Record-breaking year for Oriel outreach programme

Through the 2025/26 academic year Oriel worked with a record 6,470 students and 323 staff from their seven link regions of Dudley, Walsall, Wolverhampton, Kensington and Chelsea, Herefordshire, Richmond-upon-Thames and Worcestershire.

“We’ve doubled our numbers on any previous year in terms of students reached across over 150 events, which is really, really exciting,” said Outreach Manager Carys Owen.

A mixture of residentials, school visits and engagement with other programmes including Bright Matter and with charities such as Generating Genius and The Brilliant Club have all helped to ensure a year to remember for Oriel’s Outreach efforts.

“It’s been brilliant this year,” smiled Outreach Manager Carys Owen.

Owen explained that the high engagement is largely down to an increase in capacity in Oriel’s Outreach Office with the arrival of Ivana Kuric as Outreach Officer in 2025.  

“Thanks to our generous donors, we’ve been able to fund a second outreach position full-time which has made a real difference to the impact we can make.

“It has completely opened the doors in terms of what we can offer and how many students we can engage with and reach, which is really positive.”

The impressive numbers are also reflected in the positive feedback received from 879 students in Years 8 to 12 who took part in school visits to Oriel. The responses indicate:

• 96% agree or strongly agree that they know more about the benefits of Higher Education 
• 84% agree or strongly agree that they are more confident that they could apply Oxbridge
• 82% agree and strongly agree that they know more about the cost of university and the financial support available

There’s also been reason to celebrate with a record 204 entries to the Rex Nettleford essay competition this year.

The national competition aims to encourage year 12 school pupils to learn and think critically about the legacies of colonialism.

The prize winners were invited as guests to the Rex Nettleford Lecture on Colonialism and its Legacies at the College, as well as to join the speaker at a formal dinner.

A team of 40 undergraduate students support the work of the department, assisting with open days, residentials and Q&A sessions.

“It’s so reassuring and heartening to know that our wider Oriel community are so committed to the cause of widening access and making sure that university is accessible to students from all backgrounds,” said Owen.

“There is a massive college-wide community who is supporting our outreach work and our alumni network.

“It makes me feel very positive about the future of the College knowing we are committed to making it an option for students who might not have seen it as an option.

“It’s not the be all and end all if they don’t come to Oxford, but it’s opening their eyes to that they could come here.”

The College’s work with state schools this year included an opportunity for pupils to get creative.

To mark the 700th anniversary, the College’s link schools designed postcards, with the winning trio from Key Stage 3, 4 and 5 all having their creation printed.