Sutton Trust Summer School

School pupils from throughout Scotland will take part in a week’s taster session at the University of St Andrews next week (July 6th 2003).

The summer initiative, now in its second year, is aimed at Scottish pupils who have just completed fifth year and are about to move into sixth year, and has been made possible by the Sutton Trust, an educational charity run by philanthropist Sir Peter Lampl.

The project is targeted at bright students who for a variety of reasons would not traditionally apply to St Andrews.

They include pupils with no family history of university attendance, those whose parents are in non- professional occupations or young people who attend schools with virtually no history of sending pupils to the country’s top universities.

It allows students to sample – free of charge – the academic and social life at St Andrews from Sunday 6 to Friday 11 July 2003.

Over 120 young people have applied for 60 places on next week’s Summer School in St Andrews – part of a record number of more than 2000 pupils taking part in Summer Schools sponsored by the Sutton Trust at the UK’s leading universities this year.

A quarter of those who attended last year’s Summer School subsequently applied to the University of St Andrews to become full-time students. All have been offered a university place for next year.

Research by the National Foundation for Educational Research showed that one in three students who attend a summer school go on to secure a full-time place at university.

Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St Andrews Dr Brian Lang said: “We want to attract word class minds to this university, regardless of their background, and the Sutton Trust Summer School is a vital part of our efforts at St Andrews to widen access.

“I’m particularly pleased that so many of the students who attended last year’s Summer School then applied and were offered places at St Andrews and I am hopeful this year’s School will build on that success.”

Sir Peter said: “When I came back to Britain from the United States in the 1980s I was shocked at how poor the opportunities were for bright students from non-privileged backgrounds. I was outraged by the waste of talent and determined to do something about it.”

He added: “Our research shows that there are thousands of able students from non-privileged backgrounds who obtained the required Highers to go to a top university but they do not apply because they think they will either not fit in or get in. The summer schools are designed to dispel these myths.”

Further information available from The Sutton Trust website www.suttontrust.com.

ENDS

Note to Editors: Further information from Niall Scott, University of St Andrews Press Officer, telephone 01334 462529 or ns30@st- andrews.ac.uk – or Tim Devlin, Sutton Trust Press Officer, telephone 01580 893176 or [email protected].

Niall Scott Director Press Office University of St Andrews 82 North Street St Andrews FIFE KY16 9AL

Telephone 01334 462530 or 07711 223062 Fax 01334 467458

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