Scots schoolchildren can apply for summer school

Wednesday 28 February 2007

It’s not too late for Scottish pupils to apply to spend a free week at the University of St Andrews this summer to learn about university life, courtesy of the Sutton Trust.

The Trust funds 60 S5/ pupils for a week at Scotland’s oldest university to take classes, meet current university students, and find out about the university application system and what opportunities await them in prestigious higher education. But the deadline for the Sutton Trust Summer School is drawing near.

The programme targets pupils who might not otherwise consider applying to a competitive university. Around the country, the Sutton Trust also sends pupils to Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol and Nottingham.

The Sutton Trust Summer School at St Andrews, held in the first week of July is free to attend. Students will spend a week living with their peers and attending lectures, tutorials and seminars similar to those attended by first- year undergraduates. Pupils can choose from a number of different subjects.

The free program also provides seminars on how to apply to and fund university study, and recreational activities in the town including a putting competition and a ceilidh.

Sir Peter Lampl, founder and Chairman of the Sutton Trust, said, “Each year we estimated that there are at least 3,000 able students from state schools who obtain the grades necessary to go to a top university, but who end up elsewhere. Many of them do not apply because they think they either won’t fit in or stand a chance of getting in. Our summer schools are designed to dispel these myths.”

Pupils who attend the summer school will learn what they need to apply to any university in the country, but many who have attended the school at St Andrews in the past have ended up applying here as well.

The program ensures students a taste of university life that they might not otherwise seek. “It is 100% what they would get at university,” explained Mike Johnson, coordinator of the program for the University of St Andrews.

He added, “By the end of the week, they have become so comfortable with their environment, they actually look like undergraduates!”

Applications close soon. For more information contact Mike Johnson, Education Liaison Officer, at 01334 462346 or access@st- andrews.ac.uk .

ENDS

Issued by the Press Office, University of St Andrews

Contact 01334 467227/ 462529

View the latest University press releases at http://www.st- andrews.ac.uk/


Category University news

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