Study day residentials to focus on widening access to women in STEM

Women account for under a third of the global science, technology, engineering and mathematics workforce (STEM). And this disparity starts at a young age, with fewer female students choosing STEM subjects at every juncture in their education.

Two of the four study day residentials for state-educated year 12 students at Oriel College in April 2025 will aim to inspire girls and non-binary students to apply to STEM courses at top universities like Oxford.

The first of the programmes, on 15 and 16 April, will focus on Mathematics and Computer Science. Meanwhile the other, on 16 and 17 April, will focus on Chemistry and Biochemistry. All state-educated year 12 students who identify as women or as non-binary are eligible for the two programmes.

The two other residential programmes, open to all state-educated year 12 students, will focus on Law or Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE). The Law programme will take place on 13 and 14 April, with the PPE programme on 14 and 15 April.

All four of the residential programmes are designed to give aspirational state school students an insight into what life and study at an Oxford college is like.

A student who attended a previous programme said: “I clarified a lot of things for myself, like the application process. It was overall an amazing experience.”

Another commented: “Everyone was very lovely and answered my questions when I was unsure. I thought it was a very helpful experience which allowed me to confirm my interests!”

To apply for a place on one of the forthcoming programmes students must be in year 12 at a UK state school, interested in studying a degree-level course relevant to the programme, and predicted A-level grades satisfying Oxford’s standard offer for the relevant course. The application deadline is Sunday 16 March 2025.

The programmes are offered at no cost to students. Oriel’s alumni community covers all related expenses, including reasonable travel costs.