New Lineup of Trinity Talks Subject Enrichment for School Pupils

11 January 2022

A programme of free subject enrichment talks by Trinity postgraduate students and academics has been expanded this term.

Trinity Talks is a programme of super-curricular enrichment discussions launched by Trinity’s Access team for secondary and sixth-form students at state schools. The 2021 series of Trinity Talks saw nearly 900 students from around the UK register for one or more session, with more than 1,100 views of the talks on the college’s YouTube channel since they took place.

The series has been expanded to 12 sessions for 2022, and will cover a broad range of subjects, ranging from ‘Memory Consolidation during Sleep’ (Maths & Neuroscience) to ‘Prisoners and the Right to Vote’ (Law) to ‘The Past, Present and Future of the Moon’ (Lunar Science).  The topics are deliberately designed to supplement standard themes in GCSE or A-Level courses, as well as being interesting standalone topics for students.

Trinity’s Senior Access Officer Richard Petty says: ‘We were absolutely bowled over by the responses of our academics and participants to the 2021 series of Trinity Talks:  some of the questions which our guests asked, and the places that those questions led to in terms of discussion, were quite remarkable, and we can’t wait to hear how this year’s participants respond to some of the topics in front of them this year’.

In 2021 98% of participants in the Trinity Talks series surveyed confirmed that the talks they attended were was useful as an introduction to university learning. One participant noted: ‘I really liked the interesting ideas brought forward, the fact that the speaker was an expert in the field, and the easy way in which we could ask questions and contribute to discussion in the polls and word clouds.’ Another said: ‘The talk was endlessly interesting and I got some brilliant notes out of it that I plan on incorporating into my A Level English Lit essays. Thank you for this opportunity!’

This term’s talks will take place at from 4 to 5:20pm on Wednesday afternoons, starting on 19 January, and running through to 6 July.  The talks will be aimed at secondary-school students with a wide interest range, including those thinking of potential further study or holding a general curiosity toward the subject.

Trinity’s Access and Outreach team will also provide a brief overview of super-curricular enrichment and how it relates to thinking about higher education, and of how Higher Education is financed. Each session will contain a Q&A for participants with the academic and the Access team. Students can register for the talks at Trinity Talks registration form