Access & Outreach

Can you tell us about your approach to Access & Outreach at Keble?

I believe that a higher education institution, especially a highly selective one, is responsible for doing something about the unequal distribution of cultural and economic capital in society. What exactly can be done? We know that a single college, or an entire University for that matter, cannot altogether change or ‘fix’ society. But we also know that a well-organised and strategic outreach programme can have a huge impact on equal representation. My approach to access is to ensure that Keble is hosting and delivering a wide range of school events for which participation criteria range beyond just school type —for example, we look at individual factors of adversity and disadvantage such as time spent in care and free school meals— and events which succeed in reaching a large number of students, parents, and teachers who cannot always travel away from their home base. This leads to more applications from those who would not typically apply to Oxford, not due to lack of academic ability, but because of significant obstacles.

Could you touch on some of the most inspirational moments in your access work thus far? 

There are a few, but one in particular has stayed with me. I met an exceptionally bright school student from a Birmingham school during an outreach event, who thought that Oxford students were only allowed to listen to classical music and had curfews imposed upon them. It sounds implausible but is indicative of the misinformation that goes around! Visiting Oxford was not an option for this student, since he had never left Birmingham or been on a train, and the parents, neither of whom had gone to University, worked exceptionally hard and were not able to accompany him. I managed to get in touch with a wonderful and cooperative teacher at his school, and we planned a visit to Keble together. He ended up submitting an application to Oxford and that was a great success.

How does Keble perform in Access & Outreach compared to other colleges?

Keble is performing  much better by a variety of metrics.

For example, prior to 2017 the proportion of admitted students from less advantaged areas at Keble was just 6.3%, by 2019 it was 7.4% and in 2022 the figure had more than doubled at 16.3%.

Comparisons against other colleges isn’t meaningful.

So many of our efforts overlap; it is necessary for us to collaborate closely to get the best results and do justice to our shared mission for equal representation. Also, realistically, we have little or nocontrol over which college an applicant selects as their first choice or, indeed, whether they end up being placed at their first-choice college.

What are your plans for the future of Outreach at Keble?

The plan is to keep fine-tuning selection criteria for events and to expand our reach. These two goals are interrelated, since the further we branch out the more likely we are to reach students from a diversity of backgrounds. A big force in this direction is social media and digitally disseminated content. Not everybody is in a position to travel, and it is important for support to be consistent and readily available at home. This does not concern just students but extends to teachers, parents, and carers.  At the moment, alongside our regular events programme, we are placing emphasis on our new webinar series and on Keble’s social media presence in the area of Access & Outreach.