In partnership with the University’s Department of Economics, LMH have launched The Wayfinder Programme, to assess whether sustained contact with individual prospective students is a more effective model of outreach than the one currently pursued by many higher educational institutions.
LMH has always proudly led the way in our access work. As is the case in most other colleges, much of LMH’s outreach has centred on traditional one-off interactions with high potential students from schools in our link regions, designed to demystify Oxford and provide application support.
Vast effort, and indeed funding, is invested in this endeavour across the higher education sector, without significant empirical evidence to link input to outcome. Continuing our leadership in this sphere, LMH and the Department of Economics recently launched the Centre for Research on Outreach and Access (CROA). CROA is focused on advancing rigorous, data driven understanding of access to higher education and of how outreach initiatives and financial support can shape the lives of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Sparse research to date indicates that engaging with students over a sustained period could influence young people’s higher education pathways more successfully than traditional ‘one-off’ interventions.
Enabled by generous donor funding, LMH and CROA have recently completed trials as to the efficacy of online mentoring, and specifically whether it is possible to build rapport and trust between mentors and mentees entirely online. Twelve Year 10 students from link schools in Gloucestershire and Haringey were paired with LMH undergraduate mentors via an online mentoring platform, Brightside. It was observed that students returned to their sessions with growing confidence, while mentors described relationships that felt meaningful.
Reflecting on the programme’s impact, one teacher noted a clear change in a student’s outlook, “He mentioned to me how much he is enjoying the mentoring. It has actually changed his mind about going to university. He did not consider it before and now he is looking forward to it.”
These early indicators from the trial are being fed into the design of The Wayfinder Programme, which will launch later this year and seeks to further investigate the effectiveness of pursuing a targeted sustained contact programme. The Programme has been designed in conjunction with researchers from the Department of Economics through CROA. It aims to effectively support high-attaining students at the important decision-making stage of Key Stage 4, helping to build confidence, develop their familiarity with Oxford, and provide key information and guidance. A proportion of places will be reserved for those from the least advantaged backgrounds.
Programme participants will begin with a visit to LMH, before continuing their journey through a series of videos designed to maintain engagement and build understanding of studying at Oxford. The year-long programme will conclude with a celebratory event in College for students and their supporters.
One third of participants will also take part in online mentoring with an Oxford undergraduate student to investigate the impact of partnering current students with prospective students and providing sustained opportunities to reflect, ask questions, and build a meaningful relationship with a positive role model.
In the Programme’s first year, it will work with around eight schools and 40 50 students, with the aim of growing to over 100 students across approximately 20 schools in the subsequent two years.
CROA will monitor The Wayfinder Programme to assess whether it is having a real and positive impact. Results will feed into research output that seeks to provide evidence-based best practice for outreach interventions which could influence not only LMH’s approach to access, but the sector more broadly.
“I have had four sessions with my mentee so far, and they have been very enjoyable. Working with her to support her specific academic goals has been some of the most rewarding and invigorating outreach work I have done at LMH.
"She has told me that she has found the programme very useful, particularly the one-to-one sessions. She has mentioned that having these personalised sessions has improved both her revision tactics and, as a naturally shy person, her communication skills.
"I was drawn to participating in the sustained contact programme pilot because, in my two years as an LMH Student Ambassador, I have most enjoyed speaking with prospective students and hearing about their interests. So I was very excited by the opportunity to have sustained engagement with students and to support them in cultivating their passions over time.
"What stood out most for me was seeing my mentee grow in her confidence in voicing opinions and engaging in academic conversation. In earlier sessions she was hesitant to offer her thoughts, but by the time of our mock tutorial she was offering articulate answers to difficult psychological questions like “what is ‘normal’ for humans?” and was not afraid to respectfully challenge my own suggestions.
"Helping her strengthen her voice has been incredibly fulfilling.”
Anna Ramsden (2024, English Language and Literature)
This is an updated version of an article that first appeared in LMH News 2026. You can read the full issue on our publications page, and you can find out more about The Wayfinder Programme on its dedicated page.
