Emilia

Emilia has been accepted to read Law at Merton College, Oxford University.

“My passion for Law started a few years ago. I decided to do something that helped make the world a better place” says Emilia.

“Since I started studying the area more in-depth it has become more than that, and I have discovered a serious passion for the subject! I’m now very excited to study towards my career in Law.”

Emilia credits a portion of her success to the support and guidance she received at Rendcomb College.

With small class sizes and supportive teaching, Emilia feels that she has received plenty of support in working towards her University goal during her time there. Mrs Williams, Head of Sixth Form, who from the outset was very supportive; helped guide and direct her towards lots of helpful resources which could be used to bolster and support her knowledge surrounding Law.

“Mrs Williams and I had frequent 1 to 1 sessions” said Emilia “We studied books about past legal cases, and discussed the logistics and outcomes of the case. These sessions really helped me improve my thinking and reasoning skills.”

The ability to access this support from our wonderful Sixth Form teachers, is instrumental in preparing them for the university application process. It certainly helped Emilia with her application to Oxbridge.

“The procedure Rendcomb College has in place is great for helping people practise for their university interviews” Emilia states, “All Sixth Formers undergo two practise interviews where they receive feedback and constructive appraisals of their approach to help them improve and prepare for the real thing.”

Different experts throughout the school help prepare the pupils depending on what subject the pupil is going on to study. This has involved teachers, the finance team, the school Bursar and even the marketing department!

Another option available at Rendcomb College is the Suffolk Group. The Suffolk Group invites gifted and talented pupils, including anyone who is applying for an Oxbridge university or medical school to join. Emilia recalls “Some of the debates we did this year were amazing. I particularly enjoyed topics such as ‘theories of knowledge’ and ‘theories of education’. The debates are designed to increase pupil confidence, knowledge, and conversational skill regarding academics, and it definitely helped me grow in these areas!”

As well as these academic opportunities, Rendcomb College prides itself on robust pastoral care. We discussed this with Emilia, who felt the pastoral care at Rendcomb College played a big part in her application.

“It gave me a solid foundation of support to help me reach my goal” recalls Emilia. “I felt supported academically and emotionally, which helped with the stress that comes with the university application process.”

“It was great to be surrounded by people who are understanding of how important the process is and are there to support and help”.

We wish Emilia all the very best in her future law career and look forward to following her cases.

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Molly

Since taking her gap year Molly has also been accepted to read Law, at Cambridge University. Her passion for law has been long-standing. She started investigating the subject in depth in Year 12, honing in on the areas she found most interesting. When asked why she wanted to study Law Molly commented “Learning the law is a useful tool for understanding the world and how to effect social change.” She also takes inspiration from her mother, whose successful legal career is what first made Molly interested in the subject.

Molly prides herself on being adept at logic and precision, as she enjoyed subjects at school which required these skills, such as Maths and Languages. She believes these skills will be ideal for tackling a Law degree, and we agree!

Since leaving Rendcomb College Molly has been busy setting herself up for a future in Law. She recently took the Diplôme Avancé de Langue Française and is awaiting her results for this. In the summer she is planning to spend two months teaching English and French in Morocco and has secured a week-long placement at a solicitors firm in Leeds.  These plans should make for a robust CV going into her Law degree, and good experience for seeing how a law firm operates.

Rendcomb College aims to help all students thrive, and support them towards whatever their goals may be.
“I felt really supported throughout my time at Rendcomb. Thanks to the small classes, teachers are happy to help with any problem or respond to a query. My A-Level teachers were all motivated and caring, taking a real interest in our success and happiness. With my university application, Mrs Williams was particularly supportive, as she sent me relevant articles/documentaries and gave helpful feedback on practise essays that I did.” 

Molly also commented on the community of the college, saying she felt like she had found her ‘group’ of people here. Additionally, she enjoyed her academic journey, highlighting French as her all-time favourite subject while studying at Rendcomb College. This was largely due to Madame Prian who Molly described as committed to their education and a truly wonderful teacher. As a school, we are very proud to be able to offer this kind of support, and thank our high-quality teachers for being so outstanding.

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Jacob

A recent Rendcomb Alumni, Jacob, had happy news to share when he was contacted recently, having been accepted to study Medicine at Newcastle University. He is currently a few months into his first year, and says the experience he has already gained is invaluable, “I have already had hospital and GP visits which allowed me to immerse myself in my future career and given me a real taste for life as a doctor.”; he is excited to gain more clinical experience in the coming years. Having loved science throughout his time in education, Jacob felt Medicine was an obvious choice for him as it is a progressive and challenging field of science.

During his time at Rendcomb College Jacob took part in lots of extra-curricular activities and opportunities. Jacob was also part of the MedVet society, which gave him the confidence to study and prepare for his interviews and explore the subject area. As well as completing the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award, Jacob was the captain of the First XV Rugby team, and worked hard in the business young enterprise competition, developing eco products. These options are available to all students at Rendcomb College and help curate a well-rounded school experience, leaving pupils confident to step into life after Sixth Form (whether it be further education, a gap year, or a career). Like Emilia and Molly, when it came to preparing for his UCAS application Jacob received a lot of support from Mrs Williams. He also mentioned his tutor, Mr Illingworth, who he felt was a big help during the process. Both teachers helped him with finding resources and developing his personal statement for university. However, before applying to Medical School Jacob took a gap year in which he travelled and volunteered in India. In March of 2022, he spent a month in Jaipur India, where he volunteered in a medical clinic. This allowed him to gain amazing medical experience before going on to do his medical degree. “After only leaving Sixth Form six months prior, to then being halfway across the world working in a deprived area clinic where only 1 doctor spoke English was almost unbelievable. The opportunities provided to me were far above what is accessible in the UK without qualifications”.

Emilia, Molly, and Jacob, all joined Rendcomb College as centenary scholars, and we are delighted to see that they have flourished during their time here. Rendcomb College strives for all students to be thoughtful, adventurous, and ambitious. These three students/alumni are just that, and we wish them all the best going forwards with their respective degrees.

Disclaimer: Quotes and information were taken from written and verbal interviews. Some information has been condensed for the sake of clarity.

Keep a lookout for Molly and Jacobs full Q&A’s on our latest news page.