The College Record 2022

Credit: David Olds
OUTREACH
Katharine Wiggell
Schools Liaison,
Outreach and
Recruitment Officer
What a difference a year makes! You may recall that, in the
2020/2021 academic year, all of our Outreach work at
Queen’s unfortunately had to take place online as we were –
of course – in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, as
we come to the end of the 2021/2022 academic year, the
picture, thankfully, couldn’t be more different. While we have
still delivered some of our outreach programme throughout
this year in a virtual format, as and when schools have
requested this approach, we have ultimately refocused our
attentions on offering engaging in-person outreach sessions
once more. So, I purchased myself a new railcard and off I
went, travelling up and down the country to our link areas
to speak to pupils about the student experience at Oxford!
Reports and College Activities
There was a period of adjustment as I got used to being back in front of an in-person
audience, but it was considerably more rewarding to be back in schools rather than
presenting over Zoom or Teams to a sea of turned off cameras, and the students I
have worked with this year have been very engaged and enthusiastic. I have also
had the opportunity to visit parts of our link areas I hadn’t been to previously, and
have spent time in Accrington, Burnley, Colne, and Rawtenstall visiting schools and
attending events and fairs in that corner of Lancashire; stayed for a week in Cumbria
visiting a number of schools in the Lakes; and ventured up to the very North of the
county to attend a UCAS Fair in Carlisle and visit a school in Brampton.
Our first in-person visit to Queen’s took place in early September 2021 and it has
been non-stop since, with multiple school visits taking place each month and
thousands of students being given the chance to visit Oxford and find out whether
it could be the university for them. Most of our Outreach work is focused on students
who are in Year 10 and above – with special attention given to those who are in Year
12 and therefore most actively considering their university choices. However, we
have also expanded our efforts this year to support younger pupils as well and have
been visited by students who are just embarking on their secondary school journey
and are yet to choose their GCSE options. Our youngest visitors this year were just
5 years old: a class of students from a primary school based in Cowley came for an
interactive tour of Queen’s, which involved lots of running around in the gardens and
telling me all of the fun facts that they had been learning about the history of Oxford!
They definitely brought a smile to the faces of the undergraduates as they tip-toed
through the Library, shushing each other.
Excitingly, this year has involved a lot of collaboration among Outreach colleagues in
order to increase our reach and support a greater number of prospective applicants.
College Record 2022 | The Queen’s College 37