Balliol College, Oxford - Access & Outreach Programmes
Create a free account to apply
Year 12 state-school students can explore humanities, life sciences or maths through free year-long programmes, with virtual seminars and preparatory tasks leading to a two-night residential at the college.
Balliol College's Access & Outreach programme provides a range of free activities to support prospective applicants from state schools, including online talks, subject taster days, year-long access programmes and short "Try Before You Buy" days. Activities are delivered by Oxford graduates and tutors and are intended to introduce pupils to subject-specific academic material, Oxford-style teaching, and the admissions process.
Specific offerings include Insight Talks aimed at Year 12 (and interested Year 11s) that run online as workshops and are recorded; a Discovery Programme for Year 10 state school students that consists of online seminars (with a teacher present) and preparatory work; Subject Taster Days and Try Before You Buy Days for Year 12 state school students which include academic sessions, college tours and a free two-course lunch.
Balliol also runs three year-long access programmes (Floreat, Frontier and Fibonacci) for Year 12 state-school students, focused on humanities, life sciences and mathematics respectively. The year-long programmes involve a series of virtual seminars (evening sessions beginning in the Spring Term), assessed/preparatory tasks, and a two-night residential in August held at Balliol College.
Many programmes prioritise disadvantaged and under-represented students and are explicitly free of charge. Sign-up and further details are provided on Balliol College's Outreach / "Outreach Talks and Events" pages.
Discovery Programme for Year 10 Students (runs each year)
Year 12 Try Before You Buy Days (Spring and Summer Terms)
Year 12 Subject Taster Days
Floreat, Frontier and Fibonacci year-long access programmes (Spring Term seminars; August residential)
Insight Into Maths, Science and Humanities Talks
Location
- Insight Talk Series: aimed at Year 12, and interested Year 11 students.
- Discovery Programme: for Year 10 students who attend UK state schools; a teacher from the school must attend and the same students should attend each session.
- Try Before You Buy Days and Subject Taster Days: for serious applicants in Year 12 at UK state-funded (state) schools studying the appropriate qualifications required for their chosen course at Oxford.
- Floreat, Frontier and Fibonacci Access Programmes: open to Year 12 students from UK state schools; priority given to disadvantaged and under-represented applicants.
- Fibonacci: applicants should be studying Maths A Level (Further Maths helpful but not required) and should be aspiring to achieve an A* at Maths A Level.
- Participants in the year-long access programmes are expected to commit to online seminars and to attend a two-night residential in August; pre-course written work (essay/research brief/problem sheet) is required.
Programmes are free of charge. Try Before You Buy and Subject Taster Days include a free two-course lunch. Floreat/Frontier/Fibonacci include online seminars during the Spring Term (evenings) and a two-night residential in August; recordings are available for some talks.
Checked 18 October 2026
Comments
Loading comments...