Here, you will find a combination of virtual and in-person opportunities from the University and College Sectors. We ask students and their parents to research fully any opportunities advertised on the noticeboard to ensure they are happy with the organisation they are linking with and its value for money if there is a cost.
Notices & Key Dates
UCAS Key Dates Timeline for 2025 and 2026 Applications.
UCAT exam bookings open on 17th June 2025 (closes 19th September)
- UCAT Essentials – What you need to know.
- Admissions Tests – Applicants should check whether their course requires an admissions test.
Find an Open Day – Open days are an important way to learn about how a subject is taught and what you will study, from course tutors. Our advice is to prioritise course talks over general talks. If time/money are a constraint you can learn a lot from visiting local universities. If you are on the Sixth Form bursary, you can request that school helps with the costs, please talk to Mr Brown or Lucy.
Aspiring Professionals Programme by Social Mobility Foundation – 2026 Applications are now open! Support while applying for universities, degree apprenticeships and help navigating the professional world. Eligibility criteria applies. Closing date Friday 12th December at 12pm.
Student Finance Applications  We recommend that students make their student finance application as early as possible. They should avoid waiting until they get their exam results. Students should apply for student finance based on their first-choice (Firm). They can easily change this before their studies start. The most important thing is to get the application in!
Oxbridge Focus
University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge Website
University of Cambridge Events Page
22nd October 2025 – My Cambridge Application Deadline
Complete timeline of dates and deadlines for Cambridge applicants
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Think Cambridge Webinar Series
Think Cambridge 2026 is a week-long series of webinars aimed at inspiring Year 11 and 12 students to think about applying to Cambridge. We also welcome teachers and supporters, and parents and advisors to join webinars, which will give you all the tools you will need to support a Year 11 or 12 future applicant.
The series runs from the end of January 2026. Each session is hosted virtually and consists of a presentation, comment from our student ambassadors and additional visual elements. Sessions will be recorded and these will be sent to registered guests up to 48 hours after the session has concluded. This will allow students to watch the session that they are unable to attend at a later date.
For the full list of webinars, and the booking form, please see the Think Cambridge webpage.
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Y12 Access and Application Support Programme 2026 – Widening Participation
Our Y12 programme is returning again for 2026, and we are delighted to announce that this year we have partnered with Tutorbility again to provide tutoring for participants, in addition to a series of online sessions and an overnight stay in Cambridge. This programme is aimed at Y12 students who are considering applying to a competitive university, and is designed to support them with making informed decisions and building competitive applications, as well as getting a taste of university life.
To be eligible, students must be:
- A current Year 12 student interested in studying at a competitive university
- Predicted/On track for grades of AAB or higher at A Level (or equivalent at IB)
- A student at a state school within our link area in North East of England, specifically Northumberland, County Durham, Hartlepool, Darlington, Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar and Cleveland, York, Hull, and the East Riding of Yorkshire.
More information and the application form can be found on our website here.
Applications Open November 2025
University of Oxford
University of Oxford website
Step by Step guide to applying to Oxford Read More
The Aim for Oxford Scheme, Aim for Oxford is a free-of-charge programme for Year 12 students attending state schools in the North East of England. Widening Participation, Read More & Apply
Oxford for North East contains useful information for students from the North East who might be considering Oxford University. Here you will find information about residential schemes as well as regional and online workshops Read More
The Oxford University Outreach, page can help guide you to the events being run by the University/Departments Read More
UNIQ
What As one of the most established programmes of its kind in the UK, UNIQ offers participants access to step-by-step online support as well as a residential based in an Oxford college. The programme is completely free and gives pupils the chance to meet Oxford academics, speak to current students and learn first-hand about the application process and what life might be like at Oxford. Â
Who Year12 state school students with good GCSE grades or equivalent from backgrounds that are under-represented at Oxford. Students can find out more about the programme and selection criteria on the uniq.ox.ac.uk.
When Dates to be confirmed.
Where This is an online programme of academic and application support with the opportunity for an Oxford residential experience in the Easter or Summer vacation of 2026.
Featured New Courses
Undergraduate Study – Duration 3 Years
Special and Inclusive Education prepares you to be a forward-thinking professional, with expertise in creating equitable learning pathways and opportunities for diverse learning profiles, including special and additional educational needs.Â
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Combined Honors in Social Sciences – allows you to create your own bespoke programme suited to your individual interests, strengths and career plans. You can choose up to 4 subjects within Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities.
Undergraduate Study – Duration 4 Years
Drawing on the expertise of leading academics and researchers in the field, you will explore the origins and present-day contexts of societal conflicts about power, participation, and resources.
Latest Opportunities
All Subjects
Open Day Event
Yr 11 & 12
Dundee Univerity – Newcastle Event, Wednesday 1st October, 6.00pm-8.00pm
- Venue:Â Great North Hotel, Newcastle (NE3 2DS)
- Event Description: You’ll discover more about the University of Dundee and life on our compact city centre campus – where everything you’ll need, including labs and lecture theatres, accommodation, sports facilities, and some of the best coffee spots around, are all together in one vibrant hub.
It would be great to see your students at this event, and they can sign up via the QR code attached to the flyer of this email or via the event link below:
Computer Science
Online Webinar
Yr 11 & 12
Computer Science: Large Language-Audio Models & Applications -Channel Talent, University of Surrey – Monday 22nd September, 11:10am – 11:55am
Large Language Models (LLMs) are increasingly being applied to audio processing, enabling the interpretation and generation of complex sound data, including speech, music, environmental sounds, and non-verbal audio. When integrated with acoustic models, LLMs show strong potential in tackling a wide range of tasks such as audio captioning, generation, source separation, and coding.
In this talk, they will explore how LLMs can address key challenges in audio understanding and generation. Begin with an overview of recent advances and ongoing challenges in the field. Then, present a suite of tools developed for diverse audio tasks: audio generation, storytelling, source separation, audio captioning, audio coding, content creation, editing, audio reasoning. Introduce supporting datasets designed for training and evaluating large language-audio models.
Sport Science
Online Webinar
Yr 11 & 12
Sport & Exercise Science: Ethics & Deviance – Channel Talent, University of East Anglia- Tuesday 23rd September, 9:05am – 9:50am
The session aims to discuss contemporary issues within the area of anti-doping, outlining the key principles of anti-doping and educating athletes on how they can access correct information to ensure they stay within the rules. The session will also interactively challenge participants on what action they would take in particular scenarios many modern athletes find themselves in.
Statistics/Law
Online Webinar
Yr 11 & 12
Statistics: Lucy Letby – Serial Killer or Coincidence? Hypothesis Testing & The Legal System – Channel Talent, University of Warwick, Tuesday 23rd September, 1:30pm – 2:15pm
What hypothesis test would you use to test whether the death rate on a medical unit has suddenly increased? How would you follow up a significant result which showed the risk of death had doubled?
The conviction of a UK nurse, Lucy Letby, for murdering seven newborn infants has resulted in debate about whether the conviction was safe. Investigating clusters of deaths, infectious diseases or collapses in healthcare settings pose various statistical challenges for forensic investigations.
Social Policy
Online Webinar
Yr 11 & 12
UK Defence – Cutting Edge University Interdisciplinary Perspectives & Debate – Channel Talent, University of East Anglia & University of Edinburgh – Wednesday 24th September, 4:15pm – 5:15pm
Escalating conflicts globally and following pressure from the United States, the UK Government has committed to spending significantly more on Defence, join this audience-led debate that will tackle the focus of that spending and its political, economic and social implications.Â
Ahead of the event, we invite students to submit questions and arguments HERE (Survery Monkey website) within the overall session theme which, following the introductory inputs from our academics, are then either posed by the student themselves or by the host, depending upon each student’s preference.
Computer Science
Online Webinar
Yr 11 & 12
Scenario Workshop – Preventing & Managing a Cyber Attack – Channel Talent, University of Leicester – Thursday 25th September, 4:15pm – 5pm
Join this interactive cybersecurity workshop where theory meets practice. Instead of slides and lectures, you’ll step into the role of a decision-maker responding to a live, unfolding cyberattack scenario. Working together, you’ll be challenged to analyse the situation, make rapid choices, and see how your decisions impact the outcome.
This session is designed to sharpen your problem-solving, teamwork, and critical thinking skills while giving you a taste of how real-world security incidents play out.
By the end, you’ll leave with a real sense of how cyber threats play out, what it’s like to be under pressure in a security team, and the choices that can turn a crisis into a win.
Geography/
Environmental Science
Online Webinar
Yr 11 & 12
Channel Talent & UEA – Coast to Coast – Livelihoods, Gender, Disasters, Environmental Change & Governance – A Social-Ecological Systems Approach With Dr Johanna Forster From University Of East Anglia – Thursday 25th September, 1:30pm -2.15pm
Embracing a complex world of interactions – between people, places, nature, political structures and economic pressures – we first consider North Norfolk with its eroding coastline and the increasing socio-economic risk to the communities who live there. In comparison, Johanna will then look at Dominica, a small island in the Caribbean, heavily impacted by hurricanes, where fishing is both incredibly important for income and livelihood security, but can also contribute to building community resilience to future impacts.
Politics/Economics/
History/Business
Webinar
16+
Think Tank – Nationalisation in the UK – Cutting Edge University Perspectives & Debate – Goldsmiths University of London & University of East Anglia
Thursday 2nd October, 4:15pm – 5:15pm
Discuss issues surrounding Nationalisation in the UK, a live debate that will encompass ideas from Politics, Economics, History and Business. In a dynamic Question Time format, the panel will address pre-submitted and live questions from the audience.Â
Chemistry
Webinar
16+
Chemistry: Analysing Data – Skills & Insight Workshop With Dr James Wright From University of Surrey, 6th October 2:15pm – 3:00pm
Dr James Wright is Lecturer in Physical, Analytical and Inorganic Chemistry at University of Surrey and joins us on 6th October to deliver an interactive skills and insight workshop for students on Analysing Data.
James will address how to interpret the data obtained from chemical experiments by exploring how experimental data are presented, interpretation by understanding correlation vs causation, determining whether relationships between experimental variables are significant and, finally, using this understanding to propose new experiments.
Psychology
Online Interactive Session
Yr 11 & 12
Bangor University – Various dates
Explore the fascinating world of psychology with our exclusive free webinar series, brought to you by one of the UK’s leading psychology departments.
Whether you’re interested in a single topic or want to join them all, our webinars are tailored to fit your interests. Plus, you’ll get an opportunity to interact directly with our world-class academics during live Q&A sessions!
- Wednesday 17th September, 4:30pm – Reverse Engineering the Brain and Mind
- Wednesday 15th October, 4:30pm – Do Left-Handers Worship the Devil? What Science Says about Handedness and Brain Asymmetry
- Wednesday 19th November, 4:30pm – How Big is the AI Revolution?
- Tuesday 16th December, 4:30pm – Recreational Drugs and the Brain
All Subjects
Information Sessions
Yr 13
Head Start to Uni – Newcastle University – Friday 24th October, 9:30am – 2pm
Head Start to Uni is a chance for your students to visit Newcastle University, see our campus, talk to current students, and gain information and advice to prepare you for your journey into higher education.
This event gives students the opportunity to:
- Discover information about applying to the University.
- Tailor the event to develop your knowledge where you need it.
- Gain confidence in the application process.Â
- Enhance your critical thinking skills.Â
- Meet and chat with current students.Â
- Explore our campus.
Deadline to register is Sunday 12th October 2025 at 6pm
All Subjects
Online Information Sessions
Yr 12
Edinburgh University – Various dates
We run a range of online events that you can access wherever you are in the world.
Our regular ‘Introduction to the University of Edinburgh’ sessions provide an overview of what it’s like to study with us, and the opportunity to ask questions. View the event details and book a session below.
As well as our regular sessions, from time to time we will run online events which are specific to a particular subject area. We will update those on our mailing list when booking opens for relevant events.
Medicine & Dentistry
Advice on Preparing for applications
Yr 12
Medical Schools Council – Preparing to apply
The Medical Schools Council recommend that students start preparing now for dentistry and medicine applications so that they have everything in place for this time next year.
Writing a personal statement for Medical School & Dental School
Useful Resources/Opportunities
All Subjects
On Demand Webinars
Yrs 12 & 13
UniTasterDays
These impartial videos have one key aim. To support students who are considering university to make informed future subject decisions. They feature guest speakers from a range of different universities, who are always experts in the subject being explored.
Dentistry
Online Resource
Yrs 12 & 13
University of Sheffield
This resource provided from the University of Sheffield gives an insight into the world of dentistry. Resource provided via the Futurelearn portal.
Medical Sciences
Online Lectures
Yrs 12 & 13
UCL
UCL have an online medical sciences lecture series which is free and open to everyone to get inspired.
Natural Sciences
Spotlight
Yrs 12 & 13
Durham University
At Durham, we actively provide our students with opportunities to develop attributes we hope they have by the time they graduate. One way in which we do this is through our excellent multi-subject degree programmes.
Explore our Natural Sciences webpages to discover whether Natural Sciences at Durham could be a good match for your students.