Dr Glen Rangwala, participates in Target Oxbridge events. He said:

‘We are helping the University to recruit more black Caribbean and black African students by supporting programmes like Target Oxbridge. Ultimately we are all working towards the same goal: enabling high-achieving students from backgrounds under-represented at Cambridge to apply and thrive here.’

Target Oxbridge was founded in 2012 by Rare, a specialist diversity recruitment company. Both Cambridge and Oxford support the programme. Its patron is the novelist Zadie Smith, who studied at King’s College.

At Trinity, the Schools Liaison Officers collaborate with their peers in other Colleges and the Cambridge University African Caribbean Society to run events for black and minority ethnic students. On 13 April, 60 students will hear from academics about the courses at Cambridge, tour different Colleges, and eat in Hall at Trinity and Darwin.

‘It’s all about getting an understanding of what it’s like to study and live at Cambridge,’ says Trinity Schools Liaison Officer, Caitlin de Jode.

The BME Student Conference originated in 2015 with Trinity alumna Sarah Lusack, who went on to work at Rare and then the Civil Service. Sarah played a pivotal role in Cambridge partnering with Target Oxbridge in 2017.