Open Days and Events

The 2025 University Open Days for prospective applicants will be on 2nd-3rd July and the 19th September.

At an Open Day, our team of warm and friendly student helpers will be on hand to guide you around the College and give you a first-hand account of life at Somerville. There’ll also be talks to help you learn more about the subject you’re interested in applying for.

Open Days Timetable

The College Opening Hours are 08:45-17:00.

09.00-09.45: Admissions talk by Tutor for Admissions, Flora Anderson Hall. Our admissions tutor will be available to chat to prospective applicants all day. Our Welfare Officer and Disabilities Lead, Jo Ockwell, may also be available to talk to on request.

09.00-12.30: Student-led tours of Somerville.

12.30-14.00: Meet the tutors drop-in. An opportunity to meet one of the Somerville tutors in the subject of your choice!

12.30-14.00: Free sandwich lunch in Flora Anderson Hall. Tea, coffee and refreshments will be available here throughout the day.

14.00-17.00: Student-led tours of Somerville.

The Director of Chapel Music will be available in Flora Anderson Hall from 12-1pm to chat to prospective applicants about Choral and Organ Scholarships and the College Choir.

Accommodation

We have some B&B rooms available in Somerville for students, parents and teachers for the nights before and during the Open Days, which can be booked through our Bed & Breakfast page from April onwards. There is a discounted rate available for UK-based state school students who are travelling more than 70 miles to attend the Open Days – please contact our Access & Outreach team to receive the promo code if you are eligible.

Travel Reimbursement Scheme

If the travel costs of coming to an Open Day are prohibitive, we may be able to reimburse up to £50 per student for their journey to and from Oxford, depending on where they are travelling from, and with discretion to go above this amount if a student’s individual circumstances and journey necessitate this.

In order to be eligible, you must be a UK-based prospective applicant attending a UK state school or college, for whom the cost of attending the Open Days would otherwise be prohibitive. We are usually only able to reimburse travel costs for students who are travelling via public transport, and receipts must be provided for your travel.

Please see our travel reimbursement application form for further details. Applications are now open.

The deadline for applications for the July open days is 11th June.

The deadline for the September open day is 1st September.

If you wish to arrange a personal visit to Somerville at another time, please contact our Access & Outreach team. If you are a teacher looking to bring a group, please see here to find out more about booking school visits.

Somerville offers an annual series of four Virtual Study Days for Year 12 students. These days feature taster lectures or workshops run by Oxford University academics, which will offer a challenging and entertaining introduction to university-level study of the subject.

There will also be opportunities to hear advice from admissions and outreach staff about applying to Oxford and Cambridge, and to ask the college tutors and current undergraduates questions about their subject of interest.

This year’s study days will be 17th – 20th February half term and the daily timetable for the days is as follows:

15:00-15:50: Admissions talk with Q&A
16:00-17:00: Academic taster session (attendees have a choice of 2x subjects per day)
17:00-17:30: Subject Q&A with Academic and Student Ambassadors

The sessions are open to all Year 12 students at a UK State School who are taking a related subject, and/or are thinking about going on to study a related subject at university. 

Registration for this event has now closed. If you registered for the study days you will receive an email later this week with joining instructions for your selected talks.

The subject sessions are scheduled as follows:

Monday 17th February

Law: Understanding Causation and Omissions in Criminal Law

This session will be an introduction to criminal law. It will explain the basics of causation and omission in criminal law. We will discuss why the rules of causation and omission work the way they do and reflect on whether these ruled need to be reformed.

This session will be of interest to anyone thinking about studying Law or Criminology at University.

Dr Aradhana Cherupara Vadekkethil, Lord & Lady Early Career Fellow and Retaining Fee Lecturer in Law.

Maths: Mathematics of Order and Disorder

From zebra patterns to the bedroom of a teenager, the world around us is characterised by different levels of order and disorder. But how do you measure the level of order of a system. And how can explain how it evolves in time. In this presentation, we will talk about different approaches and views, starting from entropy – the second of thermodynamics – and the relative notion of information, to reaction-diffusion and pattern formation.

This session will be of interest to anyone currently studying Mathematics, who is interested in studying Mathematics at University.

Dr Renaud Lambiotte, Fellow & Tutor in Mathematics; Professor of Networks and Nonlinear Systems.

Tuesday 18th February

English: ‘Tell Me What I Am’ – Reading Some Old English Riddles

In this taster session, I will introduce you to some of the oldest writings in English. We will think about some of the differences – and similarities – between poetry written in the past and poetry written today, and we will investigate what these ancient texts can tell us about the people who wrote and read them.

This session will be of interest to anyone thinking about studying English Literature at University.

Dr Annie Sutherland, Professor of Medieval Literature and Tutor in Old and Middle English.

Computer Science: An Impossible Program for Calculating Impossible Maths

We rely on mathematics when we develop computer hardware and software. In return, computers make possible all sorts of mathematical calculations that would otherwise be far beyond human capability. But our use of computers has also given us new insights into some theoretical aspects of mathematics. This session will look at how our present-day familiarity with computers can help us to make sense of some difficult ideas from theoretical mathematics of a century ago. The session will include the live running of a computer program that — provably — cannot exist!

This session will be of interest to anyone currently studying Mathematics and/or Computer Science who is interested in studying either of these subjects at university

Dr Quentin Miller, Lecturer in Computer Science.

Wednesday 19th February

Politics: The Politics and History of Decolonization

This session will examine the long, violent, uneven process through which numerous colonies in Asia and Africa achieved formal political independence from European empires. How did it come about? What were its causes and consequences? How was it shaped by the Cold War and vice versa? We will contextualise decolonisation and national liberation movements within the wider history of world politics, especially the world wars and the Cold War, and will trace different phases of decolonisation and compare three important cases, India, Ghana, and Egypt.

This session will be of interest to anyone thinking about studying Politics, PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics), International Relations or a related subject at University.

Dr Patricia Owen, Fellow & Tutor in International Relations; Professor of International Relations.

Engineering: AI for Health Innovations: technologies, challenges and opportunities

AI is transforming the global healthcare by advancing basic medical science, proposing new drug design and materials for treatment and interventions, and collectively transforming the reactive treatment to preventive medicine. So how can we share these life-changing innovations around the world? This talk will explore the potential for AI to transform healthcare.

This session will be of interest to anyone who is interested in studying Engineering or Physics at University, or currently studying Physics and/or Maths. It may also be of interest to those considering applying for Medicine.

Dr Huiqi (Yvonne) Lu, Fulford Junior Research Fellow; Daphne Jackson Research Fellow.

Thursday 20th February

Music: Music in the community: Musical vulnerability and asylum

Throughout history, music has been recognised both to have beneficial effects on health and wellbeing, and to cause potentially harmful outcomes such as social withdrawal and violence. In this session we will reflect on some of the sonic properties and extramusical associations that make us so vulnerable to the powerful impact of music and discuss how it can function as a place of asylum, respite, or refuge. We will then consider how music functions in everyday settings such as nurseries, hospitals, and prisons and evaluate the role it plays in creating and sustaining communities.

This session will be of interest to anyone interested in studying Music, Archaeology & Anthropology, Human Sciences, Geography or Psychology at University.

Dr Elizabeth H. MacGregor, Joanna Randall-MacIver Junior Research Fellow at Somerville College.

Biology: The Healing Power of Plants in the 21st Century

Mankind has exploited the medicinal properties of plants for thousands of years, yet the role of plants in modern medicine is still considered to be peripheral by many people. This session attempts to put the record straight and to show that plant products are used every day by all of us to relieve pain and suffering, to heal wounds and cure diseases.

This will be of interest to anyone thinking about studying Biology or Medicine at University.

Timothy Walker, Senior Stipendiary Lecturer in Plant Sciences; Former Director of the University of Oxford Botanic Garden and Harcourt Arboretum.

Somerville host an Insight into HE day for Young Carers’ in Year 12 at a UK state school.  

This informal event is aimed that those who have caring responsibilities in their family and who are considering their post-18 education options. The afternoon will provide opportunities to learn more about university life, find out about the support available and also to meet current students, including those who are also young carers. The information talk will also be live streamed for those unable to come in person.

Example Timetable:

12:45-13:00 – Arrival and sign-in 
13:00-14:00 – Information talk about University
14:00-14:30 – Tour of Somerville College
14:30-15:30 – Small group Q&As with current students
15:30-16:00 – Tea, coffee and biscuits
16:00 – Depart

If you have any questions please email access@some.ox.ac.uk.

Somerville runs a BAME day aimed at Black, Afro-Caribbean and South Asian Year 12 students attending schools in our Somerville link regions. The day is held in the Summer half term and provides an opportunity to find out more about life as a student at Oxford.

The day includes Q&As with current students and information and guidance about Oxford University including the admissions process. 

Example Timetable:

10:15-10:45 – Arrival and sign-in
10:45-11:00 – Welcome
11:00-12:00 – Information and Guidance session
12:00-13:00 – Lunch
13:00-13:30 – Tour of Somerville College
13:30-15:00 – Oxford life talk and Q&A with current students
15:00-16:00 – Refreshments and opportunity to mingle and ask informal questions
16:00 – Depart

More information will be shared in due course. If you have any questions please email access@some.ox.ac.uk.

Can’t wait until Open Days to have a look around? Luckily, thanks to our Interactive Map Tour, you won’t need to.

TAKE a Virtual Tour of Somerville

Or you can watch our students’ virtual tour video to see college through their eyes:

Watch our students’ Virtual Tour

Also check out our students’ bedroom tours to see some examples of our first year accommodation.

Watch our students’ Bedroom Tours

School teachers may be interested in joining our mailing list in order to find out about the opportunities offered by Somerville and other parts of the University to learn more about studying at Somerville and Oxford.

Please email us at access@some.ox.ac.uk if you’d like to receive our regular newsletter or call 01865 280632 to find out more about applying to Somerville and organise a visit.

You can also find out about the latest outreach events by following us on Twitter.

Follow us on Twitter

If you’re a student, you can join the University’s Choosing Oxford mailing list to be kept informed about useful resources and outreach offerings across the university, which you can apply for directly.