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Green eggs & vegan ham Lifestyle 22
Don’t pin all your hopes on young people Features 12 Behind the lens with White Lies Music 20
No. 869 Friday 11th October 2019 varsity.co.uk
Theatre Cambridge’s Independent Student Newspaper since 1947
Men lead women by 8% in receipt of Firsts Maia Wyn Davies Co-Editor Charlotte Lillywhite Deputy Editor 33.0% of all men who sat undergraduate examinations in the 2018/19 academic year received a first, compared to just 24.7% of all women, according to a Varsity Freedom of Information request. Conversely, around 58.1% of women were awarded a 2.i, compared to 47.9% of men. 82.6% of women attained at least a 2.i, and 80.9% of men. Since records began in 2011, male undergraduates at Cambridge have been more likely to receive a First in their examinations than women, while female undergraduates have consistently been more likely than men to receive a 2.i. News page 2 ▶
▲ This week saw new freshers matriculate across Cambridge (ANDREW HYNES)
Cambridge admits record number of Black UK undergraduates Zac Ntim News Correspondent The number of Black UK undergraduate students starting at the University of Cambridge this term has risen, with a total of 91 black students admitted, increasing the overall number of Black undergraduate students to more than 200. This is an all-time high.
As a result, for the first time in the University’s history, the proportion of Black students has risen above 3% (3.4%). Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education, Professor Graham Virgo, said: “This record rise in the number of black students is a credit to their hard work and ability: we have not lowered entry standards.” Cambridge University has been extensively criticised for its low admission sta-
tistics for BME groups, particularly Black students. Last year at least 20 courses at the university accepted fewer than three Black students. Natural Sciences is the largest subject at Cambridge and in 2018, of the 430 accepted UK students on the course only three were Black. This equates to less than 0.7% of the total cohort. Varsity also reported last year that Cambridge accepted more Etonians than
Black male students. A total of 61 Black students were admitted, 40 Black women students and 21 Black men students, whereas 22 Etonians were accepted. A number of factors are thought to be behind the increase in Black students applying and being admitted. Professor Virgo praised the hard work by admissions staff across the University and colleges who have run various outreach campaigns and activities.
One huge change has been the “Stormzy effect.” In August 2018, the award-winning British grime artist announced the Stormzy Scholarship, which funds both the tuition fees and living costs for two Black undergraduate students each year for the duration of their study at Cambridge. Since then the University has seen an News page 6 ▶
Inside ● Recovery is not a straight line Pg.13 ● The science behind a Cambridge alumnus’ Nobel Prize Pg.20