Widening participation for under 16s

We have a huge variety of activities for school groups under the age of 16, available on campus or in your school. Whether you want to introduce your year 7s to the possibility of Higher Education, help your year 11s choose their key stage 5 subjects, or to support your subject curriculum, we provide engaging, interactive activities designed to raise aspirations and support the progression to university.  

All our younger years work is carried out with a widening participation outlook, designed to support young people from backgrounds that are traditionally underrepresented in education. For that reason, some of our activity is not available to every school.

 Please contact us at outreach@reading.ac.uk to find out more.

Bring your pupils to the University of Reading to see our award-winning campus, meet current students, and find out what university life is like. Have a campus tour, learn about student finances and have Student Ambassadors answer your questions about university life.

Most visits run from 10am to 2pm and include a quiz, a campus tour, a student Q&A and information about student finances, as well as lunch in our on-campus catering facilities. Content can be adapted to your needs.

We also organise subject-specific taster days throughout the year, giving students the chance to immerse themselves in a new subject for a day and find out what it’s like to learn at university, by taking part in hands-on activities and taster lectures run by academics, outreach staff or current University of Reading students. 

Please contact us at outreach@reading.ac.uk to find out more.

Our Find Your Future days are on campus events that feature a diverse range of university subject activities focused around a particular theme or topic for the day. These days include interactive sessions that show the different ways subjects can feed into the same central theme, whilst piecing together subject links, degree options and career choices. Some past themes have included climate change, government and healthcare. 

Please contact us at outreach@reading.ac.uk to find out more.

Support your pupils through significant transitions in their school life and give them the skills to unlock their future with our multi-school conferences for years 8, 9 and 11.

The Transitions Conference in the summer term is aimed at years 8 or 9, for pupils just ending key stage 3 and preparing to start key stage 4 in September. They will come together and meet other pupils at the same stage, while learning study skills, reflecting on their own skills and learning styles, and learning from current students how they manage the challenges of university learning.

The Next Steps Conference in the autumn term is for year 11s to start thinking beyond their current stage of education and make choices that will affect their lives after their GCSEs. Taster sessions will give them experience with subjects that they haven’t studied at GCSEs and talks from University staff about entry requirements will give them the information they need to prepare their university applications.

Please contact us at outreach@reading.ac.uk to find out more.

We are available to come into your school and give University information talks to entire year groups or more. Our talks are about 20 minutes long and are perfect for school assemblies. We have talks for every age group from year 7 to year 11, which can be delivered annually to every year to produce a series of regular contact with a member of University staff, and can help meet your Gatsby benchmarks.

Subjects include: Choosing your GCSEs, Post-16 Choices, The Path to University, Student Life, Student Finance and the Great HE Quiz.

Please contact us at outreach@reading.ac.uk to find out more.

We offer various subject tasters focused on engaging and introducing your pupils to university subjects and learning styles. These tasters also help students to make informed choices regarding their GCSE options and consider future career pathways. Tasters are offered across STEM, arts and humanities subjects. These sessions can be delivered in school during lesson time or can be integrated into a visit to our University campus.

Popular sessions include evolution, climate change, chemistry, ethics and history.

Please contact us at outreach@reading.ac.uk if you are interested in subject tasters and we will get in touch to discuss the wide range of subjects we have on offer and how to best address your students' needs.

Provide a focused and sustained programme of activities for a fixed cohort of students, from year 7 through to their GCSEs. This includes: regular visits to the University, in-school activity and the chance to meet University staff and students. Developed with participating schools, this is ideal for Pupil Premium students, Young carers, Service Children, or anyone else you wish to engage. Please get in touch at outreach@reading.ac.uk if you are interested.

We offer on campus events and bespoke campus visits for Virtual Schools, during half terms and term time. These can include all the activities offered to schools, as well as specific advice aimed at looked after and care experienced young people. We can also offer information and advice to designated teachers, foster carers, and anyone who works with these young people about supporting them into university.

Please contact us at outreach@reading.ac.uk to find out more.

Our outreach work is primarily designed for key stages 3 and up, but we can offer some activities for primary schools. We work particularly with the Whitley Excellence Cluster to deliver information and experience to schools in our immediate area.

Please contact us at outreach@reading.ac.uk to find out more.