Case study

Hibba’s Story

Hibba first began attending The ClementJames Centre in 2009 after hearing about it through a talk given by centre staff in her school.

She initially attended the Careers in FOCUS programme and then started coming to Academic Support regularly and was soon also paired with a mentor.

After getting 4A*s in her A-Levels Hibba gained a place at the University of Oxford where she now studies Geography. She is still in touch with her mentor Anne-Marie and is enjoying university life.

This is what she said about us:

“For me the centre provided an excellent learning environment and a crucial third option to a bustling household and an overly silent school library. What kept me coming back […] were the friendly and helpful staff and the reliability of the services provided. The presence of resources and volunteers who helped with academic questions constituted an environment conducive to learning. I would definitely recommend [the centre] to younger students, not just for the valuable additional academic support it provides, but for the opportunities it presents.

In my experience with ClementJames, financial matters were never a barrier to cultural enrichment – with trips to the theatre and opera as part of the mentoring scheme, […] and residential trips to Oxford where we went punting in the lead-up to my moving to Oxford, I feel I have had so many experiences that I might not otherwise have had access to.”