Cambridge hosted a rave based revision session on west hub last night (28/11), in an attempt to “revitalise creativity, boost productivity, and balance work with fun”.

The rave consisted of five 25-minute study sessions, each followed by an exhilarating 10 minute silent disco, with students alternating between locking in on essays and letting loose on the dancefloor.

This was employed to channel Pomodoro revision techniques, which break work into intervals, typically 25 minutes in length, in order to ensure individuals do not get exhausted by working periods.

Utilising dance and electro music is a break away from Pomodoro orthodoxy, which typically relies on a low-tech approach. The original Pomodoro technique employed an analog kitchen timer to split time into working and relaxing sections, rather than using a rave.

An advert for the rave claimed that the dance would “revitalise creativity, boost productivity, and balance work with fun” and in doing so aid students in their working through the benefits of dance.

The event was then capped off with an hour of straight raving between 7:30 and 8:30 pm, to allow students to blow off steam and celebrate the conclusion of an essay crisis.

One student, who attended the rave, told Varsity that they hoped the rave would alleviate their workload concerns, stating that they believed the “raw power of EDM will charge me through my essay crisis”.

“When I’m in the absolute trenches of Chaucer I just feel like I’ll be able to better channel my creative prowess with a boogie break every now and then. In my mind there’s no better way to address the workload crisis than incorporating all the best aspects of Mash into my revision”.

The event was incredibly popular with students, being sold out shortly after tickets became available. It took place in the East Rooms of the University’s West Hub, which is the centre of the West Cambridge innovation site.

This comes at a time when Cambridge is looking into ways to revolutionise their teaching, after they were found to have an issue with the university council and general board acknowledging a “culture of overwork” at Cambridge in July 2024.

Following this, the University’s watchdog called on for the institution to take action on workload and offer more than just ‘warm words’ in the face of excessive workloads

A spokesperson for the University of Cambridge told Varsity: “This is a one-off event combining the popular Pomodoro study technique with a bit of end-of-term fun.”