For Students For Staff

Outreach and Open Days

Working with pupils

We want to attract the best and brightest students – regardless of background – to apply to us. We want to make sure that when people are thinking of applying to University they have all the information they need.

Our access and outreach team work with schools, teachers and partner organisations – including The Access Project, the Brilliant Club, Oxford Pathways, Target Oxbridge and UNIQ – to widen participation to the University.

We estimate that over 7000 students, teachers, and supporters engaged with Keble Access & Outreach activity during the 2022-23 academic year: a number boosted by the return of Oxford’s in-person University Open Days and a number of large-scale virtual events. If you would like to know more about Keble’s Access & Outreach programme please send an email to outreach@keble.ox.ac.uk.

Each Oxford college is linked to a Local Authority to ensure that all schools have a first point of contact within the University. Keble is linked with Birmingham, Sandwell, Solihull, Coventry, and Warwickshire. We are also pleased to be working with Oriel and University Colleges as part of Oxford for West Midlands. If you are a teacher or a careers adviser in any of these areas, please feel free to contact us about arranging school visits or other outreach activities. We’re most suited to working with secondary school and sixth form groups, and prioritise working with non-selective state schools. Due to how busy our small team’s calendar is during the academic year, we are unfortunately unable to attend school careers/university fairs.

You can find out more about our access and outreach activity in our annual report.

Follow us on Twitter @KebleOutreach. Or get to know our students by visiting our Keble Access YouTube channel, and by following ‘Keble at Large’, our student-run outreach society, on Facebook and Instagram @kebleatlarge.

Our students have also put together an alternative prospectus (pdf), full of first-hand insight into what life at the college is like.

Events for Students

Keble regularly runs events for prospective students, both in person and online.

Subject Taster Days

Keble hosts annual Subject Taster Days for prospective students currently in Year 12 at UK state schools and colleges. In February 2024, three Taster Days were available in Engineering, Philosophy, and Computer Science. The next Subject Taster Days will be offered in February 2025, and will focus on different subjects.

We aim to choose students who have a promising academic profile and who will most benefit from the taster days. The College will consider information such as GCSE results and predicted grades, and may consider educational and socio-economic background, using similar categories to the contextual data which is used in the Oxford admissions process. In case of over-subscription the College may also have to limit the number of attendees per school, and prioritise spaces for schools in our link regions.

All Subject Taster Days include opportunities to sample academic content related to Oxford courses, meet current students, and receive advice and guidance on the admissions process.

 

Admissions Webinars

Keble runs online sessions to provide information and guidance on aspects of the Oxford admissions process during the summer term. These sessions, like much of our Access & Outreach strategy, are targeted to offer this support to students from state school backgrounds.

Events for Teachers

Please visit this page to learn more about events and resources designed especially for those who support and encourage applicants to Oxford. At Keble we enjoy collaborating with other colleges, and have previously hosted a successful virtual teachers’ conference alongside Oriel and University Colleges.

Open Days

There are three Open Days each year – coinciding with the whole University – when you can discover more about Keble, get tours from our current students and meet tutors at subject sessions. More information about the programme for our 2024 Open Days will be available in due course.

In 2024, Open Days will be held on

26th June

27th June

20th September

 

Accommodation is available at Keble for Open Day visitors on Wednesday 26th June, enabling overnight guests to attend both Open Days if wished. Accommodation is offered for free to individual prospective students (we are unable to accommodate parents or other supporters, unless attending as a carer for a prospective student with a disability), and groups of up to ten students and two members of staff from UK state schools and colleges. As Open Day accommodation is limited, it is typically prioritised for those travelling more than 100 miles to Oxford.

You are able to request accommodation for 26th June from now until 12 noon on 27th May: Open Day Accommodation Request Form

If you are worried about the cost of getting to Oxford to attend an Open Day, and would like to visit Keble, the college offers a travel bursary scheme. Prospective applicants from UK state schools or colleges, who are travelling by public transport, are eligible to apply for a travel bursary (teachers may also make an application on behalf of a small state school group). This means Keble will reimburse or part-reimburse your travel expenses. Applications are considered on a case-by-case basis. Unlike Open Day accommodation, there is no distance criteria for this scheme.

You are able to apply for a travel bursary for the June Open Days from now until 8am on 3rd June: Open Day Travel Bursary Application Form

 

Access and Outreach Events

School visits

Keble reinstated its popular visits to Oxford for state schools and colleges in its link areas in April 2022, and has one of the busiest school visit programmes of all Oxford colleges. We have filled all available slots for school visits during the 2023-24 academic year. Please note that Keble link areas are given priority for these visits, and there is typically further prioritisation for non-selective schools. Keble does not offer organised school visits for independent schools.

Due to the demand we receive for these visits, we operate booking windows for the autumn, spring, and summer terms, and are only able to accommodate non-link area schools in the event of undersubscription. Our Outreach Officer is happy to answer any questions about school visits to Keble.

If you would like to find out more about any of these events or to join our link schools mailing list, please send an email to outreach@keble.ox.ac.uk.

School students aged 13+ can now chat online directly to our student ambassadors using a safe and monitored platform.