East of England outreach partnership launched

3 November 2020

Hertford College has this week launched the ‘Oxford for East England’ outreach consortium with a new website, bringing together three colleges to offer a community outreach programme across the East of England.

Working alongside Balliol College and Wadham College, Oxford for East England is the latest regional initiative under the University’s Oxford for UK programme, following recent launches in the North East, East Midlands and Wales. The three colleges will work together to offer bespoke and local support to students of mixed ages, as well as their parents and teachers. The consortium’s aims align with Oxford’s Access & Participation Plan, which aims to increase the number of students from currently under-represented groups from 15% to 25% of the UK undergraduate intake by 2023.

We’re building on our existing programmes and relationships; across the Eastern region, students and schools have participated in over 1,200 Oxford outreach activities in the last five years. We will also maintain responsibility for our existing ‘link regions’ within the consortium, working closely with schools in Essex and taking on a new link with Peterborough. Balliol and Wadham are linked to the other areas in the region. Our Essex connections go back to the 19th century and Thomas Baring who re-founded Hertford College in 1874, the same year he entered parliament as the MP for Essex South. In addition to our work in the East of England, we will maintain our links in Camden and in Medway, working with the Oxford for South East consortium.

 

The new website offers a central hub for teachers and prospective students from the East of England, with online resources and details of events. There’s also a chance to meet current students from the region, including Hertfordians Rory and Antonia, from Brentwood in Essex and Cambridgeshire respectively. We hope the new partnership and our plans for its future will help to inspire the next generation of students, as Antonia says:

There’s no such thing as someone who has the academic potential but isn’t suited to Oxford, as you can always find like-minded people here.

Our first collaborative initiative is the Oxford for East England Teacher Forums, a new series of webinars and networking sessions for teachers and careers advisors in the region. The first two sessions took place last month and the latest, on interviews, is tomorrow, Wednesday 4th November. New participants are always welcome and can sign up using the link above.

Find out more about Oxford for East England at www.ox.ac.uk/oxfordforEE.