First joint teachers’ conference at Oxford and Oxford Brookes universities

26 February 2008 

Teachers from 52 schools and colleges will visit Oxford’s two universities on Wednesday, 27 February 2008 to attend a conference on how best to advise their students on university admissions. The teachers are from schools across Oxfordshire and surrounding Local Education Authorities.

It is the first time that Oxford University and Oxford Brookes University have joined forces to run an event aimed specifically at teachers. The morning session will take place at the main campus at Oxford Brookes University with the afternoon sessions taking place at St Hugh’s College, Oxford.

Admissions staff at the two universities also hope that this will be an opportunity for them to learn first-hand from the teachers about how they can improve their support for potential applicants.

Mike Nicholson, Director of Undergraduate Admissions at Oxford University, will give the keynote address on changes to 14-19 education and developments in UCAS procedures. The afternoon will feature a series of workshops on interviews for competitive courses such as Law and Medicine, on student finance, on post-HE careers, admissions testing and access projects.

Mike Nicholson said: ‘Teachers play a very important role in advising their pupils on career and university choice. We acknowledge that keeping up with higher education developments and admissions issues is not easy for teachers whose schedule is usually very busy. We therefore thought it would make sense for teachers to take just one trip to Oxford, and we designed the day to give everybody plenty of time to learn from each other.’

Edward Trewhella, UK Marketing Director at Oxford Brookes University, said: ‘Supporting teachers in schools and colleges so that they have the very latest admissions information at their fingertips is vital if we are to encourage more students to see higher education as an achievable choice. Indeed, one of the workshops will focus entirely on widening access to higher education and how we can help young people to fulfil their potential.’

Mike Nicholson will be available for interview at 11.45am.

Hilary Churchley, Head of UK Student Recruitment and Liaison at Oxford Brookes University, will be available for interview at 11am.

If you would like to take up any interview opportunities please contact the Press Office at Oxford University on 01865 280531 or Oxford Brookes University on 01865 484452.