Collaborative Projects with Oxford Students

The Oxford Strategy Challenge (TOSCA) is a team-based experiential learning event with participants taking part in real strategy-focused client challenges over a week. We run the Oxford Strategy Challenge three times a year, depending on demand. The Careers Service runs training sessions with our in-house expert Careers Advisors to prepare students for their project and prior to the first meeting with their ‘client’. 

How the Oxford Strategy Challenge works

Prior to launching a project, the Careers Service works with organisations to define the  outline of the challenge, ensuring it is both valuable to the client and will provide interest and experience to students undertaking it. The student teams will be provided with the project brief and will liaise directly with their client over the period of the project. We are available to support teams with any general or technical queries that may arise during the course of the project. 

The key programme details are: 

• The students participate in teams of between four and six with the Careers Service actively mixing groups to create teams with diverse knowledge bases often including a number of undergraduates and postgraduates.   

•  The client relationship will start with a pre-booked online briefing call on the Thursday and the project will take part through the weekend with teams presenting their recommendations usually on the following Wednesday during a pre-booked online presentation call. We encourage teams to schedule a check-in with their client during the project. 

We encourage our teams to present their recommendations to their client formally as it provides a great opportunity to boost their communication and presentation skills. Typically this will take the form of a PowerPoint presentation summarising their research and recommendations. 

2025 Dates

We will run the Oxford Strategy Challenge throughout the year and the confirmed activity dates for the next programme is as follows: 

Further programmes are expected to run in December. Please contact courses@careers.ox.ac.uk for more information.

Student testimonials

Just wrapped up a fantastic strategy consulting challenge [...] - it was an incredibly rewarding experience and a great opportunity to apply problem-solving in a real business context.

Our client, a spend management consultancy, was looking to integrate AI into their processes but needed clarity on the right tools and the areas with the highest potential impact. Like many companies right now, they saw the promise of AI but weren’t sure where to start. We had the opportunity to present our recommendations directly to their C-suite executives, who immediately recognised the tangible value that our AI proposal could bring to their business.

Read Gaspard's testimonial (BA History and Modern Languages)

Our client is a leading spend management consultancy exploring the integration of AI solutions. Despite having no prior exposure to either the business travel industry or enterprise-level AI applications, our team rapidly grasped the core of the client’s value streams and pain points. With their support, we co-designed a brief AI readiness survey and identified time-intensive, manual tasks that could be alleviated through automation.

Read Andy's testimonial (MPhil in Global and Area Studies)

Professional skills for purpose-led careers – with hands-on projects in charities and social enterprises. 

Many Oxford students are keen to secure jobs that give them a sense of purpose and where they can make a real difference in the world and to people’s lives. This programme aims to provide the key skills, relevant experiences, a network of stimulating people working in the field, and insight into the career paths possible that together can provide that sense of purpose and impact. 

What to expect

The programme provides an insight into the people, challenges, models, and good practice for working in the business of social purpose, charities, foundations and social enterprises. Structured through themes of: Strategy and structure, Value creation, and People and governance, our approach is collaborative, interactive and interdisciplinary. Our speakers and client partners are integral to our shared value model, where we engage our students to work together on a range of real-world challenges. Ultimately, we aim to illustrate some of the bigger questions around sustainable and systemic change, and, how we can choose, individually and collectively, to be part of the solution. Join us in how to make a difference, for good!  

https://www.youtube.com/embed/2sWuW6RGjLY?si=qcjJDMqaa5ipJlYJ

Timings 

Due to the level of demand, we are adding a second cohort to our programme - the first cohort will run in Michaelmas (autumn) term and the second in Hilary (spring) term.  

Key programme details

• Students participate in teams of five/six
• Prior to launching a project, we scope an outline of the challenge with the client. The teams will be provided with a project brief and liaise directly with their client over the period of the project. We provide support to help the teams work through any general or technical queries that may arise.

We encourage our teams to present their recommendations to their client formally as it provides a great opportunity to boost their communication and presentation skills.

2025 Dates

A second programme will take place during Hilary (spring) term 2026.

We are always delighted to read about organisations' and students' experiences on our programmes.

Terminology

When mentioning your collaboration with us and our student volunteers, please refer to our programme names in full, for example: 'The Oxford Strategy Challenge'. 

As our programmes are original and developed by us, please attribute them to the Careers Service, University of Oxford in your communications; for example: 'The Oxford Strategy Challenge is a programme run by the Careers Service, University of Oxford'. 

Social media

If you create posts about the programmes on your social media channels, please tag or mention the Careers Service, University of Oxford, on LinkedIn @Oxford-Careers, on Instagram @OxfordCareers, or on Bluesky @oxfordcareers.bsky.social.

Press releases

If your organisation is preparing a press release for the end of the programme, please get in touch with us at courses@careers.ox.ac.uk. The University of Oxford and Careers Service communications teams will review the press releases on an individual basis for accuracy. Please note that our internal review process can take a while, so do send us a copy as soon as possible.  

What sort of projects are you looking for?

Our student teams can provide strategic thinking and research skills to help you with a challenge that you may be facing. 

You may be looking to take your organisation in a new direction, launch a product or programme, test out a business idea, explore a potential market, refresh your branding, examine the effectiveness of your communications, explore opportunities for innovation, or assess the impact of your mission. 

• Our Oxford Strategy Challenge programme tackles short 5-day projects across the charitable and commercial sector.

• Our Making a Difference programme offers teams the chance to work on real business issues faced by a charity or a not-for profit organisation across 3 weeks. 

What makes a good project 

A good project will have some element of research and a requirement for our team to make recommendations on a strategy for you to take forward. It will have a defined scope and can realistically be delivered in the time available. But most of all, it must be important to our client: we like our teams to make a real impact! 

Students do not work on the project full-time and will be undertaking the programme alongside their academic work. 

Examples of previous client Oxford Strategy Challenge projects

Revenue Generation 

A faith-based charity enlisted the help of a student consultant team to explore ways of utilising a prime city centre location for income generation in way that is aligned with the organisation’s values. The team presented the client with a number of different revenue generating options along with suggestions for increasing marketing and awareness of the space. 

Fundraising 

A charity asked a student team to identify investment opportunities to secure more dependable sources of funding. The team analysed current and future fundraising patterns and presented a strategy that provided the client with possible fundraising avenues and effective strategies to reach these groups. 

Future Business Strategy 

A business challenged a student team to explore ways of future-proofing their business and expanding their customer base. The student team analysed the business’ current strategy and created a series of recommendations for future development. 

Market Entry Strategy 

A business based outside the UK wanted a student team to create an entry strategy for the UK market. The team conducted a landscape review and competitor analysis and created a series of recommendations for ways the business could enter this market. 

Operations Review 

A UK/international charity asked a student team to help the organisation identify future objectives and strengthen engagement with stakeholders. The team examined the organisation’s current services and provided recommendations for increasing stakeholder engagement. 

How long should the projects last?

On our Oxford Strategy Challenge  programme, students have 5 days to tackle your project. This programme is ideal for projects that can be undertaken in a short ‘sprint’. Such projects might provide the framework for strategic thinking, tackle a short research project or initiate your thinking on a particular question.  

On our Making a Difference programme, students will have 3 weeks to undertake your project. This programme is suited to projects that offer scope for in-depth research and strategic thinking. Such projects might tackle a substantive business challenge, conduct market research, investigate opportunities for innovation or provide detailed recommendations for strategic direction.  

Students will be taking part in these programmes alongside their academic work and will not be spending their time exclusively on your project. However, clients are always surprised at how much the teams are able to achieve whether over the course of just 5 days or across a 3-week period. 

I have a project idea. What happens next?

Contact us via courses@careers.ox.ac.uk and we would be happy to set up a call to discuss your project idea and our different programmes. 

The first step is for you to send us a brief project proposal.  

We will ask you to confirm the programme you are interested in and the dates you are available. As the number of applications to our programme fluctuates throughout the academic year we are not able to guarantee that your project will be included in the next available programme. 

Once we have received your project proposal we will pass this onto the programme leader who will be able to confirm if we are able to include your project in our programmes and which programmes have availability. We'll then firm up the remaining details with you to create a final project brief. 

What are you looking for in a project proposal?

We ask you to send through: 

• A brief introduction to your organisation 

• Some context around the project idea (how this fits into your organisation; how will the teams contribute) 

• Outline the challenge you would like the students to tackle. What strategic question(s) would you like the teams help you answer? 

• What is your desired outcome? 

Students are fully briefed about the necessity for client confidentiality and undertake information security training as part of these programmes however, the students do not sign an NDAs so we recommend only sharing information that is not commercially sensitive during the project. 

What does a good client look like?

A good client is interested in nurturing talent for the future and providing our participants with a real-world experience. They are open to an external perspective on their challenge, are committed to the project and have time available to work with our team and provide direction when necessary. 

What is the expected time commitment?

We ask clients to students at the start of the programme for an initial client meeting (1 hour/ 1.5 hours) and to meet with students for a final presentation when they will present their findings to you (1 hour/ 1.5 hours). 

Students are also likely to want to contact you in between these meetings and to check in regularly during our longer programmes. We encourage teams to discuss this with their client at the initial meeting. Expect lots of enthusiasm and engagement! 

Does the location of my organisation matter?

No. For clients who are not based in Oxford, teams can collaborate remotely. We have worked on projects across the UK and internationally. The furthest afield is in South Australia... 

I don’t have a project idea at the moment. What other options are there for connecting with Oxford students?

Some other opportunities to engage with our students include:

• Summer Internship Programme: internships which are offered exclusively to Oxford students. Contact: internships@careers.ox.ac.uk
• Micro-Internship Programme: 2-5-day voluntary work experience placements exclusively on offer to Oxford University students. Contact: micro-internships@careers.ox.ac.uk

Contact recruiters@careers.ox.ac.uk to discuss other options, including attending a fair, hosting an employer presentation or joining the Oxford Employer Engagement Network.

The Oxford Strategy Challenge and Making a Difference are programmes of learning and development activities for University of Oxford students. They provide employability skills training and experiential learning to students whilst at the same time providing consultancy to local businesses, charities and community organisations (Clients). 

After an initial induction period facilitated by the University of Oxford Careers Service, teams of students undertake short, limited scope projects for Clients. Whilst, of course, the University will do what it can to structure and operate this programme efficiently, it will be appreciated that neither the University nor the student participants will owe any duty of care to Clients; or accept any responsibility for the research undertaken or the advice given in the course of what is a free and amateur service. All liability is therefore disclaimed, to the maximum extent permitted by law. In particular: 

1. The University and the students do not warrant the accuracy of any information, written or spoken, provide by the student teams, and Clients should not rely on its accuracy to make decisions. 

2. Project teams do not have, or hold themselves out to have, specialist or expert knowledge. 

3. In general, teams should not be expected to spend much time on a client’s site; however, if they do spend any time on the Client's site, then the health and safety responsibility rests with the Client. 

4. No commitment can be made as to the amount of time students can or will spend on a project as it is understood that this research has to be fitted around their academic obligations that take first priority. Clients and teams will be expected to clarify timing and scope at the start and from time to time during the project. 

5. Each Client is responsible for complying with applicable data protection regulations, confidentiality obligations and any other analogous laws, obligations and regulations (including, without limitation, any contractual obligations). 

The students will own the copyright in their reports, but each Client will have a free, irrecoverable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use each report which it commissions, for the purpose of the Client’s operations. Teams will submit a copy of their report to the Careers Service at the end of the programme. 

The Careers Service reserves the right to decline a project opportunity on the basis of suitability for our programmes.