Quarter of graduates without full-time jobs after three years

More than a quarter of graduates are still without a full-time job more than three years after leaving university, official figures show. 

Rising numbers of ex-students are being forced to work as volunteers, join the dole queue or enrol on another higher education course, it was revealed.

In all, almost 28 per cent of UK students were not in full time employment after finishing degrees or postgraduate studies in 2007 – just before the economic downturn.

The disclosure – in data published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency – underlines the extent to which the recession has placed a squeeze on graduate jobs.

Students from new universities are twice as likely to be out of work than those graduating from elite Russell Group institutions, it was revealed.

Liam Burns, president of the National Union of Students, said many graduates who failed to find decent jobs were being forced to support themselves with overdrafts and commercial loans. 

He added: “Times are tough for young people at the moment with rising unemployment no matter how well qualified they are, and through its lack of support the Government risks losing a generation to low skills and high unemployment.
“If jobs aren't available on graduation, things like overdrafts and commercial loans become incredibly toxic.”
But David Willetts, the Universities Minister, insisted a degree was still "financially as well as intellectually rewarding".
"In the future, we want universities to become even more responsive to their students," he said. "That is why we are improving the information available on different courses, strengthening the links between employers and universities and putting a new focus on student entrepreneurs."
Hesa obtained data from 46,065 UK students and 3,000 Europeans who finished university courses in 2007.
Of those, just 72.3 per cent of UK graduates were in full-time paid work after three and a half years. This compares with 76.1 per cent who left university in 2005 when the survey was last carried out.
Some 3.5 per cent of students were unemployed, compared with 2.6 per cent of the 2005 cohort.
More than one-in-20 students who went to a university afiliated to Million Plus – which represents new universities – was unemployed after three and a half years. This compares with 2.5 per cent of those who attended a Russell Group institution.
And students taking courses in creative arts, computer science and architecture were most likely to be unemployed, it was revealed.
According to figures, remaining graduates were either in part-time jobs, working as volunteers or taking another university course.
Some 6.5 per cent of graduates were in further study, compared with 5.5 per cent two years earlier, suggesting more students are returning to university to insulate themselves from the tough unemployment market.
Commenting on the figures, Roderick Wilkes, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, said: “Underpinning the figures is the suggestion that you can’t educate out of an employment slump: students are returning to university for further study, yet this is not reflected in graduate employment figures.
"Coupled with the fact that from 2012, a year at university will cost more than the average graduate salary, professional qualifications are an alternative way to give young people a foot onto the career ladder, where they can earn while they learn.
"That is not to say university is redundant, quite the opposite, but the current system is failing thousands of young people and for them, we need to look at a new way.” 

Article from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/8735277/Quarter-of-graduates-without-full-time-jobs-after-three-years.html

Why distance-learning MBAs matter

DISTANCE-learning business education is a resounding success story. In America, specialist universities, such as the University of Phoenix, have hundreds of thousands of postgraduate business students enrolled. In India the total is probably in the millions. If, perhaps, the very top tier of universities are yet to offer distance programmes, still some very notable ones do: Carnegie Mellon or Thunderbird in America, Warwick or IE in Europe, for example.

Yet students who take their MBAs at a distance can find themselves railing against some intense snobbery. Full-time counterparts often decry that the only way to take the degree is to immerse oneself in the experience—to take time out from one’s career to contemplate.

Perhaps, in an ideal world. But many people don’t find themselves in the happy position to be able to take such an expensive sabbatical. Distance-learning programmes fall into two distinct camps, both of them laudable. The first might be labelled “democratic” (see article). These are programmes that are open to all, regardless of geographic location, previous work experience or, because they are often cheap, ability to pay. It is easy for an MBA at a prestigious institution to sneer, but there is nothing to say that business education should be the bastion of the elite. Of course, there will always be a demand for Harvard MBAs in the boardrooms of McKinsey or Barclays. But business education is fundamentally about personal betterment. And that is something to which everyone should be able to aspire.

Nevertheless, such programmes can be thought of as a distinct branch of distance learning, and are not intended to be the focus of this report. It is the second type of programme that we are concentrating on here; those that are somewhat less democratic. Programmes that apply stricter entrance criteria and are offered by more traditional universities. Where students are expected to have good first degrees and significant work experience. And where the degree they receive will be of an equal standing to the full-time variety. Students might choose such a programme because they are in a part of the world which lacks high-quality schools, and it is the only option available to get a good degree. Or they may just prefer the idea of working at the time that suits them best.

Students on these programmes are less likely to change careers than their full-time equivalents. But they would expect to rise up within their own company. Indeed, many students will be sponsored by their current employers with just this is mind. And it is here that we see one of the most important benefits. Rather than squirreling themselves away in academic isolation, distance-learning students can apply what they learn on their programmes the very next morning in the workplace, making it the most practical way to study.

Distance learning isn’t for everyone. It is very difficult to juggle work, family and study. Students need plenty of self-discipline. Choosing a school means considering more than a school’s reputation: does the school keep you engaged? Is the technology effective? Does it offer value for money? Hopefully this report will go some way to helping answer those questions.

Article from: http://www.economist.com/node/15573278

Think different

Clay Christensen lays down some rules for innovators. But can innovation be learned?

INNOVATION is today’s equivalent of the Holy Grail. Rich-world governments see it as a way of staving off stagnation. Poor governments see it as a way of speeding up growth. And businesspeople everywhere see it as the key to survival.

Which makes Clay Christensen the closest thing we have to Sir Galahad. Fourteen years ago Mr Christensen, a knight of the Harvard Business School, revolutionised the study of the subject with “The Innovator’s Dilemma”, a book that popularised the term “disruptive innovation”. This month he publishes a new study, “The Innovator’s DNA”, co-written with Jeff Dyer and Hal Gregersen, which tries to take us inside the minds of successful innovators. How do they go about their business? How do they differ from regular suits? And what can companies learn from their mental habits?

Mr Christensen and his colleagues list five habits of mind that characterise disruptive innovators: associating, questioning, observing, networking and experimenting. Innovators excel at connecting seemingly unconnected things. Marc Benioff got the idea for Salesforce.com by looking at enterprise software through the prism of online businesses such as Amazon and eBay. Why were software companies flogging cumbersome products in the form of CD-ROMs rather than as flexible services over the internet? Salesforce.com is now worth $19 billion.

These creative associations often come from broadening your experience. Mr Benioff had his lucrative epiphany while on sabbatical—swimming with dolphins, he says. Joe Morton, co-founder of XANGO, got the idea for a new health drink when he tasted mangosteen fruit in Malaysia. Mr Christensen and co reckon that businesspeople are 35% more likely to sprout a new idea if they have lived in a foreign country (a rather precise statistic). But this is not a recipe for just hanging loose: IDEO, an innovation consultancy, argues that the best innovators are “T-shaped”—they need to have depth in one area as well as breadth in lots.

Innovators are constantly asking why things aren’t done differently. William Hunter, the founder of Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, asked doctors why they didn’t cover the stents they use in heart operations with drugs to reduce the amount of scar tissue (which accounts for 20% of rejections). David Neeleman, the founder of JetBlue and Azul, wondered why people treated airline tickets like cash, freaking out when they lose them, whereas customers could instead be given an electronic code?

This taste for questions is linked to a talent for observation. Corey Wride came up with the idea for Movie Mouth, a company that uses popular films to teach foreign languages, when he was working in Brazil. He noticed that the best English speakers had picked it up from film stars, not school teachers. But people without a flair for languages find the “Brad Pitt” method tricky—actors speak too fast. So Mr Wride invented a computer program that allows users to slow films down, hear explanations of various idioms and even speak the actors’ lines for them.

For all their reputation as misfits, innovators tend to be great networkers. But they hang around gabfests to pick up ideas, not to win contracts. Michael Lazaridis, the founder of Research in Motion, says he had the idea for the BlackBerry at a trade show, when someone told him how Coca-Cola machines used wireless technology to signal that they needed refilling. Kent Bowen has turned CPS Technologies into one of the world’s fizziest ceramics companies by encouraging his employees to network with scientists who are confronted with similar problems in different fields: for example, the company eliminated troublesome ice crystals by talking to experts on freezing sperm (really).

Innovators are also inveterate experimenters, who fiddle with both their products and their business models. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, now sells e-readers and rents out computer power and data storage (by one estimate a quarter of small and medium-sized companies in Silicon Valley use the company’s cloud). These experiments are frequently serendipitous. IKEA never planned to base its business on self-assembly. But then a marketing manager discovered that the best way to get some furniture back into a lorry, after a photo-shoot, was to take its legs off, and a new business model was born.

Listen to mommy

Messrs Christensen, Dyer and Gregersen argue that companies that have the highest “innovation premiums” (calculated by looking at the proportion of their market value that cannot be accounted for by their current products) display the same five habits of mind as individual innovators. They work hard to recruit creative people. (Mr Bezos asks job applicants to tell him about something they have invented.) They work equally hard at stimulating observation and questioning. Keyence Corporation, a Japanese maker of automation devices for factories, requires its salespeople to spend hours watching its customers’ production lines. Procter & Gamble and Google have found that job swaps provoke useful questions: the Googlers were stunned that P&G did not invite “mommy bloggers”—women who write popular blogs on child-rearing—to attend its press conferences.

For all their insistence that innovation can be learned, Mr Christensen and co produce a lot of evidence that the disruptive sort requires genius. Nearly all the world’s most innovative companies are run by megaminds who set themselves hubristic goals such as “putting a ding in the universe” (Steve Jobs). During Mr Jobs’s first tenure at Apple, the company’s innovation premium was 37%. In 1985-98, when Mr Jobs was elsewhere, the premium fell to minus 30%. Now that Mr Jobs is back, the premium has risen to 52%. The innovator’s DNA is rare, alas. And unlike Mr Jobs’s products, it is impossible to clone.

Article on: http://www.economist.com/node/21525350

MBA diary: Was it worth it?

Daianna Karaian, an alumna of the Kellogg School of Management, reveals how much of her MBA she still finds useful a year after graduation  

THESE days, questioning the value of a business degree is one of the few growth industries. The Economist itself indulges in the practice from time to time. Is two years out of the job market and tens of thousands of dollars in tuition a wise investment? A year ago, as a newly-minted—and unemployed—MBA, I was sceptical. 

With a background in sustainability and marketing gained from non-profits, government and small business, I went to business school to discover unexplored territory: the MBA would be my bridge into big business. I regularly pulled all-nighters poring over finance and accounting textbooks, poking into the darkest corners of Excel, and solemnly applying Little’s Law to eliminate hypothetical bottlenecks in imaginary factories. Within six months I felt I had learned what would have otherwise taken many years.

That is not to say I fancied myself the smartest person in the room. On the contrary, ten minutes into my first class, discussing my first strategy case, I volunteered a solution that proved wrong—terribly, spectacularly wrong. I marvelled at how insightful and articulate my classmates were, and how interesting—the Navy veteran back from Iraq, the TV comedy show writer, the Washington insider. 

Later, I would marvel again: at the difficulty of finding a job amid an economic crisis. While I was polishing my CV, Lehman Brothers collapsed. While I was interviewing for a summer internship, European economies teetered. While I was graduating, there was talk of a double-dip recession. 

Despite assurances from cheery career counsellors that I was doing the right things—tapping into my network, doing company projects for course credit, building my profile online—I was getting the wrong results. After decades of academic and professional achievement, I faced repeated, discouraging rejection. 

“We’re under a strict hiring freeze.” “We decided not to fill this position after all.” The bemusing “It’s because you’re not perfect”. And worst of all, silence. Finally, after six months of searching, researching and re-searching, I got two offers on the same day. I accepted a marketing role at EDF Energy, the UK subsidiary of a leading nuclear energy company. 

It’s a good thing I chose the world’s top marketing school for my degree. And not just because I am helping to build trust in nuclear energy in the wake of Fukushima, or marketing a French brand to a British audience. I am also attempting to educate customers about the benefits of low-carbon electricity. My brand strategy, advertising and crisis management course notes are now dog-eared. 

Beyond a broad understanding of what makes organisations tick, business school gave me the time and space to indulge my interest in marketing sustainable products and brands. There were no courses on the topic, and career services had never heard of such roles. But the independent study, extracurricular projects and networking opportunities made possible by an MBA gave me the knowledge and experience I needed. 

I went to business school with a clear sense of what I should do. I left with a stubborn determination to pursue what I wanted to do. For me, the MBA wasn’t just about landing a plum job and jumping up the corporate ladder. The investment—in time and money—would be worthwhile only if it helped me do something I believed in. The difficulty I faced in finding employment—not just any job, but the right job in my desired field—taught me resilience, patience and persistence. It gave me a stronger awareness of my strengths, weaknesses and motivations. These were more important lessons than anything I learned in the classroom.  In the end, I passed up a highly-paid position at one of the world’s biggest technology companies for a more engaging, albeit less lucrative, challenge at EDF Energy.

So was it worth it? It will be a few more years before I can confidently answer that question. An MBA is probably like a fine wine that becomes more valuable with age. (And there is always a small risk you’ll find that your expensive bottle is corked.) What I can safely say a year after graduating is that I have no regrets.

Article from: http://www.economist.com/whichmba/mba-diary-was-it-worth-it

Join the European Student Think Tank

The European Student Think Tank network is currently listing a few vacant positions. More details below:

Call for: Press & Promotions Officer (executive board members)

Are you a European stu­dent, inter­ested in European news and policy-making and would you like to con­trib­ute to a estab­lished youth organ­iz­a­tion as an exec­ut­ive board mem­ber respons­ible for the pro­mo­tion of the organ­iz­a­tion and its activities on the one hand and con­struc­tion of a press net­work on the other?

Call for: Fundraising Officers (executive board members)

The European Stu­dent Think Tank is looking for two Fun­drais­ing Officers Are you a European stu­dent, interested in European news and policy-making and would you like to con­trib­ute to a freshly estab­lished youth organ­iz­a­tion as an exec­ut­ive board mem­ber responsible for fun­drais­ing for the EST organ­iz­a­tion and all its activities?

Call for: Freelance bloggers

Do you want to make a valu­able con­tri­bution to our web­site but do you lack the time to write blogs reg­u­larly? EST offers you the pos­sib­il­ity to hand in art­icles on a freel­ance basis. You have a lot of free­dom to organ­ize the con­tent of your writ­ing, as long as your topic relates to EU-policy.

You can send your art­icle to the web-editor christopher@studentthinktank.eu . It is advis­able that you consult with me whether your topic of choice is in order (not already taken by someone else, for example). This way, it is more likely your blog will be published.

Application

For more information and applications, please visit studentthinktank.eu.

Top companies hiring in September

CareerBuilder.co.uk

Many people may not even have noticed that an employment recovery was happening in the UK. Now it is set to slow again sharply, according to the latest Labour Market Outlook survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and KPMG. On average, growth in hiring intentions have been reported throughout the past year, but a more sombre outlook is now being driven by a fall in confidence among private sector employers, particularly in manufacturing. 

Job growth only in the private sectorFigures for the three-month index show that the private sector will grow, but at a less solid pace than the previous quarter. The fall in confidence is particularly marked in the manufacturing sector. Confidence in the public sector remains at the same negative level as last quarter.
Regional differences are just as stark as those between the employment sectors, with survey findings pointing to a further widening of the north-south divide. According to a survey by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), job growth has been mainly concentrated in London. The East of England and the East Midlands has also a high number of people in work, while the North East, the West Midlands and the South West have the widest jobs gaps.
These companies are now hiring throughout the UK:

RackspaceRackspace® Hosting is the World's leader in Hosting and Cloud Computing.  Since 2001 Rackspace has been hosting and supporting mission critical websites, internet applications, email servers, security and storage services for 6,000 customers.
Available positions: Are you interested in becoming a "Racker"? Rackspace is hiring mostly in London in the areas of IT, Sales, HR, Finance or Tech Support. 

Hilton WorldwideHilton Worldwide is a leading global hospitality company, with over 3,000 hotels totaling over 500,000 hotel rooms in 80 countries and territories. The company already has over 100,000 team members worldwide who have access to a wide range of benefits, training and development support.
Available positions: Hilton has a variety of opportunities whether you are a seasoned professional or just starting out in this industry, e.g. in the areas of catering, hospitality, senior management or customer service.

HomebaseHomebase is the UK's second largest home improvement retailer and is recognised for choice, style and customer service across the wider home enhancement market. It has more than 300 large, out-of-town stores throughout the UK and Republic of Ireland, and is planning to add to its store chain with around 15 new stores a year.
Available positions: Homebase is hiring Sales Consultants, Merchandisers, Buyers and more for their Milton Keynes head offices and in other locations.

ArgosArgos is a multi-channel retailer selling general merchandise and products for the home from over 700 stores throughout the UK and Republic of Ireland, online and over the telephone. Over 130 million customers a year are served through Argos stores and 26% of sales are taken through the internet channel alone. Argos employs some 33,000 people across the business.
Available positions: Argos is hiring new staff for their stores, head office, call centres, in distribution, customer service, retail management, buying, merchandising, marketing, ecommerce or commercial finance.

TragusFormed in 2002, Tragus is one of the UK's largest independently owned restaurant operators with over 285 sites across the country serving over 21 million meals a year. The portfolio of leading brands are operated as four divisions -- Café Rouge, Strada, Bella Italia, and the Brasseries -- with offerings ranging from pizza and pasta to French classics.
Available positions: Tragus is hiring Head Chefs, Sous Chefs, Assistant Managers and Managers for their four divisions across the UK.

UPSUPS, or United Parcel Service Inc., is the largest express carrier and package delivery company in the world. Every day UPS manages the flow of goods, funds and information in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.
Available positions: UPS is hiring Multi Drop Drivers and in addition has openings Marketing, HR and Sales.

Flame HealthFlame Health provide professional specialised recruitment solutions within the Optometry, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Private Healthcare and Healthcare Sales sectors. Created as an antidote to the traditional recruitment agency approach, Flame Health has become a pioneering global resource consultancy with a firm emphasis on consultancy and quality.
Available positions: Whether you are newly qualified or a senior professional, Flame Health has the expertise and client base to ensure that your next position is right for your career development. As a consultancy Flame Health provides an informative, effective and confidential service to all candidates.

Caffè NeroCaffè Nero has over 400 stores, nearly 3,000 employees, and has become one of the best recognised and most admired food and beverage brands in all of Britain. The company is currently opening new stores every year, providing career opportunities for new and existing team members.
Available positions: Caffè Nero currently has openings in various UK locations, mostly for Managers in Training and Assistant Managers.

16th September - Open days at University of Oxford

More information on: http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/open_days/index.html

Come to an open day and find out for yourself what Oxford is really like. Open days offer the best opportunity to visit the University, visit departments and colleges and meet tutors and students as well have a look around the city. The next main open day will be held on Friday 16 September, details of which are listed below. 

In order to attend this day, you need to fill out our online Open day registration form.  By registering you will help us know how many people will be attending and we will be able to contact you with any important updates including a link to our Open Days Guide when it becomes available.  Please note that this is NOT a booking form. Some college and department events ALSO require advanced booking. For all information on whether you need to book and how to go about this, please scroll down and see the links below. There is no central booking system for our open days.

Accommodation is available at some colleges for their visitors coming a significant distance. If you do decide to book in advance for a particular college's own programme of events and would like accommodation, please check availability when you make your booking.

In order to make sure as many visitors as possible can enjoy this opportunity, please do not book in advance with more than one college. If you do decide you wish to visit other colleges as well, you can do this on a drop-in basis. However, please note you may not be able to attend all the events being offered by these other colleges during the day. Some events at each college may be only for those who have chosen to book in advance with that particular college. Please follow the links detailed below for further information on how to book.

 Visiting at other times

If you are unable to make the main open day, you are still welcome to visit at any time. If you have particular questions about a college or department, you might like to contact them before you visit, as it’s not always possible to arrange personal meetings, especially during term-time. Most colleges are open throughout the year, at least for potential applicants to walk around the grounds. We recommend that you start your visit at the Admissions Information Centre where we can advise you on how to get the most out of your visit.

You may also like to find out more by downloading our audio admissions tours, listening to our admissions podcasts, or by visiting the University of Oxford on iTunesU.

16 September 2011

Subject events		College events
Archaeology & AnthropologyNo need to book. For further details please see the Archaeology and Anthropology website. Biochemistry No need to book. For further details please see the Biochemistry website. Biological Sciences No need to book. For further details please see the Biological Sciences website. Biomedical Sciences No need to book. For further details please see the Biomedical Sciences website. Classical Archaeology & Ancient History For further details please contact the Faculty of Classics. Classics For further details please contact the Faculty of Classics. Classics & English For further details please contact the Faculty of Classics or see the English Language & Literature website. Classics & Modern Languages For further details please contact the Faculty of Classics or see the Modern Languages website. Classics & Oriental Studies For further details please contact the Faculty of Classics or the Oriental Institute. Chemistry No need to book. For further details please see the Chemistry website. Computer Science No need to book. For further details please see the Computer Science website. Computer Science & Philosophy No need to book. For further details please see the Computer Science website. Earth Sciences (Geology) No need to book. For further details please see the Earth Sciences website. Economics & Management No need to book. For further details please contact the Department of Economics. Engineering Science No need to book. For further details please see the Engineering Science website. Engineering, Economics & Management No need to book. For further details please see the Engineering Science website. English Language & Literature No need to book. For further details please see the English Language & Literature website. English & Modern Languages For further details please see the English Language & Literature or Modern Languages websites. European & Middle Eastern Languages For further details please see the Modern Languages website or contact the Oriental Institute. Experimental Psychology No need to book. For further details please see the Experimental Psychology website. Fine Art No need to book. For further details please see the Fine Art website. Geography No need to book. For further details please see the Geography website. History The History Faculty will be open to visitors from 2pm with no need to book. For further details please contact the Faculty of History. History (Ancient & Modern) For further details please contact the Faculty of History or the Faculty of Classics. History & Economics For further details please contact the Faculty of History or the Department of Economics. History & English For further details please contact the Faculty of History or see the English Language & Literature website. History & Modern Languages For further details please contact the Faculty of History or see the Modern Languages website. History & Politics For further details please contact the Faculty of History. History of Art Booking is required. Please contact the Department of History of Art.  Human Sciences No need to book. For further details please see the Human Sciences website. Law No need to book. For further details please see the Law website. Materials Science No need to book. For further details please see the Materials Science website. Materials, Economics & Management No need to book. For further details please see the Materials Science website. Mathematics No need to book. For further details please see the Mathematics website. Mathematics & Computer Science No need to book. For further details please see the Mathematics or Computer Science website. Mathematics & Philosophy No need to book. For further details please see the Mathematics website. Mathematics & Statistics No need to book. For further details please see the Mathematics website. Medicine No need to book. For more information please email the Medical School or visit the Medicine website. Modern Languages Booking is required. For further details please see the Modern Languages website. Modern Languages & Linguistics Booking is required. For further details please see the Modern Languages website. Music No need to book. For further details please see the Music website. Philosophy & Modern Languages Booking is required. For further details please see the Modern Languages website. Phiosophy. Politics & Economics (PPE) No need to book. For further details please see the PPE website. Philosophy & Theology No need to book. For further details please see the Theology website. Physics No need to book. For further details please see the Physics website. Physics & Philosophy For further details please see the Physics website. Psychology & Philosophy No need to book. For further details please see the Experimental Psychology website. Theology Booking required. For further details please see the Theology website. Theology & Oriental Studies For further details please see the Theology website or contact the Oriental Institute.		BalliolFree lunch (booking required); limited accommodation for candidates who have far to travel (dinner, bed and breakfast £20). You are welcome to attend open days without booking, and join the subject talks that interest you. Attendance of some sessions, accommodation and any dietary requirements must be booked in advance. For further details please see the college website. Blackfriars No need to book. Brasenose Informal open day with no need to book, just drop in. Opening times 10am-5pm. Refreshments available, but no meals. No accommodation available. For further details, including tutor availability, please see the college website. Christ ChurchFormal talks in the morning (booking required through admissions@chch.ox.ac.uk); college tours all day from 10am to 4.30pm  with current undergraduates from all subject disciplines (no booking required; please come to the main gate under Tom Tower). No accommodation available. For further details please see the college website. Corpus ChristiBook in advance to attend; 8 students per school/college only (4 only if staying overnight); free lunch and refreshments; limited accommodation available free of charge. For further details please see the college website. ExeterBook in advance to attend; 10 students per school/college only; limited accommodation available. For further details please see the college website. Harris ManchesterBook in advance to attend; free lunch and refreshments; no accommodation available. For further details please see the college website. HertfordBook in advance to attend; free lunch and refreshments; no accommodation available. For further details please see the college website. Jesus College Drop-in day, no need to book; refreshments available; no meals or accommodation. For further details please see the college website. Keble Book in advance via the college website to attend the full programme; 6 students only per school/college; free lunch for booked-in visitors; limited accommodation (with dinner and breakfast) available free of charge; drop-in visitors also welcome. Lady Margaret Hall Talks, tours, lunch, and an opportunity to meet with Tutors.  Please book via the form on the college website. Limited accommodation may be available. LincolnBook in advance via the college website to attend; 6 students per school/college only; free lunch; limited accommodation and dinner available free of charge.   Mansfield Book in advance via the college website to attend; 6 students only per school/college; free lunch and refreshments; limited accommodation (with breakfast) available free of charge.  MertonBook in advance via the college website to attend; five students per school/college only; free lunch; limited accommodation and dinner available free of charge.  New CollegeBook in advance via the College website; no lunch or accommodation. OrielNo need to book. For further details please see the college website. PembrokeFree lunch for students who have booked in advance. No accommodation available. Drop-in visitors also welcome. For further details please see the college website. Regent's Park 10am-4pm; there are free refreshments and no need to book. No accommodation available. If requested in advance lunch may be available. For further details please see the college website.   St Anne'sBook in advance for the morning programme of talks and the chance to meet subject tutors via the college website to attend; 6–8 students per school/college only; free lunch. No accommodation available. Afternoon drop in visitors welcome 1.30-5pm for tours and the chance to chat to current students and admissions staff (no booking required). St Benet's HallNo need to book. St Catherine's Book in advance to attend (see the college website); free lunch and refreshments; limited accommodation available (email: admissions@stcatz.ox.ac.uk). St Edmund Hall Book in advance via the college website to attend; 7 students per school/college only; free lunch. St Hilda's Advanced booking is required. 6 students per school/college only; free lunch; limited accommodation available free of charge. For further details please see the college website. St Hugh's Book in advance to attend; free lunch; no accommodation available. For further details please see the college website. St John's Book in advance to attend; up to 100 people; free lunch; limited accommodation available free of charge for those coming over 70 miles. For further details please see the college website. St Peter's Teas with Tutors, 3–5pm; free refreshments served 3–5pm; no lunch or accommodation. The college is also open from 10-5 for tours with current undergraduate students. There is no need to book. For further details please see the college website. Somerville Book in advance via the college website to attend; talks, tours, lunch/tea, an opportunity to meet with Tutors and Parent/Teacher/Carer sessions. Limited accommodation including breakfast available at a modest charge. Drop in visitors welcome 9am to 4.30pm. Please see our website for full programme of events. Trinity Book in advance (please email admissions@trinity.ox.ac.uk) to attend; 6 students per school/college only; free lunch and refreshments; limited free accommodation available to those travelling from a distance. For further details please see the college website. University College Book in advance to attend; 7 students per school/college only, teachers welcome; free lunch and refreshments; limited free accommodation available. For further details please see the college website. Wadham Formal talks in the morning (booking required through the college's website); college tours in the afternoon (no booking required). No accommodation available. For further details of the programme please see the college website. WorcesterBook in advance to attend; six students per school/college only; free lunch; limited accommodation available at a modest charge for those travelling long distances. For further details please see the college website.