Post-16 Subject Insight Day

Arrival from 9.15am

Our team of friendly student ambassadors will take you on an optional campus tour before the event starts at 10am.

Registration: 10.00am

Head to the registration desk where a member of staff will register your attendance and give you everything you need for an enjoyable day with us. 

Subject Insight Morning Workshop: 10.30am

Join your first academic session of the day and discover what it is like to study at the University of Leicester.

Lunch: 12.00pm

We recommend bringing a packed lunch with you as several of our outlets on campus are cash-less.

Subject Insight Afternoon Workshop 1.00pm 

Join your second academic session of the day and discover what it is like to study at the University of Leicester.

Optional Sessions: from 2.45pm

Student Life at Leicester 

Life at university is about so much more than your studies. Hear from one of our current students as they talk through their journey into Higher Education and share their experiences, key hints and tips. This session will give you an idea about what to expect and how to make the most of what is available as a part of your university experience. Find out more about whether University of Leicester is right for you. 

Student Finance 

This talk will cover all things money-related and give you an insight into the financial support available including the latest information on tuition fee loans, maintenance loans, student loan repayment and how to budget to make your money go further!  

Personal Statement

Not sure where to start when writing your personal statement? This talk will give you in insight into what admissions tutors are looking for, common mistakes to avoid and how to make the most of your strengths and experiences.

Campus Tour 

This is another opportunity to have a campus tour and see all of the fantastic facilities at the University of Leicester. 

What exactly do you balance in a Balance Sheet?

• Afternoon workshop, 1.00pm - 2.30pm

A career in accounting can lead you into every industry in the world, you could be an analyst, auditor, or CFO! This session will unravel what a T-ledger is, whether debits are better than credits, and, of course, what is balanced in a Balance Sheet. This session is for you if you have an interest in accounting, finance, or business in general. Through the use of group activities, discussions, and pop quizzes we will unpick the jargon of a discipline that will generate more than $1.5tn per year by 2032.

Beasts and Bones: Animals in Archaeology

• Afternoon workshop, 1.00pm - 2.30pm

Did you know that we can use animal bones to understand how people in the past thought about the natural world? Do you think that people have always kept pets? Do you know where your food comes from? Did you know that cows were used as tractors before we had machines? If you find these questions interesting then this is the session for you! To start with, we will explore some of the ways that archaeologists use animal remains to investigate the past using real life examples. In the second part, you will examine skeletal material to create animal biographies and decide how they might have been used in the past. Like CSI with animals!

Ancient History: What can you do with a Roman Coin?

• Afternoon workshop, 1.00pm - 2.30pm

We use money more often than we think about. It's ancient history. In this hands-on session, Dr Kathryn Tempest will introduce you to the development of Roman coinage and teach you the basics of reading and interpreting the images you see. More than that, you will gain an understanding of how historians can use ancient coins to learn about the past.

Discovering DNA... and googling the human genome

• Afternoon workshop, 1.00pm - 2.30pm

Students will get hands-on extracting DNA from biological specimens (OK - it's fruit!) and also carry out an online "treasure hunt" to see how we can use DNA, and our knowledge of the human genome, to analyse human genes. We'll identify the human genes and discover what human diseases occur when they are altered.

Due to popularity, this workshop is now full and at capacity. Sorry if this causes any disappointment.

Attracting Talent in Organisations: Significance of Recruitment and Onboarding as HR Functions

• Morning workshop, 10.30am - 12.00pm

Companies achieve a major competitive advantage when they are able to attract top talent. In today's job market, hiring top talent is challenging. The ability to attract external talent into organisations depends a lot on strategic approaches organisations take to recruit and onboard people. Find out more about recruitment and onboarding in this session through engaging in interesting activities and discussion. 

Virtual Spectroscopy Workshop

• Morning workshop, 10.30am - 12.00pm

Infra-red spectroscopy is used routinely by chemists and physical scientists, as a method of identification and characterisation of molecular samples, in quality assessment (pharmaceuticals) and in forensic and materials analysis. In this session, you will use this technique to solve a typical chemistry puzzle, which is the identification of unknown substances! You will first learn how infra-red machines operate through one of our innovative virtual lab programme, and then analyse infra-red spectra of a range of molecules, which you will identify by looking at their spectroscopic fingerprints.

A Taste of Computer Architecture and Laboratories

• Morning workshop, 10.30am - 12.00pm

We will explore Computer Processor Architecture in a taster lecture, and ask whether computers really can add up. After some Q&As, join us in one of our Computer labs to explore a Processor Simulator and take part in other activities.

An Introduction to Criminology

• Morning workshop, 10.30am - 12.00pm

Join us for this interactive session to discover more about what it’s like to study criminology at University. 

Automation and Employment

• Morning workshop, 10.30am - 12.00pm

In this interactive workshop, we will discuss how income inequality and employment opportunities will be affected by automation and AI.

Introduction to General Electronics and Embedded Systems

• Morning workshop, 10.30am - 12.00pm

This session will introduce you to the world of embedded systems. It will explore the principles of operation of embedded systems and explain how they can interact with and control the physical environment – from receiving input to computing actions and generating outputs. You will then explore a real-world example of how to construct an embedded system.

Introduction to Biomedical Engineering

• Afternoon workshop - now full, sorry

Come along to this session and learn more about what Biomedical Engineering is and where it can take you. You'll hear about the what this course will include, what you will learn and where it can take you in the future. You'll also have the opportunity to speak to current researchers in the field to see what new research is coming about with ECGs and much more. You'll also get to play around with some of the equipment that is used in current research in a new undergraduate space in the Engineering Building!

Due to popularity, this workshop is now full and at capacity. Sorry if this causes any disappointment.

Shakespeare's Outsiders

• Morning Workshop, 10.30am - 12.00pm

In this workshop, we'll be looking at outsider figures in Shakespeare's drama: who they are, why other characters treat them 'outsiders', how they're defined, and how they fit in (or don't) with the action of the plays. We'll look at ideas of geography in Shakespeare's time, share ideas, and study some speeches - with a bit of acting out to bring the drama to life.

Selling the Third Reich: Visual Propaganda in Nazi Germany

• Morning workshop, 10.30am - 12.00pm

How did the Nazi party use propaganda to project its vision for society, and what did Nazi culture look like? Focusing on examples from the art world, this talk will look at examples of visual propaganda material to explore the themes, production, and effectiveness of culture and media in Nazi Germany.

Studying Journalism at University

• Afternoon workshop, 1.00pm - 2.30pm

This session gives you a small taste of what it is like to study journalism with the University of Leicester. We will discuss what the keys skills of a journalist are, and the different types of jobs that a journalism degree from Leicester will allow you to do. We will overview the course content and will also introduce you to the journalism team, showing you both how we worked in the journalism industry and what our roles as your university tutors are. This is an interactive session where you will also get to try your hand at some fun journalism tasks!

Conjoined Twins and Criminal Defences: Law and Ethics In Action’

• Afternoon workshop, 1.00pm - 2.30pm

With the development of medicine, an increasing number of cases have come before the courts where the decision whether or not to permit or to refuse medical treatment can be a matter of life and death for the patient. There are important issues of Criminal Law and Medical Law to consider. But, whilst there are important legal issues to consider, these legal issues are connected with important and controversial ethical issues. In this session, we are going to discuss, debate, and decide upon one of the most extraordinary recent cases in Medical Law: Re A (Conjoined Twins: Surgical Separation).

Can maths help you do better? – Of course it can, embrace optimisation!

• Afternoon workshop, 1.00pm - 2.30pm

Unsure about what’s the best choice? Wish there was a shortcut for getting things done? Believe it or not, mathematics may be what you are looking for. In this workshop, we will introduce a branch of maths dedicated to finding the easiest way of achieving something – the calculus of variations. We will also give you a general flavour of what studying maths at University is like. University-level maths equips you with powerful tools which enable you to solve problems in a way that minimises effort and maximises results. So join us and discover how maths is the ultimate life hack.

Understanding Strokes

• Morning workshop, 10.30am - 12.00pm

In this workshop, you will have a mini lecture to understand what strokes are and how they affect the body. You will then get the chance to undertake some small group work, in a very similar way a medical student would, to look at a stroke patient’s notes.

Spanish around the world

• Afternoon workshop, 1.00pm - 2.30pm

This session is an exciting journey through global Spanish. Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world. It's one of the few languages that can help you communicate across multiple continents. How did Spanish become the language we speak today? Its history is one of cultural mixing, standardization, and global growth. In this session you will discover Spanish in the Iberian Peninsula, how Castilian developed and spread to Latin America, and how it affected the indigenous languages of different Latin American countries. We will also look at Spanish in the Philippines, Spanish in Equatorial Guinea, and Spanish in the USA, its presence, power, and influence. Finally, we will also make connections between the structure of Spanish and languages in contact, analysing the phenomenon of code-switching, with a special focus on Spanglish in the USA. Ready to learn more? ¡Vamos!

An Insight into Physics

• Afternoon workshop, 1.00pm - 2.30pm

If you are interested in science then THIS is the session for you! Science underpins many aspects of life, from how your mobile phone works to exploring our solar system and space beyond. You are the future leaders of scientific research and we want to meet you! You will be lead through a series of workshops each focussing on fascinating aspects of physics. Topics may include: Human vs star – who has the power?!, The Northern Lights: window into space and Earth from Space – helping society. In addition, there will be exciting hands-on science demonstrations for you to take part in.

Find out how fabulous Physiotherapy really is!

• Morning workshop, 10.30am - 12.00pm

This workshop will give you an opportunity to talk to our current clinically working academic staff and our students about what Physiotherapy is, what it is like to work and study as one. Physiotherapy is a very ‘hands on’ profession, so you will be given the chance to use some of our equipment which helps to treat the wide variety of patients that we are involved with. Alongside this, we are on hand for any questions you may have about the application process including what we look for in a personal statement and what personal qualities are important to demonstrate.

Can torture be justified?

• Morning workshop, 10.30am - 12.00pm

In this workshop, we consider the problem of torture in international politics. When states feel that their security is threatened, they can (and do) turn to some exceptional measures in an attempt to guarantee their safety. But this poses a difficult ethical problem for us - can torture ever be morally justified? To help us think about this question, this workshop looks at the ways in which violence is used and legitimised in international politics, by thinking critically about this ‘ticking time bomb’ thought experiment. Is this a good way of thinking about torture? Might there be some problems with this hypothetical scenario? We also look at how such philosophical thought problems can lead to very real-world consequences, by examining the cases of Guantanamo Bay detainees. How does the ‘ticking time bomb’ scenario hold up in practice – and what kind of measures can it justify?

The Politics of Civil Disobedience and Non-Violent Protest

• Afternoon workshop, 1.00pm - 2.30pm

We live in an age when the politics of conscience is more and more important as governments fail to satisfactorily respond to key political challenges like climate change, social inequality, and racism. In these circumstances, there are several ways the people express their frustration, from riots to petitions to civil disobedience.

In this workshop, we will consider the relative pros and cons of civil disobedience in politics. Using the example of the Indian anti-colonial activist, Mohandas K. Gandhi, and clips of his political strategy from the Richard Attenborough movie on the man, we will evaluate different types of political protest together. Then, in small groups, you will be given a particular political issue and asked to design a method of civil disobedience that would be best for changing people’s minds about that issue. We will end by sharing what each group has come up with and summarising what the differences between civil disobedience and more formal forms of political activism are.

An Introduction to Psychology

• Morning workshop, 10.30am - 12.00pm

Find out more about the Psychology course at Leicester before taking part in two practical’s which include an interactive demonstration of a psychology experiment, examining the Mozart effect – the effect of music on cognition as well as an interactive tutorial looking at the psychology behind a number of common visual illusions.

Trauma Imaging

• Morning workshop, 10.30am - 12.00pm

Come along to this session and learn about the different roles imaging plays and the skills required when patients are distressed or in pain.

Sociology in the City

• Afternoon workshop, 1.00am - 2.30pm

In this session, we’ll explore how place is as much as part of the fabric of social life as people. We’ll look at the city of Leicester itself, as well as examples from elsewhere, to explore how places become ‘characters’ in our sociological imaginations and what they can tell us about social continuity and social change. We’ll talk about changing city landscapes, graffiti and public art, and how the way we move through places can reveal a lot about social life. In this session there’ll be an interactive activity where you interpret vlogs, photos and other materials.