New portraits

5 March 2015

In September 2015, we will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of a scheme which promoted equal access to higher education with a new year-long display of portraits in our dining Hall.

This initiative, known as the Tanner scheme, defines the college’s commitment to fairness and opportunity.

Fifty years ago Oxford University selected its candidates post-A level in an examination that favoured those with the time and money to spend on an extra term’s schooling. Hertford, under Admissions Tutor Neil Tanner, broke ranks with other colleges to establish this scheme identifying able candidates with the potential to succeed at Hertford from state schools which could not provide this extra support.

The current portrait exhibition of Hertford women, celebrating 40 years of co-education at Hertford, attracted a surprising amount of coverage and provoked interesting debate about what universities can do to further support gender equality issues. The photographer from this exhibition, Robert Taylor, will be joining us on this new project.

By being at the forefront of access, Hertford built a diverse community of friends and alumni. We want to celebrate what these students have gone on to achieve, and to continue our work encouraging the very brightest students to study at Oxford.

If you would like to nominate anyone with a Hertford connection to be featured in this portrait display, please get in touch with the Development Office.