Chance to sample life at St Andrews

School pupils interested in a free sample of life at the University of St Andrews have just one week left to apply for this year’s summer school.

Youngsters from all over the UK are offered a week’s taster session at the Fife University as part of the Sutton Trust initiative. Now in its third year, the scheme is aimed at pupils in their fifth year or year 12 of secondary school.

The project is targeted at bright students who would not traditionally have applied to St Andrews, who attend schools that have little history of generating pupils who progress to university and whose parents did not attend university.

It allows 60 students to sample – free of charge – the academic and social life at St Andrews for one week in the summer (Sunday 4th July to Friday 9th July 2004). It includes accommodation, meals, tuition and traveling expenses and will reflect a normal first year at St Andrews – students will choose their course, organise their finances and learn to use the library. They will also be given the opportunity to take part in a programme of leisure activities, which will include a theatre trip, a juggling workshop and a ceilidh.

The Sutton Trust is an educational charity founded by philanthropist Sir Peter Lampl, and one of its most important activities is to support Access Summer Schools in major research-led universities. St Andrews is the only Scottish university which currently offers a Sutton Trust Summer School.

Research by the National Foundation for Educational Research showed that students who attend a summer school have, on average, a five times greater chance of gaining a place at the university of their choice than other students.

Since its launch in 2002, many ‘graduates’ of the Sutton Trust Summer School have been offered full-time undergraduate places at the University of St Andrews.

One of last year’s students said that the scheme was ‘overall, a real eye opener, and a fantastic learning experience’.

The closing date for applications for this summer’s programme at St Andrews is Monday 5th April.

Further information and leaflets and application forms are available from The Sutton Trust on 0208 788 3223 or the University of St Andrews’ Access Centre on 01334 462346 or email: access@st- andrews.ac.uk.

ENDS

Note to Editors:

Further information on the Sutton Trust is available from: Tim Devlin, Sutton Trust Press Officer, telephone 01205 290 817 or [email protected].

Issued by Beattie Media on behalf of the University of St Andrews For more information please contact: Gayle Cook on 01334 467227, 07900 050 103 or email gec3@st- andrews.ac.uk View University press releases on- line at http://www.st- andrews.ac.uk Ref: Sutton launch 240304