Gateway programme
Gateway Programme
The Gateway Programme is an academic, personal and career-focused development programme for our students and is unique to °Ç¸ç³Ô¹Ï.
The Programme’s vision centres on ensuring young women from all backgrounds are able to make the most of the opportunities available to them at the University of Cambridge through skills workshops, internships, early career planning, and funding, all the while mindful of their personal development and wellbeing.
The Gateway Programme has three strands:
- academic skills
- personal development
- career preparation
First year undergraduates are offered sessions which focus on academic progress, complemented by personal development and groundwork for career preparation. Academic sessions are tailored to the Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths (STEM) and Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences (AHSS) cohorts and are supported by subject advisors.
A unique and much appreciated feature of the Gateway programme is the role played by peer subject advisors, typically 2nd or 3rd year students, who offer practical support and guidance to Freshers of their same subject as they navigate the first year of their academic careers.
Examples of sessions include:
- How to make the most of supervisions and what constitutes ‘good’ work.
- What is effective revision and good practice in exams.
- Discipline specific skills e.g. scientific computing and writing, presenting quantitative solutions, and academic principles in essay writing.
- How to manage competing priorities as a student.
- Exam wellbeing.
- How to find internships and work experience and support during the application process.
The student mentors in each subject [gave] tailored advice about what is expected in supervisions, essays and exams. It was invaluable to talk to someone who had recently been through the same process.
Postgraduates, finalists and second year undergraduates focus on personal development skills to support their successful transition into work or further study. Sessions also offer insight into careers and help with the process of getting a job.
Postgraduate students are also offered academic sessions as part of their introduction to Cambridge.
Examples of sessions include:
- Personal development plan designed to cover academic performance and attributes sought by employers.
- Understanding networking.
- 1:1 sessions on internships and career advice with the University's Careers Service.
- Writing CVs & Cover Letters and approaching job interviews.
- Clinical pathways for medics.
- Early academic research paths.
There was a full day on CV writing and mock interview practice. I found that excellent.
Workshop sessions are led by experienced academic fellows, alumnae, professional consultants, and our highly regarded student peer advisors.
Gateway Challenges Funding
The Gateway Programme encourages ambition, challenge and excellence. Experiences have an important contribution to make, but finance is often a constraint. This funding is available to students who have participated within the Gateway Programme and who want to build their skills, resilience and experience further through their own challenging interests.
The summer funding was invaluable at levelling the playing field and enabling me to have opportunities I otherwise couldn’t afford.
Those experiences of travel and exploration were extremely formative and have continued to inform and impact me today.
I can confidently say that the summer I spent in China funded by Gateway Challenges changed the whole direction of my career.
Current students can access the Gateway Moodle page and students and staff can find more information about the programme on the Academic Intranet .