With the British sun coming out for a few hours yesterday afternoon, our students were in good spirits yesterday.

The morning was a chance for the students on our Summer Architecture Programme to try their hand at working to a design brief. As this is the kind of thing they’ll be doing often as fully-qualified architects, the class was a great opportunity to test themselves against real industry challenges. As they worked, there was a definite sense of competitiveness amongst the students, but it never stopped them from laughing together through any niggles in the design process.

By the time everyone had finished, there were some incredibly grand designs in the classroom and each student was suitably proud of their unique masterpiece.

After classes, lots of students headed out into Oxford for lunch, eager to try out some of the delicious cafes they’ve seen on their previous trips into the city. Then the afternoon was spent shopping or exploring the many tourist sights Oxford has to offer.

For the evening, the counsellors had organised a public speaking workshop. Now we’re almost at the end of our first week, the cohort have really settled in with each other and were completely undaunted by the prospect of standing up in front of their peers.

Elsewhere, another group of students had headed to Oxford Castle to see professional actors stand up in front of them for a performance of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. It was a great show that had all the students laughing at one point or another and it really finished off the night on a high note!