We know that impact is maximised through effective collaboration. That’s why we work with partners across the University of Oxford, charities, and the public sector.
The Access Project brings a strategic and evidenced-based approach to widening access and participation in Higher Education. The programme supports young people from under-resourced backgrounds to access top universities by embedding a dedicated member of staff in partner schools to work with students and offering in-school mentoring, as well as offering tuition, skills coaching and enrichment opportunities such as university visits. Queen’s is partnered with The Access Project to deliver this programme across four schools in Cumbria and Blackburn with Darwen: Workington Academy, The Whitehaven Academy, Darwen Vale High School and D6.
The Access Project have a proven track record of helping the country’s most under-resourced young people to place at a top university. Young people on The Access Project’s programmes are 50% more likely to attend top universities than demographically and academically similar students, according to UCAS. You can read more about The Access Project’s impact in their latest Impact Report.
Queen’s and The Access Project in 2024/25
We began our collaboration with The Access Project in September 2022, and the programme continues to go from strength to strength. In 2025/26, we welcomed Year 12 pupils from Workington Academy, The Whitehaven Academy, and D6 to Queen’s for an overnight residential. They learnt more about life as an undergraduate at Oxford through taster tutorials, meeting current students, and staying in student accommodation.
In May 2026, Provost Paul Johnson joined Josh MacAlister OBE, MP for Whitehaven and Workington, to meet talented students aiming for university success at The Whitehaven Academy. The visit celebrated the partnership between the schools, The Access Project, and The Queen’s College.
“Every young person in West Cumbria deserves the chance to fulfil their potential. I’m proud to see initiatives like this opening doors for students in West Cumbria and raising aspirations. Partnerships between schools, charities and leading universities like Oxford are vital in breaking down barriers and ensuring that talent and hard work are what determine success.”
– Josh MacAlister OBE MP
This programme is run in collaboration with Lewisham Borough Council and Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge for Year 12 students across the borough.
A series of workshops are held in a hub school in Lewisham, to which interested students from schools across the borough are invited to attend. After a launch event in September, the workshops cover the application process, student finance, admissions tests, and interview workshops. In the October and February half term breaks, we hold discipline-specific study days at both Queen’s and Gonville and Caius. These give potential applicants the opportunity to attend academic taster sessions in their chosen subjects and meet current students to learn more about life at Oxbridge.
If you are a student or teacher at a school in Lewisham and would like to learn more about the programme, please get in touch at schools.liaison@queens.ox.ac.uk.
Queen’s is proud to support the University of Oxford’s outreach initiatives by hosting visiting groups in our College accommodation, providing tours of the College, and workshops about life at Queen’s.
UNIQ is the University’s flagship residential for Year 12 students at UK state schools with high academic potential, with priority for students from underrepresented educational and socioeconomic backgrounds.
BeUNIQ is an ambitious programme for students in Year 10 across 7 state schools in Birmingham, Bradford, and Oldham. The programme engaged with the whole school community and specifically delivers small group sessions for students of Bangladeshi and Pakistani heritage. We were pleased to welcome Year 10 pupils from Oldham to stay at Queen’s in April 2026, to meet current undergraduates from the North West, and to learn more about what life is like as a student at Oxford.
Opportunity Oxford (OppOx) is an academic bridging programme to support UK offer holders from underrepresented background in their transition to university. Through a programme of online events, an academic course, and a residential, OppOx aims to prepare students for a successful academic career at Oxford. In September 2026, Queen’s is hosting a group of OppOx attendees for their residential programme and provides a welcome talk for incoming Queen’s undergraduates to help them understand what to expect on arrival and feeling ready to embrace life at Queen’s.
From 2025/26, Queen’s is part of the consortium of 13 Oxford Colleges to formally join The Brilliant Club‘s Scholars Programme. This programme brings trained PhD researchers into state schools to share their subject knowledge and passion for learning through tutorials with small groups of pupils aged 8-18.
Queen’s collaborates with our colleagues at The Queen’s College Translation Exchange (QTE), and the languages faculties at both the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge, to run the Think Like a Linguist programme. The Queen’s outreach team coordinates the Blackpool strand of the programme; there is also a strand in Rochdale.
Think Like a Linguist helps students aged 12-13 to make informed choices about languages at GCSE, through a course of five interactive sessions led by university academics, language professionals, and recent languages graduates. The programme culminates in a celebration event in Oxford for students to learn more about university life.
In 2024/25, a total of 30 Year 8 pupils across 5 schools in Blackpool and the Fylde were enrolled in the programme. Sessions were kindly hosted by the MFL Department at St Mary’s Catholic Academy, Blackpool.
Schools in Blackpool who are interested in learning more can email schools.liaison@queens.ox.ac.uk. You can contact the QTE team directly by emailing translation.exchange@queens.ox.ac.uk.
