Christ Church Horizons

The programme starts in Year 10, when pupils come to Christ Church to explore science or humanities subjects through a series of short academic tasters. The aims of the programme are to increase knowledge of the benefits of higher education, to raise awareness of the breadth of university courses and where they lead post-university, and to help pupils make informed future choices. 

We offer two separate events in Christ Church for the Horizons Year 10 strand: a day for investigating sciences and one for investigating humanities and social sciences. Schools can bring up to ten pupils for each event: ten pupils who would be more interested in exploring sciences, and ten who are more curious about humanities.

Teachers are asked to select pupils who show academic ability and potential and are on track to do well in GCSEs and who also come from groups that are socio-economically disadvantaged and / or under-represented at Oxford. This may be pupils who meet one or more of the following criteria: eligibility for free school meals; no parental history of higher education; pupils from areas of socio-economic disadvantage (ACORN groups 4 and 5 – this can be checked here); pupils from areas with low participation in higher education (POLAR quintiles 1 or 2 – this can be checked here); pupils from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic Groups; and pupils who have been in care or who are young carers.

The programme is entirely free of charge, with transport and meals arranged and covered by Christ Church. 

Applications for the 2025 programme are now closed, but will open again in early 2026

The Year 12 strand of the programme consists of after-school sessions in Barnet during February, March, and April.

The programme aims to support students in exploring beyond the curriculum and in developing key skills required to make competitive applications to university and to Oxford. Students have the opportunity to engage in discussion with Oxford academics through a series of workshops, on topics in the humanities, sciences and social sciences. Through their interactive format, the workshops encourage reflection, flexibility of thought, scientific reasoning and critical thinking.

The academic sessions are complemented by information, advice, and guidance sessions, from ‘How to explore beyond the curriculum’, to ‘Finance at University’, personal statements and essay writing workshops.

The participants celebrate completing the programme with a 'graduation day' in Christ Church, where they attend taster lectures, discuss their interests in subject-specific groups, and meet current undergraduates.

Applications for the 2025 programme are now closed, but will open again in September.

Oxford applicants from Barnet state schools are invited to attend a series of online admissions tests workshops before the summer of Year 13 and online interview workshops in Year 13. 

Registration for the admissions tests workshops has now closed, but you can sign up for interview workshops from September.