Workshop - Ysgol Gyfun Bro Edern - LiNKS

Ceri Anwen James
Ysgol lGyfun Bro Edern
@CeriAnwen @BroEdern
previously at
Ysgol Gyfun Bro Morgannwg

Case Studies
Bethan is about to start her fourth and final year at Sidney Sussex
College, Cambridge, reading Modern and Medieval Languages
(Russian and German). She has just spent a year in St Petersburg,
working in the Hermitage as an intern.
GCSE Courses: Welsh, Welsh Literature, English, English Literature,
Maths, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, German (in year 10), Religious
Studies, Art, French, History, IT
A Levels: German (in year 12), Welsh First Language, English
Literature, History, Maths, AS Religious Studies

Case Studies
Jenny graduated in the summer from St John’s College, Oxford
with a First Class Honours Degree in History. She is about to start
a Masters Course at the University of Cork.
GCSE Courses: Welsh, Welsh Literature, English, English Literature,
Maths, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, German (in year 10), Religious
Studies, Music, History, IT
A Levels: German (in year 12), Welsh First Language, English
A Levels: German (in year 12), Welsh First Language, English
Literature, History, Music BTEC

Case Studies
John has just started his second year at Cardiff University i studying
medicine. During year 12 he spent a week in a hospital in
Grünstadt, Germany on work experience. He also completed a
week’s work experience in all of the following: Llandough
Hospital, Princess of Wales Hospital and the Research Dept at
Cardiff Uni School of Medicine. He also volunteered once a week
for 18 months at Ysgol Erw Delyn, and with Penarth Lifeboat.
GCSE Courses: Welsh, Welsh Literature, English, English Literature,
Maths, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, German, Religious Studies,
History, Geography, IT
A Levels: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, AS German

Not …
Why Oxford Why Cambridge
But …
Why History
Why Russian
Why Medicine

Up and beyond A Levels
The A Level Syllabus is a starting point, not the end point
Oxford and Cambridge expect the A Level syllabus to have been
well taught and drilled, d therefore I have found A Level set texts or
topics to be fairly insignificant in their interviewing process
These questions are the important ones:
Do pupils really have a personal passion for their chosen subject
Are pupils really motivated t to explore their chosen subject further
Are pupils able to apply their A Level skills to new areas easily
Are pupils able to explain and justify themselves
Are pupils able to sustain an argument

Jenny’s Oxford Interviews
1.
Personal Statement (included questions about German
Department’s Berlin visit)
Work Experience (although this is not usually covered in
interviews)
Discussions about books that Jenny had read independently, on
matters not related to her A Level History course.
Including: Benedict Anderson: Imagined Communities;
Eric Hobsbawm: The Invention of Tradition …
and ‘some stuff’ by Niall Ferguson

Jenny’s Oxford Interviews
2.
In-depth discussion on Jenny’s previously submitted A Level essay
on Nazism. Originally written in Welsh for school, translated
before being sent to Oxford
Why History Why History Why History
Discussion about given text about Napoleon, similar to History
Aptitude Test, no previous knowledge required, but A Level skills
to be applied to a new context

Jenny’s Oxford Interviews
History questions:
Why History
How do you make History accessible
Teaching History to the population via television series -v-
Learning about History in the classroom
Chronological l History -v- Experiences of History
History through acting, museums etc
Discussion i about submitted essay on Nazism
Why do you think they have left parts of the Berlin Wall

Bethan’s Cambridge preparation
Grammar, Grammar, more Grammar
Reading, Reading, more Reading
Daily tasks modelled d on the Cambridge tests: t Summary in
German of an English text
Daily tasks modelled on the Cambridge tests: Discussion in
English of an excerpt of German literature
Daily discussions on the extra-curricular literature read
Mock interview in school with an external visitor (very general)
Mock interview with me, combining all the tasks / discussions
required in Cambridge
Mock interview in Swansea University with my tutor, also
combining all the elements of the Cambridge interview

Bethan’s Cambridge Interviews
Why Russian Why Russian Why Russian
X No questions at all about A Level set texts
All questions about independently read literature / film …
How accurate can the portrayal of life in East Germany be in
the fl film Das Leben der Anderen, which h is a fictional account
written by an Oxford educated West German
Why does Woyzeck kill Maria in the play by Georg Büchner
What parallels are there between the theme of fleeing in
Alfred Andersch’s s Sansibar and in his fiction-based
autobiography Die Kirschen der Freiheit

John’s Medicine Interviews
Why Medicine Why Medicine Why Medicine
What do you think are the differences between hospitals here
and the hospital you visited i in Germany
What are the differences between the NHS and an insurance
based system
How will being bilingual improve your communication skills as a
medic How does learning German affect your communication
Which procedures did you see in Germany and what were
your observations
What do you read to further your knowledge of the latest
developments in medicine