Aimhigher MKOB Higher Education Mentoring Project

What is the programme?

Oxford University Disability Office is repeating our successful programme, in conjunction with Aimhigher MKOB (www.aimhigher.ac.uk/MKOB), to encourage higher education applications from students with disabilities or long-term health problems. It will be based around a series of three afternoon workshops, hosted at Oxford University, through February, March & April 2008. The aim is to get as many people interested in HE as possible; it is not intended to encourage applications to Oxford University exclusively, but rather to give information on what a student might consider when applying to any HE institution.

What form will it take?

Mentoring

The programme will provide mentors to help students through the workshops. These mentors will be students from Oxford University who have experience of living and studying with a disability or impairment. We aim to assign mentors according to the needs of each student, and to match experiences as far as possible; they will not operate on a one-to-one basis, but with small groups of participants with similar needs. They will attend all the afternoon sessions, and will also be contactable throughout the programme through an e-mentoring programme for additional support and information. Their primary role is to offer encouragement.

Workshops

There will be three sessions in total. The programme will mirror last years successful format. Students can expect sessions to deal with financing and budgeting, disability support (both financial and practical), choosing the right institution and course, and the UCAS application amongst other issues. The first session will be on 'how to get the most from your mentor', to take place on a convenient day in the week commencing 28th January. Sessions 1,2 & 3 will take place on afternoons in late February and early March (provisionally Wednesdays but this could be subject to change). The last session will include a campus tour of Oxford Brookes University, which will hopefully give students a feel for the typical higher education environment.

Reasonable travel costs to and from the workshops can be covered by Oxford University on production of receipts / tickets.

Who is it designed for?

We are mainly targeting Year 11 and 12 students throughout Oxfordshire, though anyone under eighteen who will be applying to HE within the next two years is most welcome. The programme is designed for students who are thinking about university but have unanswered questions about how it might take account of their needs. Those needs might be anything from reduced mobility to visual or hearing impairments, from long-term conditions such as asthma and epilepsy to Asperger Syndrome.

We also welcome support workers and assistants to the programme, and will take account of their needs at the workshops as well as those of the students.

How do you apply?

You can fill in the enclosed form and send it by e-mail to peter.quinn@admin.ox.ac.uk or in hard copy to:

Peter Quinn, Aimhigher Project, Disability Office, Equality and Diversity Unit , University Offices, Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2JD

Alternatively, you can contact Peter personally, either by e-mailing the above address or by telephoning 01865 289840. After initial contact, we will organise a preliminary chat with interested students, to ascertain what they might hope to gain from the programme and discuss any personal requirements. These short, informal discussions will be held in the environment most convenient for the student, be that school, college or home.