Academic Attainment Programme 2025-2027

The Enrichment Curriculums are series of four, linked, 90-minute academic sessions on a particular subject area. Each Enrichment Curriculum is carefully designed and delivered by a subject expert to strengthen students' skills and knowledge, and to enrich and extend A-Level (Scottish Highers/IB) content. The specific aim of these sessions is to provide students with additional support to achieve top grades in their current studies. 

Students will be enrolled on Enrichment Curriculums relevant to their subjects, which may include the following: 

Students will complete preparatory work for each session and will also have the chance to do follow-up extension work after the session.

These sessions will take place from November to March, and students can expect to have approximately one Enrichment Curriculum session each month for each of their A-Level (Scottish Highers/IB) subjects that is listed above. 

Alongside these subject-specific sessions, students will also attend regular peer discussion groups from November to March. In these sessions, students will be asked to think about some of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and share their ideas about current issues with a group of their peers studying a range of subjects. These sessions aim to provide students with the opportunity to build confidence, sample the discussion-based teaching which is at the heart of Cambridge, and develop their problem-solving skills and enquiring mindset. 

Students might be set some information to read before the session, on which they will share their ideas with the group.

Previous discussion groups have included:

• Tuvalu: a digital country?
• Taylor Swift: pop stars and influence
• Biomimicry: learning from nature

In February, students will be able to take part in taster sessions in a range of subjects, to explore the wide range of degree courses and careers available and to start thinking more seriously about their future plans. Subject-specific sessions will be run by academics. The subjects covered may include:

From May half-term to the middle of the summer holidays, students will complete a Project relating to their subject interests. The Supracurricular Exploration Project offers students the opportunity to consolidate their independent subject exploration, develop key skills necessary to achieve the top grades at A-Level (Scottish Highers/IB), boost their university applications, and share ideas with other students with similar aspirations and subject interests. Students will research an academic topic that is of interest to them and that relates to their future degree choices, then produce a poster about it, before presenting this poster and their findings to their peers as well as subject experts in a Poster Presentation Session, with opportunities for questions and discussion.

A wide range of skills and guidance sessions will take place over the course of the Project to support students through this process. 

You can use the link below to view the exhibition of posters from the 2025 Supracurricular Exploration Project.

View poster exhibition

Students' academic enrichment will be supplemented by regular practical University Readiness Sessions from November 2025 until December 2026, which will provide information and guidance on how to make a competitive application to Cambridge and other top universities.

These sessions will be delivered and run by the Lucy Cavendish College Admissions Team, who will provide their expert advice on each stage of the application process, to help participants make their university applications as competitive as possible. They will start with an introduction to Higher Education, and in particular Oxbridge and other Russell Group universities, before delving into the detail of the application process, the process of choosing a course, student life, and the careers and financial support available at university.

During the summer between the first and second years of the Programme, students will benefit from comprehensive guidance on writing a competitive personal statement, and preparing for the initial stages of the UCAS application process. At the beginning of Year 13 (S6 - Scotland/Y14 - N.I), students will be offered further applications support from the College's Admissions Team, as they complete and submit their personal statements and UCAS applications ahead of the UCAS deadline. They will also receive support with preparation for admissions assessments and interviews as these begin in the autumn and winter.

Based on academic merit, widening participation criteria and regular participation in the first year of the Programme, students will be invited to participate in the final stage of the Programme: revision sessions between January and April of Year 13 (S6 - Scotland/Y14 - N.I) to support them with the final months of their A-Level (Scottish Highers/IB) studies. Students will be offered subject-specific revision sessions from expert teachers in their fields of studies to support them in achieving the best possible results in their summer examinations, ensuring that they meet the grade requirements for top universities, and can reach their academic potential.

I narrowly miss the eligibility criteria, can I still apply?

This Programme is ordinarily intended for students who have already achieved 5 or more grade 8s and 9s/A*s at GCSE in England, Wales and Northern Ireland or As at National 5s in Scotland. This is because it’s an academically intensive programme that requires a significant time commitment on top of students’ A-Level/IB/Scottish Highers and Advanced Highers studies and their other extracurricular and personal commitments. In addition, the Programme has historically been highly oversubscribed, so we do have to give priority to the students who we feel will be able to meet its demands.

If you have missed the eligibility criteria by one or two grades, then you would still be welcome to apply, but you should please note that your application may therefore be less competitive. If serious extenuating circumstances (please see details above) have prevented you from achieving your full potential in your GCSE or National 5 exams, then please get in touch with us at outreach@lucy.cam.ac.uk to discuss your eligibility.

I'm not currently studying any of the subjects listed as a Subject Enrichment Curriculum, can I still apply?

The Subject Enrichment Curriculums form the core part of the AAP, and we would expect students to be studying at least one of the subjects in the list above for their A-Levels/IB Higher Levels/Scottish Highers and Advanced Highers. Unfortunately, the Programme will not as beneficial to your current studies if we aren't able to cater to your subject choices, so we wouldn't recommend applying.

In the form, we will ask you for the following:

• Personal information and contact details: first name and last name, date of birth, gender, postcode, email address
• School name and postcode
• Name and contact details of your referee teacher
• Your GCSE (National 5/equivalent) grades
• Your A-Level (Scottish Highers/IB) subjects
• The degree courses in which you are currently interested
• Short personal statement in support of your application
• Further contextual information related to our Widening Participation criteria
• Information about making any adjustments should you participate in the Programme
• Your parents'/guardians' permission to participate in the Programme
• An opportunity to sign up to our prospective applicant mailing list

You must provide us with the contact details of a teacher referee, who we will contact to verify the following:

• Your eligibility for the programme
• Your postcode
• Your achieved GCSE (National 5/equivalent) grades

We will also ask if they believe that you will benefit from the Academic Attainment Programme, and be able to manage the Programme's academic commitment alongside your current studies.

You must discuss this opportunity with your teacher so they are aware of what information they need to verify and provide by the teacher verification deadline of 9am on Friday 10th October. You must also ensure that they are happy for you to include their contact details on the form.

Your teacher should automatically receive a link to the verification form when you submit your application form. If they do not receive this email (and they have checked their spam box), then please get in contact with us as soon as possible at outreach@lucy.cam.ac.uk. 

The personal statement is useful for us in order to understand a bit more about whether the programme would be a good fit for you academically. You might like to explore the following:

• Why you chose to apply to this programme
• How you think this programme would benefit you academically
• How you think this programme would help you achieve your goals in relation to University 
• Anything else you think we should know

The character limit is 3000 (around 500 words). 

Please try not to worry too much about writing this; it is just one piece of information that is useful to us when shortlisting applicants.