Professor Bill McCaffrey

I grew up in Cumbria, the son of a primary school teacher, and was educated in state schools. I successfully pushed myself through the Oxford application process without assistance, went on to do a PhD and eventually became a Professor of Earth Sciences at Leeds University. At Leeds I ran an internationally leading research group for almost 30 years, contributing to significant new developments in my field; I also had large-scale impacts on industry. I retired in 2022, and was awarded an Emeritus Chair. The reason I work with Speakers for Schools is that I strongly believe that everyone should have the opportunity to go as far as their talents can take them. I’m passionate about the power of independent, critical thinking, the value of cultural hinterland and of the need for empowerment, and I worry that some students in the state sector risk being disadvantaged in these areas. The talk I would normally give is my personal take on the things I wish I’d known when I was making key choices at school and how that knowledge would have influenced me, together with my thoughts on what I actually got right, and why. It is aimed at Year 12 students, and more able Year 11s, who have the potential to go on to Russell Group Universities, including Oxford and Cambridge.