Masterclasses in Computer Science

The Masterclasses are a series of workshops designed to inspire and engage young people in Computer Science. Each session is led by enthusiastic speakers from industry, academia and education and introduce aspects not usually covered in the school curriculum.

Topics we have run previously have included:

• History of Computer Science
• Turtle graphics
• Solving logic problems
• Programming robots
• Enigma Machines

The Oxford Masterclasses in Computer Science are supported by Morgan Stanley and Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford.

Subject to funding the students will be invited to return for another series of Masterclass sessions in year 10 and year 11.

Who is it for?

To take part in this programme students need to meet all of the criteria below:

• Attend a state funded school in Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Swindon, Gloucestershire and Buckinghamshire
• Schools may nominate up to two students (at least one of which should be female if the school accepts female students)
• The students need to be enthusiastic about mathematics and computer science
• The students must be academically strong, in the top 20% of their year

Each year we usually accept between 25-30 students for the programme, and aim for at least half of the cohort to identify as female. In the event that we are oversubscribed we will take into account student's socioeconomic background when selecting participants.

The 2026 Programme

The 2026 programme is running in-person at the University of Oxford's Department of Computer Science, Wolfson Building, Park's Road, OX1 3QD. There will be six sessions for year 9 students. The programme will run from 9:30am to 12:00pm on the following dates:

• Saturday 7th March
• Saturday 14th March
• Saturday 21st March
• Saturday 9th May
• Saturday 16th May
• Saturday 23rd May.

How do I apply?

The deadline for teacher nominations has now passed, we are not accepting any further nominations at this stage.

Students who have already been teacher nominated have until Friday 28th November to apply (with the help of their parents/guardians) for a place on the Masterclasses in Computer Science 2026.

Parents/students will be notified in December 2025 on the outcome of their application.

For any questions or queries, please contact: masterclasses@cs.ox.ac.uk