Harrow West MP Gareth Thomas and Whitmore High School host successful third University Fair

The University Fair is the only event in Harrow’s calendar where local state schools have the opportunity to engage with 30 of the UK’s leading universities, including Oxford and Cambridge. This year, representatives of Harvard and Yale were also present.

Hundreds of students and parents were in attendance this year for an event which played host to representatives from 30 universities, and for the first time, a series of key speakers covering the application process to Oxbridge, studying Medicine/Dentistry, Student Finance, STEM Careers and Degrees via apprenticeships (sponsored degrees).

Prior to the event’s launch three years ago, Harrow students and parents did not have an opportunity to meet representatives from the country’s most prestigious universities in Harrow.

Local MP Gareth Thomas said:

“I wanted to even out the playing field a little, to provide our school students with some of the same opportunities as their privately educated peers. The majority of schools in Harrow are considered above average by Ofsted, with an estimated sixty-three per cent of local school students now going onto Higher Education. Academic and professional success should not be restricted to those who come from fee paying schools. It should be available to all in Harrow.”

Studying at one of Britain’s leading Universities like Oxford or Cambridge can be a goal for all of the students in Harrow, whether from a private or comprehensive background. This year, the fair went a step further, inviting representatives of Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Princeton and many more U.S. universities. Students were provided with the advice they needed, to identify whether studying in the United States would be a good fit for them, and how to go about researching U.S. universities as well as how to make an application. Students were presented with the opportunity to take a different direction to many of their peers and study abroad at one of the world’s leading universities.

Susan Hammond, Headteacher of Whitmore High School said:

“This year we were able to provide even more insight for Harrow students, with five key talks and university representatives from across the Atlantic. Many students and parents from across the borough were in attendance.”

Further to Harrow’s University Fair, Gareth Thomas MP will be organising a Careers Fair alongside Rooks Heath College, with participation from many of Britain’s leading industries. The Careers Fair will take place on the evenings of June 17^th and 18^th from 5-8PM.