My degree – Classics – is historically so riddled with elitism that an entirely new strand of the course had to be created to ensure that students without A Levels in Latin or Ancient Greek were able to study it successfully. As a state comprehensive school student applying to this four-year course, I was aware from my very first interactions with Cambridge that, while this was a university working to include people from underrepresented backgrounds, it was certainly not built for these people in the first place. In fact, I was lucky to be at a school where one of my teachers had themselves gone to Cambridge and so was familiar with and very supportive throughout the general application process: many applicants don’t have even this basic advantage.

“The implication that it was my fault if I failed to meet what some supervisors would see as their most basic expectations has made me feel small and alienated, when in reality I was trying my best with only a year to catch up to people who may have been studying Latin since primary school”

Thankfully, through the efforts of the university, colleges and various societies, organisations and start-ups aiming to level the application playing field, these challenges are being addressed, slowly and with the work being far from done, but it is encouraging to see action being taken in the right direction. To name but a few of the brilliant organisations and schemes working to improve access to Cambridge, Zero Gravity have had huge success with their mentoring scheme, whilst InsideUni, for whom I am the current Cambridge Outreach Lead, are working to close the ‘information gap’ between those students with ‘insider knowledge’ of the application system and those without. Work within the university is equally, if not more important, such as the first foundation courses specifically created to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds in progressing to degree-level study.

Despite all this important work there still seems to be little recognition that students from underrepresented backgrounds are still from underrepresented backgrounds once they have matriculated. The support for applicants does not necessarily continue throughout their degree: I was recently shocked to read an Examiner’s Report for a Classics IB exam as recently as 2019, that noted that “There is a higher chance of getting a First and/or avoiding a 2:2 if one is a man, and a man who is taking Paper 1” (a paper only accessible to those having A-level standard Ancient Greek on matriculation). Seeing as it is incredibly rare for state schools, but particularly state comprehensives, to offer A Level Ancient Greek as an option, this suggests that Classics sets private school students up for significant academic advantage. In a more routine sense, I and several other four-year students have on multiple occasions had supervisors express surprise at our lack of familiarity with a particular myth or historical figure, despite knowing some of us had never studied Classics prior to university. The implication that it was my fault if I failed to meet what some supervisors would see as their most basic expectations has made me feel small and alienated, when in reality I was trying my best with only a year to catch up to people who may have been studying Latin since primary school.

“On a fundamental level, we need to see different aspects of our identities reflected in others around us to feel accepted and avoid the ‘imposter syndrome’ that is intensified in those who have already faced barriers at application”

We can see a clear knock-on impact of coming to Cambridge from a non-traditional background, not only on your degree but on your employment prospects as well. These are as much about being informed about jobs and how to apply to them as it is about grades; with many students attending this institution being advantaged through their parents’ experiences, it can feel completely overwhelming as an underrepresented student to catch up on years of cultural capital. I am still not completely sure how so many people I know of are looking to work as consultants, a job I had never heard of until two years into my degree, for example. Moves to improve upon this might involve signposting existing resources or crowdsourcing information and testimonies about different jobs and application processes, but either way, there is a significant gap in Cambridge outreach provision to be filled here.

This is not to ignore the importance of the personal, day-to-day experiences of people from underrepresented backgrounds studying at Cambridge. On a fundamental level, we need to see different aspects of our identities reflected in others around us to feel accepted and avoid the ‘imposter syndrome’ that is intensified in those who have already faced barriers at application. A sense of community is crucial: swapping stories about the gaps in our secondary-school classical educations with other four-year classicists has made me feel far more at home within the department. The university’s Student Union’s (CUSU) Class Act campaign is fantastic at fostering this community amongst disadvantaged students on a more formalised level, but even more can be done to get their word out to those who would benefit from contact with the campaign and to empower people to self-identify under the Class Act umbrella. What’s more, mentoring clearly works, so why not set up similar schemes? Schemes better structured and supported than the informal ‘college family’ system which, in itself, can be alienating to those applicants less familiar with the inner workings of Cambridge student culture.

It would be incredibly flippant to assume that taking up a place at Cambridge automatically removes any disadvantages people may have faced as applicants: this has been made clearer than ever during the pandemic and the need to work from home. If we are truly to make Cambridge accessible to students from all backgrounds, we need continued, rigorous, structured support systems in place that are advertised university-wide so that they reach and appeal to those who would benefit from them most. The university has a responsibility to ensure the playing field is levelled continuously from the application stage right through to graduation.