Oxford University and London Trip – 3rd-4th November 2025
Article written by Brooke D in Year 10
Earlier this month, my peers and I in Year 10 travelled to London and Oxford for a two-day school trip that felt packed from start to finish with excitement. Everyone had such a great time, and we would all recommend that anyone goes if given the chance.
Our trip started at 6am on Monday when we left St Patrick’s to head to London. Everyone was tired, and most people went to sleep at that point, including me. We were woken up once for a quick stop at the service station, and then the next stop was London!
London was my personal favourite day. We saw all the sights as we drove into the city along the Thames, and our first stop was Tate Modern, an enormous art gallery filled with work from many different artists, including famous ones like Piet Mondrian. After that, we walked to Borough Market, where we were hoping to get some food. Unfortunately, it was a Monday and the market doesn’t open on Mondays. It was fine, though, as we got to walk along London Bridge and see the lovely view of London and the HMS Belfast. Once we finished, we walked to
the escape room location. This was so fun and got everyone working together. My team won out of the four, but it was incredibly difficult and required critical thinking to complete.
Following this, we went to the hostel and had half an hour to freshen up before we walked to Pizza Express for dinner. Everyone either had pizza or lasagne, and for dessert, ice cream or chocolate fudge cake. Soon after, the entire group was in a food coma, but we had to keep moving as we were going to watch Hercules The Musical on the West End. In my opinion, it was amazing. I can’t speak on behalf of the whole group, but I really enjoyed it because I love musicals, and I would recommend anyone to go and see it. Unfortunately, after the show our day was coming to an end, and we walked back to the hostel to get ready to sleep.
Our second day started at 6am when everyone woke up to get dressed and prepare for our day at Oxford University. We had breakfast at the hostel, and straight after that we hopped back onto the coach to set off for Oxford. Once we arrived at Corpus Christi College, we were taken to a room to learn about what Oxford actually is, who founded it, and lots of other interesting facts. After this, our group was split into two – people who prefer science and people who prefer English. I was part of the science group, and we had a session with an Oxford student who studied Psychology. It was very interesting. We then regrouped for lunch in the dining hall, where we had another opportunity to speak to some of the students and hear their views on the University. Shortly after, we split off again to have a tour around Corpus Christi, where I took lots of free bookmarks (I did share them with people). After lunch, we had a Q+A with some students, which was helpful to hear their opinions. Following this, we had a tour of another college, which was just as nice. Once that ended, our day had also come to an end, and we got back onto the coach and headed back to Manchester.
Overall, I think this was an amazing school trip, and anyone who gets to experience it should consider themselves lucky. I was able to speak to people in my year group that I’d never really spoken to before and also get to know the teachers on the trip – Mr Mallalieu and Miss O’Brien. From this trip, I’m taking away amazing memories that I’ll remember forever, like our little inside joke: “3, 2, 1, hamaitia!” I’m also taking away different perspectives on life. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do a degree at university before, but after actually seeing first hand the opportunities it brings, I’ve considered it an option. Thank you again to the teachers who took us and planned it all, and to everyone who made it a fun and exciting trip that I will remember forever!