3
rom its start Keble has sought to
encourage the widest possible
range of students to study at
the College. That remains the case,
as our Outreach Officer wrote in last
year’s
Review
in an article outlining
some of the things we are doing to
achieve that. I am returning to the
subject because there are many critics
of Oxford and Cambridge, and of other
universities in the UK, who argue that
we should be doing far more.
In this short article I want to focus on
the extent of our activity in seeking
to attract the best students to apply.
Taking responsibility for particular
Academy schools or setting lower
entrance requirements for applicants
from less advantaged backgrounds,
as some suggest, and the availability
of financial support are separate
and complex questions for another
occasion.
In terms of attracting applicants there
is a minority which needs no effort
on our part except to be reminded of
the excellence of Keble’s provision.
Alongside A-level courses, their
schools (and these can be found in
both sectors) run special classes for
those who are thinking of Oxbridge
entrance. At the other end of the
spectrum there are children whose
schools are not pushing them even to
think about the possibility of applying
here and some in which there is an
assumption that we will sift out
candidates with, as I heard reported
recently, ‘accents like yours’!
In a small number of cases a negative
remark of that kind reflects a
deliberate stifling of aspiration. In a
greater number, however, I’m inclined
to believe that the real problem is a
lack of understanding of an unfamiliar
world. And in response to that we
have been busy, as last year’s article
made clear, not least through school
visits and the re-introduction of a
teacher conference. In connection
with the former our focus has been
principally on Birmingham and the
surrounding area with which we are
linked as part of the University’s
regional outreach programme. Quite
apart from general University open
days, 3700 individual students from
100 different schools have visited
Keble since 2010. In addition we host
about 100 students each year as
part of Oxford’s much praised
UNIQ
Summer School which provides a real
taste of university life over a week-
long stay in one of the colleges. Our
Outreach Officer has herself forged
links with 57 schools in the broader
Birmingham area.
We are now planning to expand our
activities in three particular ways.
First, we are intensifying our existing
efforts in the West Midlands by
engaging a former teacher and Keble
Old Member who will be available to
offer advice and support in schools
with which we have a connection.
Second, we are assisting some of our
early career academics and graduate
students to go into schools with low
levels of awareness of the Oxbridge
system and offer tutorial style
teaching and application guidance to
students with the potential to apply
here. Both these new initiatives have
been made possible by generous
donations from Old Members, as is
the work of our Outreach Officer.
The second of them is in addition
to our support for the
Brilliant Club
,
a recent, independent charitable
initiative developed by people who
were first recruited by
Teach First
,
which is implementing the same sort
of approach elsewhere.
Third, I’m pleased, if not surprised,
to report that our JCR is deeply
enthusiastic about supporting our
outreach efforts. Undergraduates
visit schools and show potential
applicants around when they visit.
About twenty of our current students
are committing their time in this way
in what is presented as Keble at Large.
As a College community one of the
most important things we can do to
encourage this enthusiasm is to live
up to the expectation that we will be
genuinely welcoming of everyone who
comes here and treat them equally.
It was good to hear feedback from a
parent of one of our recent students
that ‘we were worried that [Keble]
might be rather elitist but nothing
could be further from the truth’.
Why do I say all this to an audience of
Keble Old Members? Because I think
that many of you who are based in the
United Kingdom can play a role from
time to time in reiterating the message
that we’re open to all those who have
the academic ability to benefit from an
Oxford education. I accept that most
readers of this piece lack credibility
with many teenagers because they’re
over the age of twenty-three!
However, you certainly don’t lack
credibility with teachers and others
who do have a direct relationship with
young people. And, many of you, of
course, are involved in the education
world not least as teachers. If there is
anything we can do to help you to act
as ambassadors on our behalf, please
let us know.
From the Warden
F
