BBCGirls from an Islamic school in Bradford are taking part in a scheme to encourage more pupils from under-represented backgrounds to apply to the University of Oxford.
The world-leading university sent its director of undergraduate admissions and outreach to Feversham Girls’ Academy in Undercliffe to launch the BeUNIQ programme in the city.
Samina Khan MBE met teenagers from Bangladeshi and Pakistani heritage families who are being targeted by the scheme.
State school pupils selected for BeUNIQ start working with the admissions team at the age of 14, and once they are studying for A Levels they are invited to a residential summer school at Oxford.
South Asian students were the first group chosen to join the programme.
Ms Khan said: “There are a number of communities that are under-represented at Oxford in our undergraduate student body.
“Our first roll-out of BeUNIQ is trying to attract students of Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage, so this is why we’ve come to Bradford.
“BeUNIQ starts with students who are in Year 10. We hope to work with them in Year 11 as well.”
Feversham Girls’ Academy is a Muslim faith school with 800 pupils and has an Outstanding rating from Ofsted.
The outreach workers will focus on topics such as student finance, and provide information about the university’s bursary schemes for families who see the cost of higher education and distance from home as barriers to entry.
Members of Oxford’s Islamic Society also visited the school.
Academy principal Sajida Muneer said: “It’s something that I think as a school we’ve looked at for several years now; at how we can get more students to engage with universities like Oxford?
“This fitted perfectly with the work that we were currently doing and it seemed to be the next step for us.”
The academy is run by iExcel Education Trust.
Ms Muneer said faith was an important factor for the girls when deciding which universities to attend.
She added: “For the girls who come here their Islamic ethos, their faith, is very important to them and they do want to continue that wherever they go.
“We’ve already had students come in from the Islamic Society from the University of Oxford, they’ve spoken to our students and spoken about the opportunities there.
“I think it’s yet another way of the students being able to see that if they go somewhere like the University of Oxford in no way, shape or form do they have to limit themselves in terms of their faith.”
The BeUNIQ team will offer the school a number of workshops, talks from current students, online academic support, information for parents, and debate sessions that challenge students to explore issues beyond the classroom. Visits to Oxford colleges are also arranged.