02 Apr 07

Twenty boys from around the country spent Saturday 31 March at Oxford University working hard on their GCSE preparation, as part of the Oxford Black Boys Can programme.

The programme is a joint venture between Oxford University and the National Black Boys Can Association, and aims to raise aspirations and attainment of young black males.

The 15-16 year-old boys, who are all from backgrounds with little experience of higher education, are keen to apply to Oxford one day. Their ambition was fuelled at previous visits to Oxford where they found out what the University has to offer.

Anton Nisbeth from London, who attends Greenford High School, spent a day at Oxford last year where he found out what he needed to do if he wanted to study at Oxford. He said: 'Before I first came to Oxford, I never thought about applying to the University but now I am seriously thinking about it. I'm planning to do Geography, PE, Philosophy and Psychology at A-level. But I have to take my GCSEs first.'

Saturday's revision event saw the boys practice their memory techniques and attend three sessions on GCSE preparation for English, Mathematics, and Science.

Research has shown that the reasons why some groups are under-represented at Oxford are different for different groups. Lack of attainment at secondary school is a key reason why so few black males go on to study at Russell Group universities.

Vikki Boliver, sociologist at Oxford University who carried out research into widening participation in the past, said: 'An important implication of my research is that, by working together to foster young people's high aspirations, universities and schools can do much to improve the representation of Black students in the nation's top universities.'

Emma Coulston, Access Manager at the University of Oxford, said: 'Today is all about equipping these boys with a range of skills to help them achieve their full potential. We believe that success at GCSE will help give them confidence for their future studies. I hope the boys will all do very well in their GCSE exams this summer.'

In parallel to the boys' sessions on memory techniques and revision, their parents attended talks on further and higher education, and on how best to support their boys in their ambitions.

Cheron Byfield, who co-founded the Black Boys Can scheme prior to studying at Oxford University herself, said: 'Parents have a very important role to play and it is essential to develop a partnership with them. Many of the parents said they would never have thought of sending their sons to Oxford had it not been for this programme.'