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At the start of September, Selwyn welcomed students to its first bridging course. Between Sunday 1st and Saturday 7th September, 15 of our incoming freshers due to matriculate in October were resident in college for a programme of events designed to aid them in making the transition to life at university and at Cambridge in particular. They were offered some additional online mentoring and supervision across the following weeks after the residential as they prepare to begin their studies.

The 15 students were invited to participate in the bridging course on the basis of contextual data provided to us in the admissions process. We selected the students we believed most deserved additional opportunities because they come from schools and colleges and/or areas that do not traditionally send many people to Cambridge, or because their education has been otherwise disrupted. Beyond that, the bridging course participants have been given an offer of a place through the same rigorous process as all other students at Selwyn, and we believe that all of them have the capacity to thrive at Cambridge.

The initiative has been generously funded by the Isaac Newton Trust’s Widening Participation and Induction Fund, which has agreed to support the first two years of the programme. The course is also indebted to a wide range of Selwyn staff members, four student ambassadors from our current student body, and subject specialists from across 11 different subject areas. Between them, these people allowed us to put together a packed programme offering general and subject-specific academic skills training, an introduction to a range of different forms of support offered by the college, and an orientation within Selwyn and Cambridge.

Dr Tom Smith (pictured), our admissions tutor and History fellow who is directing the course, says: “We believe we’ve put together a programme that will be both stimulating and fun as we look to give people the very best of starts on their journey at Selwyn and Cambridge. We’ll also be looking for every opportunity to learn from the process as we think about refining the course further still for future years. I’m grateful both to the Isaac Newton Trust and to the tremendous support of a number of colleagues and current students in making the course happen.”

Now that the key decisions have been made, here’s what we know about the new undergraduates who will be joining us this autumn.

There will be 118 freshers: 95 home students, and 23 from overseas. They have high achievements already, with those who did A-Levels attaining an average 3.0 A* (arts and social sciences 2.5 A*, sciences 3.7 A*). The students who did the International Baccalaureate averaged 42.8. 

Our admissions team report: “Because of the record number of applicants in autumn 2023, there were strong fields in most triposes so the proportion that made their offers was higher than usual.” Congratulations to them all, including the 18 students who will be coming to Selwyn via the winter or summer pools. (And around 60 of our original applicants were made an offer at another college via the same system.) 

Our state school proportion will be 80%, which is consistent with recent years. We have also met all the regulator’s targets for widening participation among UK-based students. POLAR4 measures the intake from areas with historically low levels of participation in higher education, and Selwyn’s proportion from the two lowest quintiles is 21.2% against a target of 16.6%. On the IMD (index of multiple deprivation) we have recorded a figure of 23.2% against a target of 21.2%. 

We know it’s a long process for applicants - and there’s a lot of hard work for our academics and support teams too - but now we are hugely looking forward to meeting our freshers. We wish them all the best of luck as they start planning for their arrival in Grange Road.

We welcomed back members of the 1989 and 1999 year groups for a reunion on July 13^th. There were visits for alumni to the new library and auditorium, and a catch-up session with the master, before dinner in Hall – which included a speech by 1989 representative Francis Simons.

Photo credit: Mel Cousins

This is part of a packed programme of events across the year for alumni. We have already welcomed members back for their 40^th and 50^th anniversary reunions, and then in September we will have four gatherings:

• On September 5^th, a reunion lunch for 1964 and 1969 year groups – marking the 60^th and 55^th anniversaries of their arrival at Selwyn
• On September 12^th, a lunch for those who matriculated in 1959 or earlier
• On September 14^th, dinner for the 1994 and 2004 year groups
• On September 28^th, Cambridge alumni day for all – and a 10^th anniversary reunion for the 2014 year group

Photo credit: Thisath Ranawaka

For more details, and to book, please click here: https://www.sel.cam.ac.uk/events

Photo credit: Mel Cousins

A Selwyn student has received one of the vice-chancellor’s awards for social impact. The awards, organised by Cambridge Hub and sponsored by the vice-chancellor’s Office, recognise and celebrate achievement in contributing to society. 

Clara Ma, a Gates Cambridge scholar at Selwyn, has received the  Sustainability Award for her contributions to food sustainability programmes at the University of Cambridge. 

Clara is a PhD student at the Cambridge centre for environment, energy and natural resource governance. She assists departments, colleges, and organisations across the university in transitioning to more sustainable food procurement. 

The vice-chancellor Professor Debbie Prentice (in the red jacket) is seen with Clara and other award winners from across Cambridge.

Roger Mosey, master of Selwyn since 2013, will step down from the role in September 2025 in line with the college’s statutory retirement age. 

Roger is now the longest-serving head of house in Cambridge. During his time at Selwyn he oversaw the construction of the Bartlam Library and the Quarry Whitehouse auditorium, marking the completion of Ann’s Court. The college’s students have consistently been among the university’s highest achievers for good honours, and Selwyn has seen a record number of applications in recent years. 

Roger additionally undertakes a number of University of Cambridge roles, including serving on the Prevent and freedom of speech committee; the equality, diversity and inclusion committee; and as an advisor to successive vice-chancellors on communications. He is also a syndic of the Fitzwilliam Museum, a member of the sports committee and chairs the Centre for Family Research.

Janet O’Sullivan, vice-master, said: “Roger has been a wonderful master and will be sorely missed by Selwyn staff, students and fellows alike. He has presided over a highly successful period in the college’s history with wisdom, good humour and energy. His central role in the university has also been a great asset in college governance. We all wish him every happiness in the future and look forward to welcoming him back as an emeritus fellow.”

 Roger Mosey said: “Being at Selwyn has been a terrific experience, but by the autumn of next year I’ll be ready to leave Cambridge and I’m keen to have more time for my other interests. I’m deeply proud of everything the students, fellowship and staff have achieved at Selwyn in recent years, and I hope to have a long, continuing relationship with the college.”

 Selwyn will begin the search for a new master this summer, and hopes to appoint by early 2025.

Selwyn congratulates all the students who took part in the University of Cambridge’s General Admission on Friday June 28th and were awarded degrees at the end of their undergraduate studies.

The day took the traditional form, with family and friends gathering in Old Court to watch the graduands having their photograph taken. Then the student procession made its way to the Senate House for the degree ceremony, before the return to Selwyn for celebratory food and drink. There is a large collection of photographs of the events on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/Selwyn.College.Cambridge and you can also find more on Instagram and X where we post as @selwyn1882.

The college is very pleased to see three of its fellows receive promotions from the University of Cambridge.

• A professorship grade 11 goes to Dr Jörg Haustein in the faculty of Divinity
  

• Dr Kirsty McDougall is appointed to a university associate professorship grade 10 in the department of theoretical and applied Linguistics
  

• And there’s an unestablished associate teaching professorship grade 10 for Dr Elena Filimonova, a Russian specialist in MMLL
  

We congratulate them on their success. You can see the full list of Selwyn’s fellows here: https://www.sel.cam.ac.uk/list-of-fellows

The author and broadcaster Nick Bryant gave Selwyn’s Ramsay Murray lecture on Friday May 10th. This is our annual flagship event at which previous speakers have ranged from Niall Ferguson to Bridget Kendall and from Trevor Phillips to Amanda Vickery.

Dr Bryant argued that the current crisis in American politics is nothing new. Indeed, the divisions in the republic go back to its foundations; and Donald Trump is part of an historical tradition rather than an unprecedented phenomenon. His talk, followed by questions and answers with the audience in the Quarry Whitehouse auditorium, can be viewed here:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q1rEKfGha4