New British Bangladeshi and Pakistani Year 12 Access Programme begins at Oxford

A major new access and outreach programme for British Bangladeshi and Pakistani students has launched at Jesus College, Oxford University.  The innovative online programme, is for Year 12 school pupils and aims to help improve representation of British Bangladeshi and Pakistani students at top universities, by supporting them in making competitive applications. It has been created and developed by the Jesus College Access & Outreach team - Access Fellow Dr Matthew Williams and Access and Outreach Officer Shelley Knowles - in collaboration with all other Oxford Colleges and several Departments at the University of Oxford. The programme has also been championed by influencer Ibz Mo, a graduate student at St Anne's College, who will be the official spokesperson and face of the new project.

As well as support for students, the programme will also provide support for teachers. Dr Williams explains, “Later in the year we will be providing bespoke CPD sessions for teachers, and giving them the opportunity to chat with education experts on supporting students from British Bangladeshi and Pakistani backgrounds.”

Applications opened for the first phase of the programme in mid-January, reaching out to British Bangladeshi and Pakistani students and students of mixed race with Bangladeshi or Pakistani heritage, as well as parents or carers, and state school teachers. Priority was given to state school students coming from the most disadvantaged backgrounds, as judged by standard UCAS criteria, including postcode and school data.