Brookes Engage

About Brookes Engage

Brookes Engage is an exciting programme of free activities and events designed to help you learn more about university, and prepare for your future career.

Besides having lots of fun and making some new friends, you'll gain a lot of skills which will really help to give you the leading edge when it comes to applying for university and for jobs.

“I loved the experience and it definitely helped me with stepping into uni life. I did actually get accepted into my firm choice of uni, I can’t stop smiling!”

Brookes Engage graduate, 2020

Subjects streams for January 2022 - July 2023

Business, Marketing and Economics

This stream will give you an academic insight into the topics taught on Business related courses at university. Key concepts and theories will be introduced, and you'll have the chance to apply these in a practical setting by participating in our 'Lions Lair' Business proposal project.

The stream will build on the knowledge and skills you may have previously gained through A Level Business Studies or Economics, or BTEC Level 3 Business or Travel and Tourism. It is also open to you as an introduction to Business, if you haven’t studied it before!

Healthcare and Nutrition

If you’re interested in working in health-related industries, a key skill will be your ability to work as part of a large team, with staff specialised in lots of different areas, to ensure you’re working with and treating patients in the best possible way. Therefore, this Healthcare stream including; Allied Health, Nursing and Nutrition will bring together several departments and their academics for you to really understand how these multidisciplinary teams work in practice.

You will explore how physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nurses and nutritionists work with theoretical patients, seeing them through their recovery and back to full health. This subject stream will give you an insight into different health professions, and the routes into them. You will develop your analytical, communication and reflective skills in the context of current issues affecting the NHS and healthcare industry, all whilst establishing your clinical lab skills and helping to get the patient back to living a healthy life!

Identity and Difference

Gender identity, ethnic and racial identity, political and national identity; How do we define ourselves and others and what impacts does this have on the way we live and think? This subject stream will develop your understanding of these key themes considered through the lens of Law, Politics, Education and English.

Bringing together a range of disciplines builds the critical and creative thinking skills vital for success in the world of work whilst offering opportunities for enquiring investigation into the world around us and our relationship to culture, society and power.

Home and Belonging

Where we live and where we feel safe are an important part of being human. Human beings need feelings of community and attachment but how this is expressed and what it means for people varies significantly from place to place but is vital to our identities. This subject stream explores what home and belonging mean to people at different times and in different places considered through the lens of Anthropology, History, Philosophy, and Communication, Media, and Culture.

Engineering, Computer Science and Robotics

Focusing on three different areas Engineering, Computer Science and Robotics you will have the opportunity to experience what it is like to study those subjects, exploring our car lab where you will have a go on our car simulator, delving into exciting areas of computer science including software and meeting our robots in Brookes' very own robotics lab.

What is Brookes Engage?

Brookes Engage is an 18 month long programme of regular activities and events designed to support you to make a successful transition to university and the world of work by giving you experiences and skills that will be beneficial to both.

Between January 2022 - July 2023, Brookes Engage is running the pathways in the following subject areas:

Business, Marketing and Economics
Healthcare
Identity and Difference
Home and Belonging
Engineering, Computer Science and Robotics

During the programme, you'll take part in sessions led by our academic staff focusing on your chosen subject stream, alongside information, advice and guidance sessions led by our outreach team including topics such as interview skills, study skills and goal setting. You'll also have the chance to meet current Brookes students and alumni, including the opportunity to take part in 1:1 virtual mentoring with one of our friendly student ambassadors. Sessions take place on campus, with the cost of transport to campus covered.

Students taking part in Brookes Engage are guaranteed a place on one of our Discover Brookes summer schools should they wish to apply, and those who successfully complete the programme will also be rewarded with a contextual offer (an offer with lower grade requirements than would usually be made), and a £1,000 scholarship in their first year of study if they decide to apply for a full-time course at Oxford Brookes.

How long is it?

Brookes Engage will run from January 2022 – July 2023. Dates will depend on the subject pathway chosen.

Sessions will take place roughly once a month, in the evenings after the sixth form/college day has ended. In addition to these monthly sessions, there may be occasional events in the day, which are optional to attend.

What are the benefits?

The Brookes Engage programme will help you work out what it is you want to do and what you need to do to get there. You will spend time in an academic environment improving your confidence and your ability to learn, and you will take part in a range of extra-curricular activities. This will be really beneficial for your future university and work applications - Brookes Engage will be a great thing to write about in your personal statement, as it shows your commitment to learn more beyond sixth form or college. You will also make friends and have fun!

Students taking part in Brookes Engage are guaranteed a place on one of our Oxford Brookes Summer Schools should they wish to apply, and those who successfully complete the programme will also be rewarded with a contextual offer (an offer with lower grade requirements than would usually be made), and a £1,000 scholarship in their first year of study if they decide to apply for a full-time course at Oxford Brookes.

Who can apply?

To be eligible to apply for Brookes Engage, you must meet all of the following criteria:

Be in the first year of a two-year Level 3 qualification (e.g. A Levels, BTEC, or equivalent)
Be studying at a non-selective state school or college in Oxfordshire
Have 5 GCSEs A*-C/ 4-9, including English and Maths (or expect to have 5 GCSEs including English and Maths by July 2023)
Have the potential to achieve 3 Cs in your A Levels / DMM in your BTEC (or equivalent)

To be eligible to apply for Brookes Engage, you also need to meet at least one of the following criteria:

Currently eligible for free school meals
Currently live in local authority care, or have lived in care
Are a young carer (are under 18 and help to look after a relative with a disability, illness, mental health condition, or drug or alcohol problem)
Have a disability, mental health condition, or specific learning difficulty
Are of black or minority ethnic origin
Have official refugee status in the UK, or are an asylum seeker
Are from a traveller family
Have at least one parent/carer who has served in the armed forces at any time within the past six years
Are irreconcilably estranged from both birth parents
Live in an area where progression to university is low. To find out whether this applies, please visit www.officeforstudents.org.uk/data-and-analysis/postcode-search/. Instructions on how to use: Type your postcode in the search box. Check the box marked ‘MSOA (used to calculate POLAR4 and TUNDRA)’. Look at the box on the right hand side of the map under the ‘POLAR4’ measure. If the number here is Quintile 1 or 2, you are eligible.
Live in an area of higher socio-economic disadvantage. To find out whether this applies, please visit http://imd-by-postcode.opendatacommunities.org/imd/2019. Instructions on how to use: Type your postcode into the search box. Download the Excel spreadsheet generated. If the number in the column labelled ‘Index of Multiple Deprivation Decile’ is 1-4, you are eligible.