Students from under-represented groups in Engineering experience life at Oxford this April

In April 2024, Engineering Science welcomed 74 students from under-represented backgrounds in Engineering, for our 2024 UNCOVER Engineering access programme.

Two cohorts of Year 10 students attended the 4-day residential programme, staying in Oxford colleges and taking part in fun and inspirational activities: Women and Girls in Week 1 and Black African and Caribbean Heritage Students in Week 2. Participants are fully funded to attend the programme, which has been made possible thanks to a generous donation from WEERT (Waste Environmental Education Research Trust).

"I really enjoyed this experience and still think about it all the time. It was really valuable to me"

During UNCOVER 2024, students were introduced to Engineering through a series of practical and interactive activities. They took part in practical Engineering workshops such as Computer Aided Design, Mobile Robots (pictured left), Drones, and Bridge building with aluminium beams, as well as fun engineering challenges and recreational activities during the evenings.

They said of the activities, “[Beam building] was a very hands-on activity and was really fun and interesting”, and “I enjoyed the process of designing things a lot [using CAD], and I also got to make my own key-ring”.

They also visited a waste management company and got to experience what would life be like at university by talking to current students, academics and staff.

"I appreciate this opportunity and it definitely has been an invaluable experience for me"

Participants of UNCOVER 2024 said they had improved their Engineering knowledge and that they were more likely to consider Engineering as a career in the future, saying "Programming robots… encouraged me to problem solve, and it was very satisfying to see the results" and "Loved it. Can't wait to be recalled and share my love".

"It was truly an amazing and memorable experience, I would love to be offered to do this again."

This year, we also welcomed back 22 students from our first UNCOVER cohort from 2022, to provide them with support for higher education applications generally, and specific advice on applications to study Engineering Science at Oxford University. They attended workshops on navigating UCAS, writing personal statements, the Physics Aptitude Test and interview questions, as well as inspiring talks about different research areas and a tour of the Oxford Robotics Institute. Additionally, they had a session with the 2024 cohort to share their experiences with the younger group.

Access Manager Monica Armengol says, “We were really excited to learn what these girls had been up to, and what they plan to do in the future. Almost all of them are pursuing STEM careers, which is incredible. Hearing the impact that UNCOVER has made in empowering them and opening up new career choices - that makes us very happy.”

To be kept informed of future Access programmes, please sign up to our mailing list: https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/oxford/mailing-list-2024-2025