Our doors are always open to schools and pupils interested in studying at Somerville.
Somerville is open to prospective applicants and offer holders; you can pick up a self-guided tour from the Porters’ Lodge when you arrive, and take a look around. Members of the general public can visit us free of charge on most days, without needing to book ahead.
If you are a teacher, you can book a school visit for a group of students, for more information see our ‘For Teachers’ page.
We participate in the university-wide open days in June/July and September and host visits from schools each week during term time. We also host annual Year 12 Study Days and an annual visit day for Y12 link region students from BAME backgrounds who are considering applying to Oxford. See below for more information.
Open Days
Admissions Access Open Days Lodge chalk
Admissions Access Open Days 2022
Admissions Access Open Days Walking Quad
Admissions Access Open Days 2022
Admissions Access Open Days 2022 Grounds Darbishire
Admissions Access Open Days 2022
Admissions Access Open Days 2022
Admissions Access Open Days 2022
Study Here Access Open Days
Study_Here_Open_Days Open Day Banner Student_Life Access
The 2026 University Open Days for prospective applicants will be on 1st-2nd July and the 18th September.
During the Open Days, 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.
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.
Will Dawes our Director of Chapel Music will often be available in the college chapel to chat to anyone interested in joining the college choir or wanting to find out about choral/organ scholarships.
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.
The deadline for applications for the July open days is the 15th June.
The deadline for applications for the September open day is the 31st August.
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.
Can’t wait until Open Days to have a look around? Check out the resources below to take a virtual look around!
Y12 Study Days
The sign-up deadline for the 2026 Y12 Study Days have now passed.
Somerville offers an annual series of four Virtual Study Days for Year 12 students attending a UK state school. 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. In 2026 subjects on offer were: Law, Biology, Politics, Medicine, Languages, History, English and Maths.
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.
The study days take place during the February school 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 between 2 different 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.
For those still deciding what to apply for, we encourage you to attend in order to learn more about these courses and what it might be like to study them at Oxford.
These sessions would also count as great examples of supercurricular activities, and might give you ideas about topics or further reading to include in the personal statement.
Please email access@some.ox.ac.uk with any questions.
Y12 BAME Day
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 May school 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 with link region teachers on our mailing list.
