What could you achieve with a total change from business-as-usual thinking?
Date Published: 27.02.2025
Wadham College offers pioneers and senior leaders from all sectors an opportunity to live the scholarly life as they make an educational pilgrimage like no other.
The Wadham Experience is a transformative intellectual retreat for leaders, thinkers and doers from every walk of life.
This is no ordinary executive programme. In September 2025, two one-of-a-kind residencies will combine intense immersion in the Oxford collegiate tutorial environment with exceptional creative, cultural and social experiences.
Building intellectual community without conformity
Participants will take part in daily seminar discussions, lectures and workshops with world-leading Oxford academics, weaving through history, philosophy, art, and the fine threads that connect them. Each attendee will be supported by experts in pursuing their personal line of intellectual enquiry, culminating in unique insights that will accompany them into their next chapter.
Designed to revolutionise the way you think and uncover the novel insights that our world sorely needs, the Wadham Experience is a chance for senior leaders to spark their own personal renaissance. Each cohort of learners is hand-picked from across business, politics, art and academia, ensuring every individual journey of discovery takes place among truly stimulating company.
An unparalleled environment for learning and reflection
Wadham College remains a haven of serenity and intellectual curiosity during troubled times – much as it has been for more than four centuries. Pivotal ideas and exciting debates will have plenty of time to take root during the retreat, whether it’s over meals in the dining hall, or in a moment of quiet reflection during a classical performance or guided meditation.
The Wadham Experience offers all the benefits of a collegiate environment while providing the level of comfort and accommodation of a boutique hotel. This intellectual feast is complemented by a range of hand-picked excursions and exclusive activities across the city, making it the definitive way to invigorate one’s view of the world.
It’s about breathing new intellectual and practical life into areas of thought that have become habitual.
Tom Sinclair, Tutorial Fellow in Philosophy
Reservations for the 2025 programmes are now open
After a highly successful pilot retreat in 2024, this year marks the first full iteration of this exciting new initiative. The programmes will raise much-needed funds for the College, ensuring it can continue contributing to world-leading research and providing academic opportunity to outstanding students of all backgrounds.
The first retreat, with the theme ‘Thinking Critically: Civilisation on the Edge’, takes place between the 14th and 19th September. The second is titled ‘Thinking Clearly: Attention in a Cacophonous World’ and runs from the 21st to the 26th September.
Places on the Wadham Experience are limited, so early application is recommended to avoid disappointment. There is a 10% discount available to Wadham College and Oxford University alumni, a 25% discount for early applicants, and a number of scholarships available to applicants in several categories (these discounts cannot be combined).
You can find out more at the Wadham Experience website or get in touch at we@wadham.ox.ac.uk for an informal discussion.