LSE Explore: Year 12

Applications for LSE Explore 2026 will open on Monday 23 February 2026 and will close on Sunday 12 April at 11:59pm.

This year’s series will include six online academic subject taster events, online admissions sessions, and three in-person Explore Extra events.

The six departments participating in LSE Explore 2026 are:

Anthropology
Economic History
International History
International Relations
Management
Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method

LSE Explore will allow participants to find out more about studying in these departments at LSE and consolidate their understanding of the higher education application process and the specifics of making an application to LSE. Attendees will also hear from current LSE undergraduates, learn about the graduate prospects of the respective subjects, and have the opportunity to ask questions.

LSE Explore includes online and in-person events.

LSE Explore includes six online academic subject tasters which are delivered via Zoom. These events will take place from Monday 27 April to Thursday 7 May 2026. Applicants can apply for one or multiple online events based on their interests. All participants will also be invited to attend an optional online admissions session.

In 2026, we are piloting Explore Extra – three in-person events at our LSE campus in London for 30 Explore students. These events will run on Wednesday afternoons in June 2026. Explore Extra is open to all eligible students within three hours travelling distance of the LSE Campus.

When you complete an application for LSE Explore, you will be asked if you are interested in attending an additional Explore Extra session on campus. Explore Extra will showcase the following departments:

Economic History
International History
International Relations

If you’re invited to attend an LSE Explore Extra event and you live outside of London, your travel to and from the campus will be booked and paid for by the Widening Participation Team. If you’re invited to attend an LSE Explore Extra event and you live in London, you’ll be able to claim back travel expenses. If your travel is likely to take longer than three hours each way or would take place outside of reasonable hours (leaving home before 7am or returning home later than 9pm on the day of the event), it is unlikely that you will be invited to attend an LSE Explore Extra event. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide accommodation for participants.

Online Academic Subject Tasters

The core element of LSE Explore is our online academic subject tasters featuring six departments across LSE. Each session will have a department-specific introduction, insight from a student ambassador studying a subject in the department, and a taster lecture delivered by an academic teaching within the department.

The online academic subject taster events for 2026 are:

Monday 27 April, 5:30-7:00pm – International History – featuring a taster lecture from Professor Alex Mayhew on 'What can vegetable shows reveal about the First World War?’

Tuesday 28 April, 5:30-7:00pm – Anthropology – featuring a taster lecture from Professor Andrea Pia on ‘Why anthropology matters more than ever: the power of ethnography’

Wednesday 29 April, 5:30-7:00pm – Economic History – featuring a taster lecture from Professor Patrick Wallis on 'Making Trade Happen: Overcoming distance in a medieval world’

Thursday 30 April, 5:30-7:00pm – International Relations – featuring a taster lecture from Professor Karen Smith on ‘What is foreign policy and how is it made?’

Wednesday 6 May, 5:30-7:15pm – Philosophy, Logic, and Scientific Method – featuring a taster lecture from Professor Lewis Ross on 'The problem of moral luck’, and an alumni speaker

Thursday 7 May, 5:30-7:15pm – Management – featuring a taster lecture from Professor Nayat Horozoglu on ‘Sustainable Operations’, and an alumni panel

Online Admissions Information Sessions

All participants also have the chance to attend one of two online admissions information sessions. Each session will feature a talk by an Undergraduate Admissions Specialist on applying to LSE and the time for participants to ask questions. These sessions are optional and identical. These sessions will be held on:

Saturday 9 May, 10:30-11:45am – Session 1
Saturday 9 May, 4:00-5:15pm – Session 2

LSE Explore Extra (in-person academic subject taster events)

Some participants will be invited to attend LSE Explore: three in-person academic subject tasters, each featuring one department from across LSE. Each event will include information about student support and graduate prospects in the department, testimonials from current LSE students, a campus tour, and an interactive taster seminar.

The Explore Extra events for 2026 are:

Wednesday 3 June, 1:30-5:15pm – Economic History Explore Extra
Wednesday 10 June, 1:30-5:15pm – International History Explore Extra
Wednesday 17 June, 1:30-5:15pm – International Relations Explore Extra

LSE Explore events are free to attend.

If you’re invited to attend an LSE Explore Extra event and you live outside of London, your travel to and from the campus will be paid for by the Widening Participation Team. If you’re invited to attend an LSE Explore Extra event and you live in London, you’ll be able to claim back travel expenses. We are unable to provide accommodation for participants, or to reimburse the cost of any accommodation if required.

Essential criteria

To be eligible for LSE Explore, you must meet all of our essential eligibility criteria (below).

If you are unsure about any of the eligibility criteria, or whether you can apply to LSE Explore, please contact ard.explore@lse.ac.uk

Personal details

Applicants should:

Be currently in Year 12 (England and Wales), Year 13 (N. Ireland) or S5 (Scotland)
Have always attended a UK state-funded, non-fee-paying school/college/sixth form
Be considering making an application to undergraduate study at LSE
Be able to fully commit to the LSE Explore event(s) that you are interested in
Have achieved at least grade 6 in GCSE English Language and Mathematics
Have achieved a strong set of GCSE grades overall, with the majority at grades 7, 8 and 9
Be on track to achieve at least the contextual offer grades for your chosen degree programme(s) at LSE. This includes studying any required A level subjects for your chosen degree programme. Full details of LSE’s und

Academic achivements and potential

Have achieved at least grade 6 in GCSE English Language and Mathematics (or equivalent)
Have achieved a strong set of GCSE grades overall, with the majority at grades 7, 8 or 9 (or equivalent)
Be on track to achieve at least the contextual offer grades for your chosen degree programme(s) at LSE. This includes studying any required A level subjects for your chosen degree programme. Full details of LSE’s undergraduate degree programmes are available on the programme webpages

Additional criteria

For LSE Explore Extra (in-person events), if you meet the essential criteria, we will prioritise students who meet one or more of the following criteria (in line with our Access and Participation Plan):

Students who are care-experienced. LSE defines care-experienced as those who have been in the care of the local authority, with foster carers, in a residential children's home, under a supervision order while 'looked after at home', or living with friends or relatives in kinship care
Students who live in an area of low Higher Education participation. LSE primarily assesses this by looking at the TUNDRA quintile for your home postcode. Quintile 1 or quintile 2 indicate that you live in an area of low Higher Education participation. Quintiles 3, 4 and 5 indicate that you live in an area of medium to high Higher Education participation. You can check if you are in quintile 1 or 2 by entering your home postcode in this TUNDRA postcode checker
Students who have ever been eligible for Free School Meals during their secondary education
Students who live outside of London
Students who are estranged from both parents
Students who are the first generation of their family to attend university

The more additional criteria you meet, the more likely you are to be invited to attend Explore Extra.

If you are a current participant on Pathways to Law at LSE, Pathways to Banking and Finance at LSE, LSE Thrive, or LSE Springboard, you will not be invited to attend an Explore Extra event.

Extenuating circumstances

Extenuating or special circumstances are also considered when reviewing applications for LSE Explore Extra. In the application form, you will have the opportunity to provide more details about your extenuating circumstances. This could include (but is not limited to):

If you are a Young Carer
If you have official refugee status, limited leave to remain or are seeking asylum
If you are a UK Armed Forces child (ie, at least one of your parents is currently serving in the UK Armed Forces, or has done so in the last 6 years)
If you have experienced significant disruption to your education
If you have experienced the bereavement of a parent/carer
If you have a parent/carer in custody

Applications to LSE Explore will open on Monday 23 February 2026 and will close on Sunday 12 April at 11:59pm. We will not consider late applications.

The link to the application form will be available here on Monday 23 February.

If you have any questions about the programme or applications, please email ard.explore@lse.ac.uk for more information

If you have any questions, please email Ard.Explore@lse.ac.uk and the LSE Explore team will reply as soon as possible.

All staff and students involved in the sessions receive appropriate training before the event. Staff or students working directly and regularly with young people receive specific training on working with children, in line with our Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy. They also undergo an appropriate level Disclosure and Barring Service check.

Please note that as a result of circumstances or events outside of our control (known as a Force Majeure event), which includes but is not limited to industrial action, official government advice, fire, flood or other environmental or physical damage to premises, we may need to cancel an event at short notice.

In the event of a cancellation, a change of venue or date, we will endeavour to notify attendees wherever possible through the contact details given at the time of booking. For the avoidance of doubt, the School will not be liable for any costs you may incur as a result of any cancellation, change of venue or date.