Subject Taster Days

Location: Francis Close Hall (FCH), Cheltenham – Directions to FCH

Students will immerse themselves in the world of criminal investigation with practical tasters in our ‘Crime House’. Complimentary lectures and workshops are also available in the following subjects:

• Psychology
• Criminology
• Policing
• Forensics
• Sociology
• Social Work

Location: Francis Close Hall (FCH), Cheltenham – Directions to FCH

Mix and match the following sessions to build a taster day on campus. Most sessions last 60-90 minutes.

• Solving Climate Change?*
• Integrating GIS into your Geography NEA
• Literature searching for your Geography NEA
• Ice Cores, Volcanics & Mud: the Science of Climate Change
• Responses to Refugee Challenges
• Crisis Gaming

*also suitable for pre-16 groups

Location: Oxstalls Campus, Gloucester – Directions to Oxstalls

Get hands-on experience in our state-of-the-art facilities, meet our expert teaching staff and explore what it is like studying on our programmes.

A day of taster sessions suited to your students’ interests, which can include (but not exclusive to) entrepreneurship, marketing, business management, accounting and finance, and tourism.

You will also get the chance to chat with our current students, and take a guided tour of our beautiful campus.

Location: Oxstalls Campus, Gloucester – Directions to Oxstalls

Marketing is more than glossy adverts and catchy slogans – at its heart, it’s about people. During this day, you will discover how understanding human behaviour, social trends and target audiences is essential for creating campaigns that inspire action.

Academics will help you explore how factors like culture, gender, and peer influence shape decisions and how marketers use these insights to promote products, tackle social challenges, and drive change.

You’ll also touch on the practical side of marketing: managing budgets, timelines, and projects. By the end, you will see how marketing isn’t just about selling, it’s about shaping ideas and influencing behaviour.

Location: Oxstalls Campus, Gloucester – Directions to Oxstalls

Join us for an immersive health and social care experience at University of Gloucestershire this autumn. Students will take part in three 45-minute workshops with our academic experts in subjects such as nursing, paramedic science, radiography, social work, physiotherapy and much more!

Please note, as a Health and Social Care Taster Day, some of the practical sessions will be medical in nature and may use simulation learning with manikins/models etc. Please ensure that your students are comfortable with this prior to attending.

The Truth is in the Telling: The power of the Historian

Duration: 1 Hour

Audience: Suitable for Years 9 and above

The aim of the session is to encourage students to become detectives of the past; conducting research, finding new interpretations and forming arguments based on the facts that they discover. We will also discuss the skills needed to become a historian, as well as the jobs available to you when you study History.  

The African American Experience in the 1930s

Duration: 1 Hour

Audience: Suitable for Years 11 and above

This session examines the different ways in which African Americans attempted to tackle the effects of the Great Depression and Jim Crow segregation.

What makes good writing?

Duration: 1 Hour
Audience: Suitable for Years 10 upwards

Supporting GCSE or A-Level cohorts for their English Language exams – or just as a taster of what studying Creative Writing at university entails – this workshop employs a mixture of group discussion and practical exercises to help students enhance their understanding and application of plot, character, setting, and other aspects of prose that mesh together to create a compelling story.

Be Me Write Free

Duration: 2 Hours
Audience: Suitable for Years 11 and above

This workshop provides a quiet, safe space where young people will be guided through different writing activities to explore thoughts and feelings about various aspects of their lives. There is no pressure on the sharing of the writing – this is at the discretion of the individual – although there will be reflective conversations after each session.  Suitable for those aged 11-18, but groups are limited to 15. Sessions will be tailored around the dynamics and needs of the group.

Should anyone tell us what we can and can’t write?

Duration: 1-2 hours
Audience: Suitable for Years 12 and 13 (or equivalent)

Why and how does censorship happen? Is there anything that should be ‘off-limits’ for writers and artists? Is it ethical to turn fact into fiction? Who does/should have the power to decide these things?

Through debate and discussion, this session tackles the increasingly pertinent and contentious issue of censorship, from the Ancient Greeks to ‘cancel culture’.

A workshop exploring ethical theory and/or effective persuasive writing can be delivered alongside, or as part of, this debate, to help boost not just students’ critical thinking skills but their construction of written arguments as well.

Poetry remix

Duration: 1 hour
Audience: Suitable for Year 10 upwards

Who said poetry had to be dull?! This workshop begins with students writing their own ‘string poem’, using sensory details to connect to some of their favourite (or least favourite!) places and memories. This serves as the lead-in to the main event: chopping and remixing words and lines from existing poems – such as Billy Collins’s ‘Introduction to Poetry’, or Joshua Seigal’s ‘I Don’t Like Poetry’ – to create their own piece.

These activities highlight some of the key features of the form – such as concrete detail, metaphor, anaphora, enjambement – and remember to have fun doing it!

Narrative and genre: analysing literature and discourse, past and present

Duration: 1 hour

Audience: Most suitable for Years 12 and 13 (or equivalent)

Aimed towards A-Level students (but can be delivered for GCSE classes too), this session unpicks the themes and tropes, literary and linguistic devices, author’s beliefs and the wider context in excerpts from a wide array of literature and genres, classic and contemporary.

The choice of genre(s), or even particular texts/excerpts, can be tailored to specific requests from schools/colleges. Examples of previous sessions include:

• the ‘woman question’ in 19th- and 21st-century literature
• intersections between photography and fiction
• econarratives and the search for new stories to live by
• contemporary dystopian novels
• history and evolution of travel writing, from The Odyssey to The Salt Path
• genre-specific settings and styles

AI: Computer intelligence or human greed?

Duration: 1 Hour

Audience: Suitable for Years 11 and above

We will be exploring the ways in which Artificial Intelligence (AI) is shaping our lives and raising complex philosophical, ethical, social and political questions.

The Climate Crisis and Ethics

Duration: 1 Hour

Audience: Suitable for Years 11 and above

The Climate crisis is one of the most urgent issues facing humanity. This session will ask what are the moral and political questions raised by climate change?

Portfolio Session

Duration: 1 Hour

Audience: Suitable for Years 11 and above

This session will support students to compile a professional portfolio that showcases their technical skills and creativity, with helpful hints and tips about exactly what universities are looking for. This is perfect for students looking to study Fine Art, Design, Photography, Architecture, or any other creative degree, at University.

Artist Talks

Duration: 1 Hour

Audience: Suitable for Years 11 and above

Curious about how ideas become artwork? In this session, students will gain a valuable insight into the experiences of professional artist and learn more about creative education pathways. 

Audition Prep Sessions

Duration: 1 Hour

Audience: Suitable for Years 11 and above

This session will provide advice and guidance to any students considering studying Dance, Drama, or Performing Arts at University. Our academics will share their top tips about how to successfully prepare for auditions and stand out from the crowd.