Schools Liaison

Brasenose College seeks to attract and select the very best applicants, regardless of their ethnic, social, religious or educational background. The Schools Officer provides support and advice for prospective undergraduate applicants, their teachers and schools. His role is to provide potential applicants with the right information to enable them to make an informed decision about applying to Brasenose College and the University of Oxford.

Please contact him on schools@bnc.ox.ac.uk or 01865 277535 if you would like to arrange a visit or have any questions.

Visiting Oxford

The Open Days are an ideal time to visit Oxford, and Brasenose puts considerable energy into ensuring that Open Day visitors are warmly welcomed, and given a thorough insight into academic and social life at the College. Visitors will be given tours of the College and will be able to talk to some of the current students about undergraduate life. Subject tutors will be available at various times to discuss courses, admissions procedures, study at Oxford and other issues. There is no booking required. The days are chosen to coincide with the subject Open Days held in departments, as well as many other events across the University of Oxford. Please see the main University Open Days web pages for more information.

The Schools Officer is happy to welcome groups of prospective applicants at any time of year. Please get in touch to arrange a visit. The Schools Officer can organise a tour of the college, deliver an admissions talk, answer applications questions and may be able to arrange for visitors to meet with current students. In some cases, the Schools Officer may also be able arrange trips to other colleges, departments or other locations at the University. Please discuss your needs with him.

Visiting your School or College

The Schools Officer is happy to visit UK schools or colleges to talk to any Sixth Formers who may apply to Oxford, or to talk to GCSE pupils about the possibility of applying to Oxford and Higher Education generally. Conditional offers for students studying A-levels range between A*A*A and AAA depending on the subject. Read more about admissions requirements.

The Schools Officer can provide presentations, workshops and Q+A sessions on a variety of topics, including "Why Oxford?", interviews at Oxford, UCAS personal statements, course choices, Oxford college choice, pre-interview tests and others. If possible, he may be able to bring an undergraduate studying at Oxford.

Please contact the Schools Officer to arrange a date. If at all possible, there is a minimum group size of 12 for a session, so it may be appropriate for schools and colleges in the same area to host a joint event and to bring together pupils who are seriously thinking about applying to Oxford. Due to limits on the time and resources the Schools Officer has available, it is not always possible to visit every school that requests support.

Regional Links

 As part of the ongoing commitment to engage with schools, the University of Oxford has developed a programme to simplify communication between the University and all schools in the United Kingdom. The scheme will not have any bearing on the Oxford admissions process and will not influence whether a college offers a candidate a place. It is not intended to replace any existing contact a school may have with a particular college or department. Each Oxford college is linked to a Local Authority area to ensure that schools have a first point of contact within the University. Please see the University's Regional Outreach pages for more information.

Brasenose College is linked with East Berkshire (comprising Bracknell Forest, Slough and Windsor/Maidenhead) and North Yorkshire. The Schools Officer will be pleased to arrange sessions with any schools or colleges in these regions, as well others from across the UK. Please see above for further information.

Schools Liaison - examples

Over the last few years, our Schools Officer has been in contact with thousands of prospective applicants through visits to Brasenose, visits to schools and colleges, attendance at Higher Education Fairs, and other events and projects. On any given visit, he will usually introduce the College and the University, provide advice on the admissions process and answer any questions prospective applicants may have.

This contact is in addition to Brasenose's highly successful summer undergraduate Open Days, where current students and tutors talk to an estimated thousand visitors per day. Visitors were able to gain a real insight into what studying at Oxford is all about, meet with College tutors, and talk to students about life in College. Prospective applicants were guided around the College, often by students studying the courses they were interested in. A typical tour of college visited the Dining Hall, several student bedrooms, the College library, the chapel, the quadrangles, the Bar, the Porter's Lodge and the student Common Room. A general talk was given twice daily by the Schools Officer, highlighting some of the benefits of studying at Oxford and outlining the admissions process. Tutors were also on hand to talk to prospective applicants about courses and answer any questions.

In June 2011, Brasenose College ran an English Access Day, attended by prospective applicants and teachers from all over the UK. In the morning, the Brasenose English tutors, Dr Sos Eltis and Professor Simon Palfrey ran taster tutorials for prospective applicants, whilst Brasenose English students provided tours of the college. After a College lunch, Professor Palfrey delivered a lecture on Shakespeare, which was followed by a session on the English course at Oxford and Brasenose, and advice about the admissions process, including a mock interview.

In February 2010, local Oxfordshire Primary Schools were invited to Brasenose College for the Wondrous Machine event. The event aimed to introduce school children to the pipe organ in a fresh and imaginative way and allowed them to engage in music-making. Around sixty visitors between the ages of 8 and 12 who braved the snow were introduced to organ sound production, were given the chance to play the instrument, and had lectures on the physics of sound and other scientific topics related to the organ.

In May 2010 Physics and Maths sixth formers from Bexley Academy in London visited. The day included a trip to the Physics Department featuring a workshop by Dr Stuart Lynn, a College tour and lunch, discussions with Brasenose Physics students and a session by Professor Jonathan Jones on Quantum Mechanics. The accompanying teacher commented on the day "The most amazing thing that happened...was the change in the students on the way home - no longer were they afraid of the prospect of Oxford - but instead now very ready to step forward for the challenge".

Brasenose College is committed to encouraging the most promising and agile minds to apply, regardless of background. Please contact the Schools Officer if you would like to arrange a visit, or to discuss your requirements:

Dr Joe Organ
Schools Officer
Brasenose College, OX1 4AR
Tel: 01865 277535
joe.organ@bnc.ox.ac.uk
www.bnc.ox.ac.uk

Some applicants who have the right academic credentials and passion for their chosen subject decide not to apply to Oxford; in some cases this may be because of misconceptions and myths about the University. Four such myths are discussed at the link below.