Red-brick clock tower with pointed roof under blue sky with scattered clouds.

Year 12 and 13 Discovery Day

Name: Computer Science in Action
Start: 2026-11-25T10:00:00
End: 2026-11-25T15:00:00
Location: Teaching and Learning Building

Give your students the opportunity to experience university study first-hand at the University of Birmingham. This event also features an optional campus tour.

Date
Wednesday, 16 September 2026 (10:00 - 14:00) (UK)

Location
Edgbaston campus, University of Birmingham
Contact
k.a.whitmore@bham.ac.uk

Our Year 12 and Year 13 Discovery Day is designed to help students explore their future study options through a day of interactive subject taster sessions, campus experiences and opportunities to meet current students.

Whether students already have a clear idea of the degree they would like to study or are still considering their options, Discovery Day offers valuable insight into life at a leading research-intensive university and helps them make informed decisions about their next steps after sixth form.

Register to attend

Teachers and advisers can register their students using our online Discovery Day booking form.

The booking form allows you to:

register your school or college
reserve places for your students
select your students' preferred subject taster sessions
request the optional campus tour
tell us about any accessibility requirements

Subject taster sessions are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, so we encourage schools and colleges to book early to maximise the availability of their preferred sessions.

Once your booking has been submitted, we'll confirm your place by email.

Bookings close on Friday 11 September 2026.

Book a place

Why attend?

Our Discovery Day offers students the opportunity to:

experience university-level teaching through interactive subject taster sessions
explore degree subjects linked to their A-levels and future career aspirations
gain an insight into studying at a leading research-intensive university
meet current University of Birmingham students
explore our Edgbaston campus and world-class facilities
learn more about higher education, student life and applying to university

Explore a wide range of subjects

Students can choose from interactive sessions spanning the arts, humanities, social sciences, engineering, science, medicine and health.

Delivered by leading University of Birmingham academics, our subject taster sessions are designed to give students an authentic experience of university teaching while helping them explore subjects linked to their current studies and future ambitions.

Programme of activity

Time	Activity
10:15	Arrival and welcome
11:00	Subject taster session one
12:00	Lunch Students should bring a packed lunch or purchase food on campus. Please note that the University is a cashless campus.
12:45	Move to second session
13:00	Subject taster session two or information, advice and guidance session
14:00	Coaches depart (by 2.15pm)
14:00-14:30	Optional campus tour (coaches depart by 2.45pm)

Choosing your sessions

Each student will attend two sessions during the day. Students can choose either:

two subject taster sessions, or
one subject taster session and one information, advice and guidance session.

Sessions are delivered by University of Birmingham academics and provide an authentic experience of university teaching.

We'll contact schools and colleges closer to the event to collect students' preferred subject taster sessions. Session preferences will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to availability.

Subject taster session one (11:00-12:00)

Session	Ideal for	Description
Rewriting the world: Exploring dystopian literature as a response to uncertain futures	English Literature	Explore how writers have imagined alternative futures in response to political, social and environmental uncertainty, and discover how dystopian fiction continues to shape our understanding of the world.
What is Anthropology and why does it matter?	Anthropology	Discover how anthropologists study people, cultures and societies, and explore how anthropology helps us understand and respond to today's global challenges.
Getting to the heart of the matter – is understanding cardiac electrical activity important?	Biomedical Science, Medicine, Nursing, Sport and Exercise Science	Take part in a practical ECG session exploring the heart's electrical activity and its importance in understanding health and disease.
OH, the places you'll go! The importance of oxygen-dependent hydroxylases in health and disease	Medicine, Biomedical Science, Cancer Sciences, Biological Sciences, Pharmacology	Discover how oxygen sensing influences human health and disease, and explore the pioneering research helping scientists better understand conditions including cancer.
Development Economics: Informality	Economics	Explore why many workers and firms in developing countries operate outside formal rules, what this means for wages, productivity and inequality, and how governments respond. Drawing on real policy experiments and data, this session shows how economists use evidence to study development challenges and evaluate policy.
Design. Build. Fly: Flight design challenge	Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering	Ever wondered how aircraft wings keep a plane in the air? Discover how wing design affects lift, drag and aircraft performance before working in teams to design and build your own foam-board glider. Test your design in real flight experiments, analyse the results like an aerospace engineer and see if your team can achieve the longest flight.
Shaking up chemistry: The mechanochemical revolution	Chemistry	Discover how chemists are transforming the way molecules are made. Explore how mechanical energy is replacing traditional methods to create cleaner, faster and more sustainable chemical processes, and find out how researchers investigate molecular structures using cutting-edge spectroscopy techniques.
Gene therapy for plants to ensure food security	Biosciences	Discover how scientists are developing innovative approaches to improve crop resilience and help tackle the global challenge of food security.

Subject taster session two (13:00-14:00)

Students can choose either a second subject taster session or an information, advice and guidance session.

Session	Ideal for	Description
Benefits of higher education and student panel	All students	Find out more about the benefits of higher education and hear directly from current University of Birmingham students about their experiences. Ask questions about student life, accommodation, support services and preparing for university.
International student information session	International students	Information and advice for international students considering undergraduate study in the UK. Details to be confirmed.
Liberal Arts unlocked: Discovering connections across subjects	Liberal Arts	Discover how Liberal Arts brings together different disciplines to explore complex global issues and prepare students for a wide range of careers.
What was British about the American Revolution? A History taster on Power and Politics	History	Explore the people, politics and ideas that shaped the American Revolution and discover why this defining historical event still matters today.
How many people does it take to have a baby?	Medicine, Midwifery	Having a baby is a team effort. Join a consultant in Maternal and Fetal Medicine to explore the wide range of careers involved in fertility, pregnancy, birth and newborn care. From scientists and engineers developing life-changing technologies to midwives, theatre practitioners, pharmacists and neonatal specialists caring for patients, discover how different professionals work together to achieve the best outcomes for families. This interactive session includes a hands-on activity using clinical equipment.
What are rights?	Politics, International Relations, and Politics, Philosophy and Economics	What does it really mean to have a "right"? Where do rights come from, and who decides them? Explore different perspectives on rights and use them to form your own views on real-world issues, from protests and democracy to global politics.
Location, location, location	Computer Science, Mathematics (students should be studying A-level Mathematics)	Discover how computer scientists use machine learning and large-scale data to tackle challenges facing our growing cities, from transport and policing to social media and urban planning.
Why should geographers care about video games?	Geography	Discover how geographers use video games to better understand people, places and environments, and explore why digital worlds can help us make sense of the real one.