On 27 July, together with Magdalen College and the University’s English and History faculties, Univ will be hosting an online event for students with Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) heritage interested in humanities subjects.

This virtual event is a replacement for an in-person Humanities Study Day for BAME students that the College was due to host in April. The original event had to be cancelled when the UK went into country-wide lockdown when all the University’s face-to-face outreach had to be suspended. The event team sadly had to notify event applicants that they would not be able to attend the event in Oxford.

On Monday 27 July, Nelli, Univ’s Schools Liaison and Access Officer, along with the other event organisers, is looking forward to welcoming Year 12 students who signed up for the original day to this virtual experience. This will involve a choice of lectures across Humanities subjects, admissions talks and a Q&A with current Oxford undergraduates. The day aims to ensure potential applicants have all the information they need to make decisions about their subject and university options and the guidance they need to make a competitive application to Oxford.

This collaboratively-run study day was the final event in a series of large subject study days run by the College. Each year between January and June the college’s Schools Liaison and Access Officer runs 5-6 study days welcoming approximately 300 Year 12s from across the UK to experience taster lectures, admissions guidance and a taste of life in the College. Thankfully four of these study days had already run before lockdown was announced. This had included a History, Law and Politics day specifically for Year 12s with Black African or Black Caribbean Heritage which took place on 18 February.

This virtual study day is just one way in which Univ’s schools outreach has had to move online. The College is also involved in the University of Oxford’s virtual open days on 1-2 July and 18 September. Video content, student profiles, a virtual video tour and a chance to ask questions of staff and students can be found on the Virtual Open Days page. The College has also had developed its already substantial digital outreach available on its Staircase12 digital resource hub and has been posting about resources available to students, particularly free resources available during lockdown, on Twitter.

Published: 9 July 2020

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