Support for offer holders

The College has received a generous donation that allows us to identify students who have not had the same educational or financial resources available to them throughout their school lives, and who, for this reason, might benefit from additional support in the lead up to and following their commencement of their studies at King’s. As a result of this, we are able to offer additional support to offer holders who have not had access to the same resources and opportunities as others, and one of the ways we offer support is though mentoring and tutoring.

Mentoring

We work with the charity Project Access to give selected offer holders the opportunity to be paired with a mentor for additional support. More information about Project Access can be found on their website.

Tutoring

We are able to offer selected students supplemental tutoring via a private company, The Profs, with whom we have worked for many years, to assist them in their exam/assessment preparation. This typically involves 20 or more hours of tutoring in one of their A Level subjects, usually for one hour a week, working on specific tasks that will be tested in the exams. There is no cost to the students and tutoring would be conducted online.

Students who are eligible are contacted with further details by the Admissions team when they receive their offer to study at King's.

What is the Bridging Programme?

The Bridging Programme is a 'pre-university' course that runs before the start of students' first term at King's. It is a collaboration between King's and Christ's Colleges. The programme began in 2020 and has run every year since. It has been made possible by a generous donation from a College alumnus, who continues to offer support to the College and its students to assist those from widening participation backgrounds to thrive during their time at Cambridge.

The programme runs in the week before the start of Michaelmas Term. Over the course of this week, students meet and socialise with other first-year students, familiarise themselves with the city, attend lectures and supervisions on various academic topics, and attend some skills sessions.

The programme is designed to help familiarise students with the style of teaching they will receive throughout their degree, polish up their skills, and gain some background knowledge relevant to their course. It is also designed to help them get a taster of University life, have an opportunity to ask questions and make friends, and generally ‘bridge the gap’ between further and higher education. The programme combines academic-style sessions, information sessions, and social events. Students are assigned a student mentor - usually a current second- or third-year student - who will organise social activities and be a point of contact throughout the course and beyond. The course is quite small in scale, so the academic sessions are small and intimate and students are given an opportunity to get to know a smaller group before the rush of Freshers' Week.

Student selection

Each year, we select around 12 students from King’s for participation in this programme. These students will join around 10-12 students selected from Christ’s College. We select these students not because we have any concerns at all about their academic potential, but because, on the basis of certain contextual flags, they are students deemed most likely to benefit from the experience. Generally speaking, students selected for the programme are those who may not have had access to the same educational experiences as our other students, or who have faced personal or financial barriers in applying and/or attending university. For information about the sort of flags taken into consideration, please click here. 

Students who have been selected for the programme will be notified when they receive their offer to study at King's. We will then confirm the final details once they meet their offer and their place is confirmed in the summer. Students are informed well in advance of the programme taking place to make sure that they can save the date and make arrangements to attend.

Costs

There are no costs associated with attending the programme, and accommodation will be provided at King's for those attending. We cover travel costs to Cambridge for those attending and provide students with a bursary to cover any costs incurred during the programme and any lost earnings.

King's offers a wide range of financial support for students at the College. Please visit our Finances and financial support page for more information.