What are you doing this summer? Students aiming high should definitely consider an academic summer school. According to a report in the January 26th issue of The Cambridge Student, 76 per cent of sixth formers who went to a Sutton Trust summer school in 2008 or 2009 subsequently gained places at leading Russell Group universities. Students with the same academic and social background who did not attend had a success rate of only 55 per cent.
This year, the Sutton Trust will hold summer schools
in fifty subjects at seven top institutions, including Cambridge. The University of Oxford has a
similar project, the Uniq summer school.
There is also a Cambridge-run summer school for FE students. All are residential and
completely free.
At each of these summer schools, stimulating lectures are interspersed with
group work and various leisure activities. Previous attenders say the events
are informative, fun and great for motivating you to work harder towards your
exams. The experience tends to be of
particular value to sixth formers from a non-university background.
As registration has already opened, try to fill in
the form as soon as you have found an appealing course. Applicants need to
fit certain criteria, so it’s not a first-come-first-serve system, but places
do fill up fast. Also, some subjects are hugely over-subscribed, so if you want to improve your chances, go for one
of the less familiar ones. The academic grounding you will receive should prove
useful, even if you later pick an only
vaguely related university course.
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