87 Upper Sixth students from Epsom College, City of London Freemen’s School, Epsom & Ewell High School and Teddington School came together to take part in a series of university style seminar discussions.
Students were paired up with a partner from another school with an interest in a similar field of study. Each pairing was tasked with preparing a short presentation on a topic related to their preferred degree course. There were seven seminar groups, ranging from Medicine, Economics, Geography, Law, Philosophy and Engineering.
Topics included ‘Can necessity be a defence for murder?’, ‘Are artificial cells the future for drug development?’ and ‘How is AI used for good and for bad’.
Students commented on how much they enjoyed learning something new, hearing contrasting viewpoints and immersing themselves in an academic discussion outside of the typical classroom environment.
Teddington School’s Head of Sixth Form, Kirk Campbell, said:
“Teddington students found the chance to explore their passions with students from other schools not only a way of refining their research and presentation skills, but also to explore the nuances of complex topics through discussions with others. Feedback on the Q&A element was that it was exciting to be challenged and to challenge others in order to develop their understanding.”
Epsom College’s Director of Learning & Innovation, Oliver Fernie, added:
“It was fantastic to see the students collaborate so well together and produce such high-quality presentations and ask some very astute questions of each other. Not only the subject knowledge that they gained, but the soft skills they would have developed by participating today, will no doubt hold them in good stead for the next stage in their education.”
