My journey to Oxford from life in a children's home
We spoke with new Kellogg student, Matt Taylor (MSt Creative Writing) about his journey to Oxford. Matt, is a ‘care leaver’; a care leaver is an adult who has spent time living in the care system, away from their family. In Matt’s case, he grew up in a children’s home. It’s estimated that only around 6% of 18 year olds leaving the care system in the UK enter into higher education, rising to around 12% for 19-21 year olds. Matt told us about his decision to apply to Oxford and his initial thoughts after his first few weeks here.
Kellogg’s distinctiveness comes from only having postgraduate students, many of whom are part-time – instantly breaking the perception that Oxford only hoovers the carpet of private school pupils. Although I haven’t met any other care leavers yet, I was struck by how many people had a story like mine. How they had gone off and done other things, but kept hold of the dream of achieving a place at Oxford. Because of this, Kellogg instils a core value that it’s never too late, and if you never give up, there is a place for you here. I was no longer an intruder. I was home.