MAN-10265 MAGAZINE.indd - Mansfield College - University of Oxford

Access at Mansfi eld:
Oxford Further Education
Access Initiative
Helen Etty
The Further Education Access Initiative is dedicated to
increasing applicant numbers to Oxford from Further
Education and Sixth Form Colleges, and to increase
applicant support. The project was launched by Mansfi eld
College in 1999 with its Access to Excellence campaign,
when academic staff discovered that the Further Education
sector was a particularly under-represented group at Oxford.
Mansfi eld obtained funding for the project from the Sutton
Trust, Atlantic Philanthropies, and its own alumni, and
convened the Further Education Consortium, which was
a group of seven Oxford Colleges working in and outside
Oxford to remove barriers, to work with FE staff and to
encourage able students to consider applying to Oxford.
Over the last decade, the FE Initiative has grown to become
Oxford University’s largest outreach project, and we are now
in annual contact with over 400 Further Education, Tertiary
and Sixth Form Colleges across the UK. Lord Patten,
Chancellor of Oxford University, named the Initiative “one
of Oxford’s most important and imaginative initiatives,” and
the latest OFFA agreement called it “the most signifi cant of
Oxford’s access programmes.”
The Further Education sector represents 12% of Oxford’s
annual intake, and includes Sixth Form Colleges (where
most students study A levels), Further Education Colleges
(centres for academic and vocational post-GCSE courses),
and Tertiary Colleges, the main providers of post-16
education in areas where schools typically have no sixth
forms. Students in the FE sector may face diffi culties that
students in school sixth forms do not: for various reasons,
they have experienced a fracture in their education, they
may be studying for non-traditional qualifi cations, and
the large size of the institutions they attend can inhibit the
access of information. Consequently, we work to provide
staff in every FE College with a contact at Oxford, and to
offer an accessible service for prospective Oxford applicants,
giving them information and advice about their choices.
I have managed the FE Initiative for fi ve years (I studied
A levels at Franklin Sixth Form College in Grimsby before
reading English at Somerville), conducting over 600 College
visits to speak to staff and students about the realities
of studying at Oxford. For students already applying to
Oxford, we run over 70 Interview Workshops at Colleges
each autumn.
We arrange many other events in Oxford, including two
Open Days and an annual summer conference for FE
staff, Interview Information Days, Study Days where sixthformers
experience the tutorial system, and opportunities
for group visits throughout the year. We also co-ordinate the
University’s largest e-mentoring project, a support system
Helen (far right) running an interview workshop at St. Francis Xavier
College, London
whereby current Oxford students email sixth-formers who
are interested in their courses. Students from 57 FE and
Sixth Form Colleges are participating in 2008.
Since it is often by meeting current undergraduates that
potential applicants’ misconceptions are dispelled, recruiting
student volunteers is key to our work. My volunteer list
numbers over 300 undergraduate students, many of them
from FE backgrounds, who take part in e-mentoring,
Open Days, and meeting prospective students.
Student Perspective: Lois Thomas
One of the FE colleges with which we have built up
new links is Carmarthenshire College in Wales, where
we have worked with teachers over a number of years
to help them encourage their bright students to see that
Oxford is possible and affordable. Lois Thomas came to
Mansfi eld in 2006 from Carmarthenshire College.
“The response from my friends when
I told them I was applying to Oxford
was mainly laughter! I was studying
for A levels at a Sixth Form College,
had been to a local comprehensive,
and the prospect of studying at Oxford
University seemed an unreachable target. However,
I had a great teacher who encouraged me to apply
and helped me look into the fi nancial help that the
university could offer me. I am now in my third
year of my degree and despite fi nding it challenging
and diffi cult, my tutors have been helpful and I
have made lots of friends. I am glad I applied to
Mansfi eld: a smaller college where everybody makes
an effort to be friendly and there is a strong sense of
community. I have been able to experience Oxford
life and learning, from within a friendly, supportive
network.”
COLLEGE REPORTS AND NEWS 4
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