University of Oxford: Oxplore – the home of Big Questions online – celebrates five years engaging curious young minds

Since its launch in 2017, more than 1.5 million people, including students and teachers from around the world, have used this digital resource to engage with topics that they haven’t encountered before. The ‘Home of Big Questions’, Oxplore aims to challenge those from 11 to 18-years-old with questions tackling complex ideas across a wide range of subjects, all inspired and informed by the latest research by the University of Oxford.

The resource aims to encourage broader thinking and nurture intellectual curiosity in young people, and over the years has sought to address some of life’s oldest and biggest questions, all submitted by students – like ‘does a god exist?’ and ‘could we end poverty?’, as well as more modern concerns such as ‘does fake news matter?’ and ‘is the internet bad?’. To-date, over 500 experts have shared their knowledge and expertise on a vast range of topics, from artificial intelligence to zoology. 

Five years on from its inception, Oxplore hosts live streamed events featuring guest speakers, quizzes and thought-provoking Q&A’s, and in 2021 launched its own Book Club, aimed at 11–14-year-olds to get younger teens reading and engaging with books that they might not have chosen otherwise.

Samina Khan, Director of Undergraduate Admissions and Outreach, said: ‘Oxplore was launched in 2017 to nurture the natural curiosity which we know children are born with and to keep them excited about learning. Over the past five years it has been fantastic to see how Oxplore has been enjoyed by students and teachers, not only in the UK but around the world, as a new way to link together different subjects, inspire broader thinking and feed hungry young brains – providing a springboard to many of the skills valued in education’.

A teacher and user of Oxplore, said: ‘During our conference, students used the website to choose a question, research, debate and present their findings. Great for stretch, challenge and sparking intellectual curiosity. Perfect!’

Since 2017:

…1.5 million people from more than 100 different countries have visited the Oxplore website 

…More than 3,000 questions have been sent in by Oxplore users, among them ‘does money buy happiness?’, ‘are dogs better than cats?’, and ‘can you burp in space?’ 

…there are now more than 60 Big Questions on Oxplore

…10,000 school students have opened Oxplore accounts to share their thoughts on important topics