As a family member or advisor you are in a great position to support your child as they make decisions about their education. Here at Oxford, we value students' families and want you to have all the information you need to feel confident in your supporting role.
University Resources
The University has put together a detailed parents and carers guide, which can be found here and will take you through everything you need to know about applications to Oxford. If you want to find out specific information about our fees, and the University’s generous financial support offering you can find this here. The University’s central ‘for families’ page also covers this information.
Each year the Department of Physics runs an adult supporter event in March, and details of this event can be found on their webpages.
The OxNE team run termly parent and carer talks online and in region. These are held in September, February, and July. If you would like information on how to sing up to these sessions please contact us.
Community in Oxford
Oxford has a thriving community of students from the North East of England, and a variety of ways for these students to make connections with each other whilst they are studying at Oxford.
Students from the North East can join the Northerners’ Society, which is run entirely by students from the North of England and provides social and welfare support for students whilst they are at Oxford.
OxNE regularly brings together our students from the North East. We hold a North East Offer Holder Event in Newcastle in March each year. This is a great way for Offer Holders to get to know each other before they event start at the University of Oxford. The OxNE outreach team also runs a parent/carer session during this event, providing advice and guidance about supporting an Offer Holder, and current undergraduate students from the region will also be there to answer questions about what life is like at Oxford for North East students.
We also host a reception for North East students each year in Oxford’s first (Michaelmas) term for drinks and networking at either Christ Church, Trinity or St Anne’s College. Students from across the region also get involved with the North East team’s outreach work by volunteering as North East Ambassadors, which has been an invaluable part of the work we are able to do in the region.
One of Oxford’s strengths is its collegiate, community-driven education. Your child’s college will provide social, pastoral and welfare support whilst they are at University. Colleges consist of up to 500 undergraduate students and are supported by a full staff team – meaning that students at Oxford get some of the best support in the country! Whilst students from the North East can – and do – find each other, the collegiate system means that every student coming to Oxford will find a built in community and place to call home.
Distance and Term Time
One of the primary concerns for parents and young people attending Oxford can be the distance from the North East and the associated travel time (4.5 hours on the train, and similar by car). Whilst this can seem very far away from the North East, there is a direct train that runs through York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle meaning it is easy to get to and from Oxford when necessary!
And Oxford’s terms are short – eight weeks at a time compared to other Universities that run a ten week term, or a semester-based timetable. This means that our students form intense communities whilst they are in Oxford and they have a lot of down time to spend at home with family and friends when they need it.