Four weeks of UNIQ

25 July 2019

As we reach what may well be the hottest day on record, we also say goodbye to the summer school students staying with us as part of Oxford University’s UNIQ residential programme.

During the last month, we’ve hosted over 150 UNIQ participants from backgrounds under-represented at the University. These potential applicants have had the chance to experience student life at Hertford – from breakfast and dinner in Hall to hanging out in the common room – as well as the opportunity to have seminars, tutorials and hands-on sessions in subjects ranging from Maths, Engineering and Physics to Law, Modern Languages and Music.

Now nearing its 10th year, UNIQ is the University’s flagship outreach programme for state-school students from areas of socio-economic deprivation and low participation in higher education. In recognition of the programme’s huge impact, UNIQ expanded by 50% this year, welcoming an extra 500 students on their spring and summer schools. Given our long commitment to fair and open access, we were delighted to be able to host almost a third of this expanded cohort here at Hertford, increasing our own support of UNIQ by over 200% from last year. And it wasn’t just bedrooms and breakfasts on offer – it was wonderful to see many of our undergraduates and academics getting involved too, whether leading seminars or acting as UNIQ student ambassadors.

Meanwhile, our other outreach activities continue: while UNIQ were here, we welcomed over 3,000 visitors to the summer University Open Days and have hosted many of our linked schools from the East of England for taster days over the last month. Our next Open Day is on 20 September 2019, and you can find out more about our work with schools and colleges on the Outreach pages of our website.