The Department of Economics contributed a range of academic sessions to student outreach programmes taking place in Oxford during the Easter vacation period. The programmes included the Target Oxbridge residential, intended to increase the chances of Black African and Caribbean students and students of mixed race with Black African and Caribbean heritage getting into the Universities of Oxford or Cambridge, and the Access to Banking programme run by Barclays and Wadham College, which supports students from non-selective state schools that meet the University of Oxford widening participation criteria.
Both of these programmes are for year 12 students who will soon be considering university applications. Department members also contributed to a programme organised by Oriel College and Birmingham City Council in order to introduce year 10 students to university study.
The academic sessions contributed by Department members included a lecture on macroeconomic policy, a debate on wealth taxes and a talk on admissions and examples of admissions interview questions. Dr Chris Bowdler (Associate Head for Undergraduate Studies) commented:
‘Department members have been very pleased to meet large numbers of school students during their visits to Oxford, to offer them some insight into the questions and policy challenges studied by economists, and to provide information on the Economics courses available in Oxford and how to apply’.
