How Do Different Types of Schools Prepare Students for Life at Cambridge?

Y

17

Foreign Countries; Undergraduate Students; Private Colleges; Student Attitudes; Interviews; Educational Background; College Preparation; Student Adjustment; Anxiety; Independent Study; Coping; Self Efficacy; Cultural Capital; Socialization; Stereotypes; Public Education

United Kingdom; United Kingdom (Cambridge)

10.1080/0305764X.2015.1009364

0305-764X

Twenty students from different educational backgrounds within the UK were interviewed to investigate how well they considered their secondary school education had prepared them for the educational and social demands of an "elite" university and life within its most traditional colleges. The study asked them how they perceived students from different educational backgrounds and how they thought they were perceived. Entering a traditional Cambridge college was found to be easiest for students from prestigious "public schools" within the private educational sector. State school students were more likely to experience anxiety, and those who adapted successfully were likely to have strong independent learning skills and a robust sense of self-efficacy. The study suggests that students coming from state schools to Cambridge are making a more difficult academic and social transition than students from private schools, for which they are given no special support.

As Provided

35

2016

EJ1089514