Sustained Contact Programmes for Young People

Press release

Wadham College is working with Barclays Corporate & Investment Bank and Linklaters LLP to offer young people from all backgrounds an opportunity to reach their full potential. These programmes aim to improve social mobility by supporting pupils from under-represented groups who are aspiring to study at a top university and to pursue a career in banking or in the legal profession.

Partnering with Barclays Corporate & Investment Bank on Access to Banking and with Linklaters LLP on Think Like a Lawyer, we have developed two free-to-attend sustained contact programmes that will help young people to make informed choices about their futures.

The programmes include online sessions to develop key academic and career skills; one-to-one A Level tutoring; personal statement mentoring; residentials at Wadham College; visits to Barclays Corporate & Investment Bank and Linklaters LLP’s offices; and free laptop and technical support. The students will have the opportunity to gain first-hand experience of how skills developed through studies can be applied successfully in these professions.

The programmes work with pupils throughout sixth form, starting in Year 12 and running up to the end of Year 13. Applications are invited from Year 12 students attending non-selective state schools, who have been eligible for free school meals in the last six years and are living in one of our link areas for Access to Banking or the link areas of Wadham, Balliol, or Hertford College for Think Like a Lawyer, by 2 December and 4 November 2022 respectively. We encourage applications from students taking a range of A Level subjects, including Humanities and Social Sciences; there are no prior subject or knowledge requirements for these programmes.

Wadham’s widening participation work, supported by our Access to Excellence programme, helps students from primary through to sixth form to find the right course and university for them. The College is linked with 11 local authorities, the highest number of any Oxbridge college, for this work.

In October 2022 we formally opened the Locke Access Centre in the Dr Lee Shau Kee Building. This purpose-built hub for our extensive school outreach work makes a powerful statement about Wadham’s commitment to access and to helping the very best students from across the country from diverse backgrounds to realise their potential.