Wadham: A Beacon of Access and Excellence

Our 2025 Access Impact Report, 'Celebrating a Decade of Impact', shares what has been achieved since Access to Excellence launched nearly a decade ago.

Through Oxford’s most extensive summer school programme and over 1,300 events, we’ve engaged nearly 50,000 young people, inspiring them to discover that an elite university education is achievable. The Impact Report shows how we are creating pathways for disadvantaged pupils to access the UK’s most competitive institutions, including Oxford.

Collaboration with alumni, fellows, and students is key to this success. We were proud to officially open the Dr Lee Shau Kee Building, the William Doo Undergraduate Centre, and the Locke Access Centre (the only one of its kind in Oxford) in 2022.

Each August, we welcome sixth-form students from UK state schools and colleges to our week-long residential Summer Schools in Classics, Modern Languages, and, since 2023, Climate Change. Following the 2024 Summer Schools, we were delighted that almost 80% of the attendees applied to Oxford University. Of the 48 participants, 38 applied to Oxford, and 17 (or 45%) received an offer to study here, 35% of the whole group. These programmes could not run without the commitment from our dedicated tutors and student ambassadors, and the generous support of our donors.

We continue to work with partners to increase equality and opportunity. One such partnership project is Building Bridges, which aims to boost students' motivation, engagement and academic belonging, supporting the transition between primary and secondary science education. Priorities are to:

• Offer an enrichment programme of activities and days which support and extend the KS2 and KS3 curriculum, and is localised to the students’ home area. 
• Provide free-of-charge kit boxes (OXbOXes), training and documentation to support the teaching of the primary science curriculum. 
• Highlight the diverse career opportunities available in S.T.E.A.M., particularly relating to the chemical sciences. 
• Support practical science and mathematics in Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3.  

Selected schools may include an enrichment strand in their programme, which offers a sustained contact programme of activities and events on a specific theme in S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths). Themes have included ‘Green Planet’, which explores the incredible use of plants as food, sources of medicines, toxins, and energy; and ‘Into the Blue’, which allows students to discover how light is used in both art and science and examine the origins and use of the colour blue by humans across cultures and through history to the present day. New for 2024-2026, 'Symmetry in Our World' investigates how patterns and symmetry underlie our natural world and its chemistry.

The project is a partnership between Oxford University's departments, colleges, libraries and museums; and other Higher Education and third sector providers. Following a successful pilot phase (2022-2024) in Gloucester, we are excited to be involved in expanding the Building Bridges project to new areas of the UK in 2024-2026.

As higher education contends with deepening inequalities, Wadham continues to shine as a beacon of equality and opportunity. Through the bold vision for our forthcoming campaign, we have ambitious plans for our Access programme, and are aiming to secure £10 million for an endowment to safeguard our enduring commitment to access, broaden financial support, and strengthen welfare provision. Please contact the Development Team to find out more.