When Jessica Neate told her friends in Leicester that she was going to study at Oxford University, they didn’t believe her. “People thought I was not being serious about it, because I think people have a sort of expectation of a typical Oxford applicant or Oxford student, and they were just like, no you’re not. And I said: I am!” Neate hadn’t told her school friends that she was applying – “I didn’t even think I’d get an interview, so I didn’t want to say anything” – but this month she and 21 others are making history as students on Oxford’s first university-wide foundation year. While foundation years designed to improve access for students from disadvantaged backgrounds are commonplace at many universities, the Astrophoria programme is Oxford’s first, building on earlier pilot schemes. Eligibility for the Astrophoria scheme is restricted to students from non-selective state schools in the UK who received free school meals or lived in a deprived area and who meet an “individual experience” category of criteria that includes recent bereavement, medical problems, being a carer or having been homeless while in education. Those offered a foundation place need to achieve three Bs at A-levels, compared with the clutch of A*s usually required for Oxford’s undergraduates. The students get their tuition fees, travel and accommodation funded for the year, along with a £5,800 bursary. In return, the students attend lectures and tutorials and face three termly assessments of their work. Those who develop their academic skills will automatically given places as undergraduates the following year, while those who do not will be assisted with applications to other universities. Jo Begbie, the programme’s director, says the aim is to attract students whose circumstances mean they have been unable to fulfil their academic potential and get the grades that Oxford would normally consider. “We are trying to really target people who wouldn’t necessarily have thought about Oxford,” Begbie said, describing the scepticism that the programme had been met with. “There is a little bit of ‘what’s the catch?’. I did have one student who said to me: ‘Are you telling me that I could get into Oxford with BBB?’ And I said yes, I am telling you that.” Bassam al-Meshal is another of the students. Having done BTecs rather than A-levels at his school in Milton Keynes, he found that Oxford didn’t even list BTec grade requirements for the law course he was interested in. But while researching on the Ucas admissions website, Meshal said, “I thought I’d see what I would need to get in to Oxford, and I saw they had a foundation year. So I thought, why not just apply and see what happens?” Like many of the others, Meshal visited Oxford for the first time this month, with foundation-year students starting a week before other first years. “I didn’t have any ideas of what to expect because I hadn’t looked at any of the scenery or the colleges. So the first week for me was just a shock because every college is so beautiful,” he said. Nargis Ahmadi, from Leicester, said: “I thought Oxford was not very diverse, or that it wouldn’t really cater for me. I thought it would be a bit different. But once you come here, you realise that it’s not really like that. There’s a lot of people who come from similar backgrounds, and people who come from different backgrounds, and that’s not a bad thing.” Ahmadi said so far she had found Oxford’s tutorials a better environment for learning. “In the classroom, at least back home, it’s not a very effective way to learn, in some ways, because there’s so many people in the class that the teacher can’t focus on every single person. But in the tutorial system, I’ve found that you’re the focus there, so they can work on issues that you have, it’s specifically catered for you.” Prof Irene Tracey, the vice-chancellor of Oxford, who herself attended a comprehensive school, said the foundation year was an important milestone for the university in recruiting students from outside its usual pool. “Oxford always strives to attract the best talent, wherever it lies, and to be a place where students from the many backgrounds that reflect our diverse society feel they want to apply to,” she said. “We have done well in recent years but we want to continue to maintain this progress. So the Astrophoria foundation year is a key part of our efforts to support students who have significant academic potential, yet to be realised.” Lee Elliot Major, a professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, said: “Foundation years represent one of most promising social mobility vehicles we have at our disposal amid increasingly difficult circumstances for widening access efforts as competition for elite degree places intensifies. “This is one of the few approaches we know works: most foundation-year students progress to full degrees, performing as well as other students. I’ve seen this at first hand: the graduates are incredibly impressive. This is about identifying and nurturing talents from under-resourced backgrounds who would otherwise be missed.” Applications for the 2024-25 Astrophoria foundation year are open until 31 January 2024 at foundationyear.ox.ac.uk.