Every year, Pembroke and each of the other colleges across Cambridge prepare to welcome thousands of prospective applicants. In July, admissions and outreach staff bring out the bunting and tote bags and pray that they can somehow hold off the rain. Libby Prodger and Amber Cuttill, Pembroke's own outreach team, are always ready to greet students in Old Court with reassuring smiles and hefty bowls of sweets. Throughout Michaelmas, they invite applicants to masterclasses and webinars to really get to grips with our complex admissions process. 

Libby is the Schools Liaison Officer, responsible for running events with schools in the college’s link areas and inviting children as young as nine to visit Cambridge in school groups. Amber operates as both Head of Widening Participation and Deputy Director of Undergraduate Admissions, breaching the gap between their own outreach efforts and our applications. They both speak fondly of their journeys into admissions. “I always enjoyed talking to prospective applicants and working as a student ambassador during my time at university in Leeds,” says Libby, which became the perfect fit after graduation. She not only “lias[es] with students, schools, and teachers” but also “evaluat[es] the impact of [their] events”. Having worked as one herself, she now gets to pass on her wisdom, alongside the bright teal ambassador T-shirts – “PEMbassadors are simply the best!”, she reflects.

“Being recognised by prospective students from our social media at events has been a highlight for us this summer”

For Amber, her role “is split between admissions and widening participation,” drawing the vital links between the two. Having previously worked at universities across London, she says she “realised that alumni relations was not for me”, and having now made the transition to Cambridge, feels “lucky to have a job that involves both outreach and admissions!”

It is slightly terrifying to hear about the intricacies of the mighty admissions process. Amber is “involved in shortlisting applicants, and participating in, or chairing, decision meetings,” the same meetings that we have all passed through on our journeys here. It is that journey that she finds most “fulfilling”, “when students go out of their way to let us know that they wouldn’t have had the confidence to apply had they not attended X event”.

In an effort to reach a wider online audience, the pair have recently ventured onto the world of Instagram reels and Tiktok, with one video starring Head Porter Gordon Murray's takes on “Gen Z” slang to introduce the college to prospective applicants. “We hope it will help prospective students to interact with us spontaneously, in a way that’s less formal than email or telephone”, Libby explains. In the age of online tours and admissions seminars, seeing the porters and the outreach team try out new methods to reach young people is a change that is welcome and, one could even say, very demure, very mindful.

“The only way to guarantee not getting a place at Cambridge is to not apply in the first place!”

“I think it’s really important to open channels of communication with prospective students,” Amber replies, especially when “there are lots of misunderstandings and misconceptions about what ‘Cambridge’ is like as a university”. Libby also recalls how “being recognised by prospective students from our social media at events has been a highlight for us this summer”. With (brat) summer behind us, hopefully this engagement with students in their own language will inspire them in their applications and interviews over the coming months.

They both acknowledge how “applying to university is a daunting prospect,” made even more mysterious by the idiosyncratic ways of the Oxbridge admissions process and collegiate system. When I ask why they think dedicated outreach staff members are important, they point to a wider process and exchange that involves individual college admissions and the aims of the University as a whole. It is all about knowledge. “Our role is to help ensure that all students have access to the same information when applying,” Libby says, in order “to demystify the process and support students, regardless of their background.”

The aims of the University as a whole has also changed this year, as they have stopped using information about state versus independent schools in their outreach targets. Both Libby and Amber support this, describing how, in Libby’s words, “state and independent labels don’t necessarily paint the full picture.” Amber also addresses how “it’s worth noting that the University does commit to continue reporting on the proportion of entrants from state and independent schools”. Even if the metric is “a very blunt tool”, “reporting those stats will therefore keep us accountable”, she says, when it comes to the bigger picture.

When it comes to finally making that application to Cambridge, they echo some of the valuable advice I had seen at outreach events. Amber draws on the ideas about super-curricular exploration: “immerse yourself in the subjects you are interested in” to “give you[rself] the confidence” to apply. Libby reminds me that “the only way to guarantee not getting a place at Cambridge is to not apply in the first place!”, and, being a first generation university student herself, she hopes her words resonate with prospective students. Libby and Amber’s key piece of advice to interviewees is to “believe in yourself!” – with Week 5 approaching, I think these words resonate with us current students too, just as much as they did when we first pressed submit on UCAS.