Seaside pier and sky with wispy clouds. To the left, a yellow and blue square with the words 'Oxford for East England' in white.
Cromer Pier and the Pavilion Theatre on the north Norfolk coast. (Credit: Stefan Siegel)

Oxford for East England

At the University of Oxford, we have a long history of working with schools and students from across the East of England. Oxford for East England is a new collaborative approach to improve how the University collaborates with these schools and to encourage more students from the East of England to make successful applications to Oxford and other top UK universities.

Oxford for East England brings together three Oxford colleges with established links in the region: Balliol, Hertford and Wadham. Together, we work with pupils, teachers and families to provide bespoke support where it’s needed - from helping raise attainment to offering professional advice about applying to university - as well as innovative online resources.

The local authorities supported by Oxford for East England are: Bedford, Cambridgeshire, Central Bedfordshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Luton, Norfolk, Peterborough, Southend-on-Sea, Suffolk and Thurrock.

Insight Talks

Booking is now open for Balliol College's Insight talks. This is a series of online talks aimed at post 16 pupils with an interest in science. Each talk will be taught by an Oxford University post-graduate student, giving the audience an insight into their particular research specialism.


Although aimed primarily at year 12 and above, passionate KS4 pupils may also find these talks interesting.

All Insight Talks run between 16:30 and 17:30 on the following dates:

Monday 8 January 

Insight into: Psychology and the Executive Functions of the Brain

Wednesday 10 January

Insight IntoAnimal sleep and Hibernation 

Wednesday 17 January

Insight Into: Gerontology - Studying Aging and Older Adults, What is it all about and why does it Matter?

Monday 22nd January

Insight Into Animal Mimicry

Tuesday 23 January

Insight Into Gender Bias in Science and Medicine

Wednesday 24 January

Insight Into: Obesity - Causes and Treatment

Monday 29 January

Insight Into: Flow Cytometry -  Applications in Healthcare and other Fields

Wednesday 31 January

Insight Into: Infectious Diseases - Causes and Treatment

Wednesday February 

Insight into: the Neuroscience of Food and the Sensory Experience

Wednesday 14 Feb

Insight Into: Traumatic Brain Injury -  Causes and Treatment

Thursday 14 March

Insight IntoImaging Analysis in Neuroscience

To sign up for one or more of these talks, please complete this form.

Access Programmes for Year 12 Students

Applications are now open for Balliol College's sustained contact programmes. These are for Year 12 students from UK state schools. The Floreat programme is designed for students who aspire to study a Humanities degree. Frontier is for those interested in Life Sciences. Fibonacci focuses on Mathematics and related fields. All of these programmes are designed to academically challenge those interested in applying to competitive universities.

On Wednesday 18 October 2023, we held an online information evening about these three programmes, starting in 2024. We recorded this and if you are interested in learning more about these programmes, you can find the recording here.

Additional information can be found on the Balliol College website.

The application forms for 2024 are below:

Floreat, application deadline is Sunday 26 November at 5pm.

Frontier, application deadline is Sunday 26 November at 5pm.

Fibonacci, application deadline is Sunday 19 November at 5pm.