This page covers support available for students who are from working class, low-income, first-generation, state-comprehensive educated, estranged and care leaver backgrounds.

What Does Class Act Mean?

Naturally, institutions like Cambridge are not the most accessible and so it can sometimes be hard for students from certain backgrounds to feel as if they truly fit in at a University like this. “Class act” is a self-identifying term for any student who feels they have faced (or are facing) any kind of social, educational, cultural or economic disadvantage. This may take the form of being from a working-class or low-income family, being the first generation in their family to attend university, having attended at a state-comprehensive school for much of their education, being estranged from parents, or being a care leaver, or any other form of disadvantage.

Imposter syndrome is a very normal thing for students to experience, but it can be especially prevalent for those students coming to Cambridge from atypical backgrounds, who lack the same networks as some other students.

Corpus recognises this unfortunate experience which many class act students can face and so provides a great deal of support to make them feel as comfortable and at home as possible while studying here.

Class Act Officer

The Class Act community at Corpus is served by the Class Act Officer who Corpus students will be able to go to with their concerns in confidence that the officer will understand them, falling under the Class Act umbrella themselves. The Class Act Officer is there to celebrate, champion, and support class act voices in Corpus and is always there for you to approach if there are any class-related issues you want to discuss. You can contact them at jcr-cao@corpus.cam.ac.uk.

The Haroon Ahmed Society

The society is for students, staff, fellows and alumni who have an interest in fostering a diverse community for those from multicultural and underrepresented backgrounds. This involves creating mentorship schemes and hosting educational events that promote inclusion for all, supporting charities close to our values, and increasing the connection between all members of the college. 

The society is named after Haroon Ahmed, the former Master of the College and first British-Pakistani Master of an Oxbridge College.

It is dedicated to celebrating our multicultural and class diverse college community, enhancing inclusion by creating a welcoming space. Through organising talks, lectures, and educational events, the society aims to enrich the entire college community. Mentorship programs, social events, and career development initiatives will provide support to current students, improving representation and outcomes during their studies and in their future careers. Our aim is to develop new access and outreach initiatives for prospective students from working class backgrounds and those from underrepresented minority ethnic groups, with low university progression rates. This will complement the college's existing widening participation efforts, such as the successful 'Bridging Course.'

They currently run a wide range of class socials and also operates a mentoring scheme for current Bridging Course offer holders in the aim of reducing the massively higher rates at which Bridging Course offer holders fail to reach their offers due to the much more limited educational resources at their disposal relative to other offer holders.

Bridging Course

The Bridging Course aims to provide a smoother transition into university for students from traditionally disadvantaged social and educational backgrounds and to provide them with the very best support right at the start of their studies. The 3-week programme takes place before students matriculate and aims to dismantle barriers surrounding access at selective universities like Cambridge and so provides students with the necessary forum and mentorship to develop their existing academic skills through tailored supervisions, workshops on important academic skills, and a wide range of social activities to help establish a greater sense of community and support between class act students. Those students who get to attend the Bridging Course are selected by the Admissions Office once offers have been given out, making a holistic assessment using various widening participation criteria.