Spring Martlet 2017

UNIV’S
OPPORTUNITY
PROGRAMME
INTRODUCTION
From the October 2016 admissions round, the College increased its undergraduate
intake by 10%. These new places will be filled through the University’s normal
competitive admissions process, but they will be available only to students who come
from disadvantaged backgrounds. These additional students will be selected in the usual
way and according to the usual academic criteria. The aim of the scheme is simple – to
ensure that very deserving students of high potential who come from disadvantaged
backgrounds, but who might otherwise miss out on a place at Oxford due to the sheer
number of applications, have the chance to study here.
Students will be eligible for one of these new places if they are predicted to achieve our
standard conditional offer for the course to which they have applied and they are also
‘flagged’ under the University’s contextual data system as coming both from a lower
performing school and living in an area of relative socio-economic deprivation. Additionally,
all students who have been in care for more than three months will be eligible. Students
from these backgrounds are among those whom the university has identified as underrepresented
in its student body and are therefore a priority for widening access. There is
no separate application process for this scheme. Students will simply apply to the College
in the usual way, and all eligible applicants will be considered in all subjects offered by Univ.
Many students from disadvantaged backgrounds may not have had the opportunity to
broaden and deepen their academic skills and experience beyond the school curriculum,
and so the College will offer to these new students an intensive four-week bridging
programme in the summer before they start their degree. This bridging programme
will consist of subject-specific tuition, wider exploration of academic material, and the
development of key academic skills so as to ensure that these students hit the ground
running when they start their first term. This bridging programme will be free to the
students. The College will make no charge for accommodation or food during the bridging
programme, and in addition we will offer a £500 grant to every student who attends.
Univ’s new Opportunity Programme
is a scheme which will increase
the number of UK students from
disadvantaged backgrounds at the
College and provide those students
with targeted support to ensure that
they succeed. The first students to be
admitted under this new scheme will
join the College in October 2017. The
programme has been discussed widely
in the College and University, and
following its launch in July has attracted
a great deal of very positive coverage
in the national media. Since then, we
have been approached by several
other colleges expressing an interest in
following our lead.
Dr Andrew Bell (1993, History)
Senior Tutor
THE MARTLET | SPRING 2017 11