Balliol runs a number of programmes and events designed to widen access to the University of Oxford. Some are available only to schools in Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk (our link regions) and some are open to students from any school. To find out which Oxford College is responsible for Outreach in your region please click here.
You may also find it useful to look at the East of England website, the University Outreach Events Calendar and Oxford’s Astrophoria Foundation Year Programme,.
Discovery Programme for Year 10 Students
Who is it for?
The programme is designed for able and motivated Year 10 students who are willing to engage in all of the academic sessions and complete the pre-session tasks to gain the most from the programme.
How does it work?
A small number of schools will be able to participate in a series of live sessions from spring term into the Summer. Schools can also opt to receive the tasks and recordings of sessions.
What will the programme cover?
The programme will introduce topics that students will not usually have covered in school. Content will cover humanities, and the sciences.
In our 2023 programme we covered:
- Animal Mimicry
- Art History
- Chemistry
- Economics
- English Detective Fiction
- Law
- Mathematical Modelling
- Neuroscience
- Philosophy
Each session involves a short assignment to be completed before hand. This usually involves reading, a video/podcast or research.
When are the sessions?
You can find the timetable for the now complete 2023 programme here.
Recordings of previous sessions.
If you were not part of the live sessions but would like access to this material, to use as a teaching resource please complete this form. This will enable you to access the material using the links below.
For those who attended the live sessions, or who have completed the form above to request access, the complete recordings can be found here and the participant logbook to help collate and track pupils thoughts on each session can be found here.
please complete the form above to be granted the password to access the materials.
Subject Taster Days for Year 12 students
Each year, we run a range of Subject-specific Taster Days for year 12 students from state schools across the UK.
These days include academic sessions, a practical workshop and a demonstration of an Oxford interview in the relevant subject. There will also be a tour of Balliol College with a chance to meet and ask questions of current undergraduate students.
Places at these events are limited so we will prioritise those applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds or from groups with a history of low progression to higher education.
In 2023 we ran the following Taster Days:
- Biology
- Chemistry
- English
- Engineering Science
- History
- Physics & Philosophy
Online Admissions Test Workshops
In 2022 we ran several workshops to support those who were preparing to take Oxford admissions tests for 2023 entry. Please check back on this web page just before/during the admissions period to see what support we will be offering for 2024 entry.
Online Subject-Specific Interview Workshops
In 2022 we ran several workshops to support those who were preparing for Oxford Interviews during 2023 entry. Please check back on this web page just before/during the admissions period to see what support we will be offering for 2024 entry.
Floreat and Frontier Access Programmes for Year 12 students
Balliol offers two, year-long academic programmes, Floreat and Frontier. These programmes are for Year 12 students from state schools in the London borough of Brent, Hertfordshire and Norfolk. For details, please see the Access Programmes web page.
Oxford for East of England: Springboard
Our Springboard video collection, is intended for school pupils in Years 11, 12 and 13. Each video offers an introduction to a new topic, plus lots of activities and further resources to explore. When you click on a topic, we’ll ask you a few questions and then play the video you’ve chosen.
Public admissions talks
We give public presentations on applying to Oxbridge at schools in our link regions. These are suitable for all students, teachers and parents. If you are interested in hosting a public event at your school or college, please email: outreach@balliol.ox.ac.uk.
KS3 Learning Days for Year 7 and Year 8 students
These days are for able students from any state schools in Years 7 and 8, run in Oxford in conjunction with other colleges. The maximum number of students any school can bring is 15. For details of 2019–2020 KS3 Learning Days, see this KS3 event page.
Personal statement workshops
We provide personal statement workshops for year 12 students. Interested schools should email: outreach@balliol.ox.ac.uk.
CPD for teachers
Previous CPD sessions
In the recent academic years we have ran the following sessions for teachers and advisors:
- Admissions tests and written work
- Interviews — what to expect and how to support applicants
- Personal statements and teacher references
- Super-curricular learning
- Modular Arithmetic for Secondary Maths Teachers
Other access events and programmes
The following events and programmes are run by Oxford University:
- University calendar of events to support prospective applicants.
- UNIQ - Access programme for state school students from under-represented groups
- Opportunity Oxford — An academic bridging programme that helps to prepare talented UK offer-holders from under-represented backgrounds for successful student careers at our university.
- Target Oxbridge - A free programme that aims to help Black African and Caribbean students and students of mixed race with Black African and Caribbean heritage increase their chances of getting into the Universities of Oxford or Cambridge.
- The Astrophoria Foundation Year Programme — A one-year foundation programme for UK state school students with significant academic potential, who have experienced severe personal disadvantage and/or disrupted education which has resulted in them being unable to apply directly for an Oxford undergraduate degree programme.