Explicitly interdisciplinary and discipline-flexible higher education—as exemplified by the liberal arts model of undergraduate education—is a relatively new phenomenon in the UK. As such, it suffers from poor visibility and understanding of what it is both within and without the academy. As part of the outreach efforts of the Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences programme at the University of Birmingham, we have developed a workshop for school students (ages 15–18) that harnesses the student-centred problem-led teaching that typifies such an education. We get students themselves to choose a question for investigation that directly impacts their communities and then guide them through semi-structured group discussions where disciplinary boundaries are disposed of. It has proved an immensely powerful activity for empowering and raising the aspirations of student groups traditionally under-represented at UK universities. This presentation will outline the rationale and design of this outreach activity, offering an opportunity for critique and discussion of how it can be adapted for other settings. We will then run a 90-minute version of this workshop for attendees to try out themselves! In this, the ‘problem impacting our community’ will be centred around interdisciplinary studies, thus offering a framework for fruitful and interactive discussion.