It was a studious start at Balliol on Monday, as the programme started properly with the introduction of lessons. The students had some fairly intense classes, as they immediately set about tackling some of the fascinating topics on their courses.

Whilst the morning lessons were dedicated to introducing the subjects and outlining the session’s learning, the afternoon was spent digging down into the detail, as Sunday’s theme of rapid progress was continued.

Some of the Medical School Preparation students tackled the issue of vaccination, weighing up its Pros and Cons and drawing some interesting conclusions. Meanwhile, a group of the Business and Enterprise students were taking a crash course in Macro and Microeconomics, and finding them to be highly intriguing concepts.

For others on the Business Programme, a challenging task was set out for them as they dreamed up new businesses and thought about how they would implement them. One was a social app aimed at making new friends, something which our Balliol students are already experts in! The other involved taking unwanted e-bikes from one country, and setting them up to be used in another country.

After classes, there was an opportunity for the students to take their first exploratory trip around Oxford, as many opted to go on a tour of the city. This was a very popular option, with staff noticing that more of the students had signed up for the tour this time around than on any previous session this summer. This cohort is clearly very keen to embrace the Oxford culture!