Cambridge success for Millfield trio

Three Millfield students have received offers to study at the prestigious University of Cambridge. 

Millfield School has achieved its highest number of offers to Oxbridge in the past decade. With two Upper Sixth students having already secured offers to Oxford University. 

Upper Sixth students, Pippa Charleson, Olivia Sparks, and Hugo Yasumoto have received offers to read Japanese at Downing College, Classics at Sidney Sussex College and Archaeology at Trinity College respectively. 

Pippa Charleson from Bermuda joined Millfield Prep in Year 8, and is studying A levels in Psychology, Maths, Economics and English. In addition to her studies, she is a dedicated swimmer and holds the position of Head of House in her boarding house.   

Olivia Sparks from London joined Millfield in Lower Sixth. She is studying A levels in English, Latin and Philosophy. She became interested in joining Millfield after attending the athletics Summer Camp in 2021 and has ambitions to join the Cambridge athletics squad in the future. 

Hugo Yasumoto from Hong Kong joined Millfield in Lower Sixth. He is studying A level History, Music and Biology. Hugo is passionate about music and recently starred in the Millfield production of Legally Blonde, The Musical. Hugo has hopes to continue with his music at Cambridge.  

Pippa, Olivia and Hugo have all taken part in the Millfield Oxbridge programme. This program is designed to assist students in preparing for entrance into Oxbridge by providing them with small seminar groups and guidance from Dr Beatrice Priest, who is the Head of Academic Culture at Millfield and oversees the Oxbridge support.  

Pippa said, “I received two interviews, one was with my college and the other was for my subject. I think Millfield has helped prepare me for not only applying for Cambridge but for life at university, especially with boarding I feel like you develop so much independence. As well as that, I had sessions with Dr Priest and practice interviews with my languages teachers. At Cambridge, I hope to continue swimming, but I also would like to join new groups and societies as I think that’s a great way to make friends.” 

Olivia said, “I applied in late September, there was a long wait, and I did lots of reading and past papers to prepare. When I received my email for an interview, I had sessions with Dr Priest and practice interviews with Dr Gutteridge and with my Latin teacher which was really helpful.” 

Hugo said, “I think Dr Gutteridge was really helpful, we had lots of helpful conversations about the process and diagram analysis. I have found these interactions were more valuable than simply reading about archaeology, as the subject requires critical thinking. I think it is really important to ensure that you have a compelling personal statement during the application process, as it becomes a reference point during your interviews.” 

Head of Futures, Jonathan Santry, said “Cambridge is generally regarded as the toughest university to get into in the UK. Pippa, Hugo and Olivia have battled against the odds to work through the rigorous application process to earn these fantastic offers. They all took early ownership of their applications, researching what was required for their course, seeking out support where needed and working hard throughout. It is this attitude that we encourage all of our students to adopt in order to reach their individual goals for the future.” 

Millfield’s Upper Sixth cohort are starting to receive offers from establishments all over the world including the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, Stanford and Yale.