About COMPOS
Learn more about this innovative programme
What is COMPOS?
The Comprehensive Oxford Mathematics and Physics Online School is an innovative large-scale and long-term outreach project within the Department of Physics, University of Oxford. Our mission is to help STEM-talented secondary school students to deepen their understanding of both mathematics and physics through assignments and tutorials.
The COMPOS curriculum largely follows the UK National Curriculum, but presents familiar material at a higher and deeper level, concentrating on problem-solving skills. Students accepted into the programme receive assignments to solve throughout the academic year. Each assignment includes reading material, links to online lectures and problem sets in maths and physics. Students' work is marked and returned by their tutor, who also delivers weekly online tutorials in small groups of students. The assignments and tutorials are complemented by weekly webinars for each year group.
Thanks to funding from our donors, COMPOS is free of charge for 1,000 UK state school students each year. It is also available to private school students for a moderate fee. Because all COMPOS activities are online, all students need to take part is a device, an internet connection and email address. Explore our website to read more about the programme.
Timeline
May-August: Students register their interest via a form on our website
May-June: Tutors apply for the upcoming academic year
August-September: Students complete an entrance assignment
October: Students are awarded a place based on their submission
November: Tutorials begin
March: Programme ends for Y11 and Y13 students
July: Programme ends for Y10 and Y12 students
What do students learn?
Students learn both maths and physics. the two parts of the programme are deeply interconnected so all COMPOS students study both subjects.
The topics covered in COMPOS are the same as, or complementary to, the school curriculum. We do not teach towards a specific exam or entrance test, but instead we aim to provide students with a strong foundation of knowledge, to take them forwards into higher education. COMPOS encourages the development of independent study skills, which will be extremely useful in higher education.
Students are expected to regularly submit work and attend tutorials. Assignments include a varying level of difficulty. Some questions go over basics, some look at familiar problems in new ways and ones marked with * are deliberately more challenging. With regular attendance at tutorials and consistent effort on assignments, all students make progress. Our students score an average of about 67% across all assignments.
History of COMPOS
COMPOS was founded by Prof Alex Lvovsky, who has a long interest in physics education alongside his research in Quantum Optics. Prof Lvovsky had experience outside the UK with a pre-existing programme to teach STEM subjects to secondary students. When he realised that nothing like that existed in the UK, he was motivated to start a similar programme. He thought UK students were missing an opportunity for a deeper-level learning compared to students in other countries.
Rapid Growth: From 109 to 1,000 in Five Years
- A COMPOS pilot began in 2021 with 109 students in Year 12.
- The programme expanded in 2022 to include Year 13 and grew to 340 students.
- In 2023 COMPOS enrolled 558 students.
- The programme expanded in 2024 to include Year 10 and 11 alongside the established sixth-form programme.
- After a generous donation, the programme grew in 2025 to 1,000 students participating in Years 10-13.