University summer schools

[EmpressMaltilda]

Hi, just wondering if anyones dc have done any university summer schools? My dd (yr12) is looking at , so far, Bath and Edinburgh. Both offer summer schools..Edinburgh's is very expensive, but Bath is shorter and more affordable!

Any experiences of these or any University summer school, I woukd love to hear!

i remember when I looked at some of these Summer Schemes some years ago getting the impression that the expensive ones are basically a money making scheme and populated by rich foreign students.
Interested to know if others think the same.

Edinburgh is 5K for a two week school!

Anything you have to pay for is a waste of time from a UCAS perspective. I suspect admissions tutors are very clued up on what can be paid for by rich parents and it would seem grossly unfair for it to give any candidate an edge. There’s enough free relevant stuff you can write or do

If you have to pay for them they’re nonsense and I’d be looking very carefully at what they actually include, what the benefit is to the student and whether they’re run BY the university or whether they’re run AT the university by a random company

To be clear.we are actually a low income family. Neither myself or DH went to uni. I am not trying to gain her an "advantage " as such rather a clearer understanding of whar uni may be like. Edinburgh is way out of our price range..Bath we could save for.

I've literally been looking at these today. Some are £3k plus! Looked like a blatant pitch for international students.

My DD did a widening participation one (free) at Newcastle Uni. Even travel was paid. She didn't end up applying there in the end as they don't teach the subject she eventually opted for, but she did enjoy it and did make some friends. It was a good try-out for uni, albeit for only two or three days.
I wouldn't bother with a paid one. It will be full of overseas students, is my guess.

Thank you..sadly I dont think we qualify.

my DC did one paid one - run by a company at a university. it was a complete waste of time and money.

try applying for all the widening participation courses you can - your DC might be eligible - first in family to apply to university is sometimes the criteria.

Absolutely no way these will be worth your hard earned savings! Even worse, I would worry they may give your daughter the wrong impression, that everyone who goes to uni is from the kind of families who can afford these high fees. Definitely both Oxford and Cambridge do widening participation courses in the summer and I’m sure there must be others.

Many universities do free courses aimed at the Widening Participation sector, but they have socio-demographic eligibility criteria.

The expensive courses you're seeing are probably either third party companies hiring university facilities (but with company names that make them sound 'official') or, in the few cases where they really are run by the uni, broadly aimed at the international market (or people who have more money than sense).

The one notable exception that I found was the Smallpeice Trust engineering courses, run by an engineering education charity in partnership with universities. Most of them are first come first served, though with 50% of places reserved for girls. My DCs did a few of these and they were very good.

The Engineering Development Trust also do engineering courses, but they prioritise by socio-demographic factors: https://www.etrust.org.uk/programmes-virtual-insights-into-university

This is a better link for the EDT courses: https://www.etrust.org.uk/residential-insight-into-university
(The previous link I posted was for the online version of the course)

And this is the Smallpeice Trust (but best to join their mailing list to see courses as soon as they're launched): https://www.smallpeicetrust.org.uk/events-calendar/

If it’s Step into Bath you’re looking at then it is run by the university I believe (and is about £350ish for 2 nights, rather than those which cost lots more!)

My DC did attend Step into Bath. She enjoyed it and it was a very useful experience as she was considering Bath but wasn’t sure about being at a campus uni, so it gave her a really good perspective on that. And it was nice to meet some other young people who were considering studying the same subject as her at University, stay in Uni halls and meet some of the staff.

In terms of being something to put on her personal statement/content learnt I don’t think it was valuable so I wouldn’t pay for it if it was going to be a big stretch financially. If it’s something you have the funds for then I think it was a good experience and a glimpse into what it feels like to be away from home at Uni - a bit like an extended open day with an overnight stay and no parents.

My dc did UNIQ at Oxford - it was free and I think they had their travel expenses paid. They were able to get a spot on this programme based on our postcode. They were excluded (correctly) from most of the other widening participation programmes. It would definitely be worth looking at this.

I think attendance of some of the Open Days this summer would be better use of time and money. With my children, I attended one with them (using a Two Together railcard) and the subsequent ones they went solo (using a 16-17 railcard).

Some were very long day trips but with the prospect of spending 3-4 years and £60k+ on university, an early start on the odd Saturday is a small sacrifice.

Solo visits at Open Days are more unusual these days but, for my children, built confidence and meant they were more invested in asking questions and finding things out. The student helpers and staff tended to home in on the solo attendees and provide a lot of helpful, practical perspectives.

Work commitments meant one of my children was not able to attend a U of Bath summer Open Day, so they booked themselves on an afternoon campus tour in the summer holidays and, as with the Open Days, found the student guides were very happy to give helpful, candid answers.

From your perspective, as a parent, you should also be researching accommodation costs esp post-first year. Bath and Edinburgh, for example, are very expensive locations with very, very limited supply of affordable accommodation.

Not quite true. The Debate Chamber Summer Schools in London, which are non-residential, are not aimed at rich international students and they are honestly very helpful. The long standing LIYSF STEM Summer School is also perfectly respectable.

Given that there are plenty of free summer schools for state educated and under privileged students, it would be grossly discriminatory to count paid for summer schools against applicants as a matter of principle.

My DC did this one last year (Summer Courses for 15 – 17 year olds | Nottingham Trent University), which was great (and reasonably priced). You stay in halls, so it's like a mini-university experience. Lots of people do it for the residential part of their Duke of Edinburgh Gold award, but equally, there are lots who do it just for fun.

Although I agree with you that some summer schools are clearly very commercially focused, they do also provide well paid summer jobs for PhD students! And feedback from families is generally very positive.

Thank you all for responding. Theres some useful advice and links here!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/KK4LEHWESkD5vov9A
Theres this summer school at LSE Bright Futures, I think its for yr13's only though.

My DD went to a UCL Ancient Philosophy thing for a week last summer - it was only £180 but you have to sort you own accomodation.

If anyone has an Ancient languages/Classics bod, there are 2 week courses at Bryanston and Durham in the summer that offer conditional full bursarys.

Sutton Trust is open for applications. There is an eligibility criteria, I think one was the first person in family to go to uni. My daughter did a week at Cambridge last year. All expenses paid and gave her a taste of uni.
summerschools.suttontrust.com

I am not trying to gain her an "advantage " as such rather a clearer understanding of whar uni may be like.

A lot of universities will run summer schools (generally not residential) or taster days for children from low income families/schools/areas. We do it at my place - one day taster days, targeted at schools we already know come under our "widening participation" banner.

Check with your local university - they may run something like this - exactly to introduce possible applicants to university - lifting their ambitions and expectations of themselves & the possibilities for further education after school.

Your DCs' school may also have useful information.

The Sutton Trust funds this sort of thing - check their website. They are an excellent charity!