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Oxford University announces new summer schools

24 April 2009


A new summer school programme at the University of Oxford will start next year, thanks to a generous donation.

The University is expanding the number of summer school places it offers from 387 on the Sutton Trust summer schools this year to 1,000 places on the new summer schools by 2014.

The University of Oxford summer schools will replace the Sutton Trust summer schools currently run by the University. 500 high-performing sixteen and seventeen year olds from state schools and colleges will be given a taste of life at Oxford on the first new summer school in 2010.

In 2011 there will be 600 places; in 2012 there will be 750 places and in 2013 there will be 850 places. By 2014, there will be 1,000 places and a summer school course for every undergraduate course offered by the University.

The summer schools will give pupils the chance to spend a week in Oxford - attending lectures in their chosen subject, living in college accommodation with other summer school pupils and student mentors, and finding out more about applying to Oxford.

Mike Nicholson, Director of Undergraduate Admissions at Oxford University, said: 'Based on our experience of running summer schools over the last eleven years we know they are a good way of helping encourage talented students to apply to university, so I'm very pleased we are able to offer more places.'

James Turner, Director of Policy at the Sutton Trust, said: 'We are delighted that Oxford has been able to secure a major donation to expand its residential summer schools. When the Sutton Trust supported the first summer school at Oxford eleven years ago, it could not have hoped for more success. Thousands of summer school students from non-privileged backgrounds have subsequently entered Oxford and other prestigious universities. But the ultimate goal was that universities would eventually take ownership of the summer schools themselves, so we wish Oxford every success and look forward to continuing to work with them in the future.'

The Helsington Foundation has given the University £3.25 million, over the next six years, to fund the summer schools. The Foundation has also given money to fund the work the University is undertaking with teachers this year, including this summer's regional teachers' conferences, and work with Oxford PGCE students and new graduates who are about to take part in the Teach First programme.

The University has been increasing the work it does with teachers and guidance advisors as they are one of the most important influences on a student's decisions about higher education and deal with a large number of students each year. The University is offering HE guidance training to secondary PGCE students at its Department for Education, thereby engaging with new teachers before they start their first jobs.

Oxford University provides the largest number of graduates to Teach First. It is offering them HE guidance training, making sure they have an appreciation of the wider HE sector and are up to date with changes to the admissions process since they applied to university.

Graham Sharp, the Oxford alumnus who set up the Helsington Foundation, said: 'I want to help with initiatives that reach out to those pupils who have ability and aspirations but aren't able to fulfil those aspirations. I named the foundation after the outward bound centre I went to with my old school - a place that helped widen my education.'

The donation has been made as part of the Campaign for the University of Oxford - the largest campaign in European university history and one of the biggest in the world. It aims to raise more than £1.25 billion in order to transform the University for many generations to come, and supporting students is one of its key aims.

Ewan McKendrick, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Education at the University of Oxford, said: 'Oxford wants to continue to attract the best students and an important part of our fundraising is about making sure that we equip talented students to apply and that they are supported when they get here. I'm delighted that, thanks to this generous donation, we are able to offer more students the chance to attend a summer school at the University.'

Mike Nicholson adds: 'Attending a summer school should give students the chance to explore a potential university subject in greater depth than they can at school, while also giving them the opportunity to discover for themselves what Oxford's really like, dispelling some of the myths that surround the University.'

For further information please contact the University of Oxford press office on 01865 280531 or email lisa.glanville@admin.ox.ac.uk

Notes for Editors

New summer schools at the University of Oxford

  • The new summer schools at the University of Oxford will replace the Sutton Trust summer schools the University currently runs and provide a much greater number of places.
  • The Sutton Trust summer school at Oxford will still be taking place this year (summer 2009).
  • The Sutton Trust summer school at Oxford in 2008 had 329 places. This means that, between 2008 and 2014, the University will be tripling the number of places on offer.
  • The University of Oxford summer schools will adopt a similar format to the Sutton Trust summer schools: week-long academic programmes of activities for young people, with accommodation in an Oxford college.
  • The overall aim of the University of Oxford summer schools is to contribute to raising aspirations to apply to research-intensive universities generally, not just to encourage applications to Oxford in particular. Oxford University is committed to encouraging, selecting and supporting the very best candidates, from any background. The summer schools will also aim to widen the pool of academically talented state school students applying to the University each year, by giving them an opportunity to find out what it is like to study at Oxford and learn more about the application process, helping to dispel the myths that surround it.
  • The University will be looking for high-performing sixteen and seventeen year old state school students to take part in the summer schools. The final selection criteria are still being drawn up and more information will be available next academic year.·    
  •  £3.25 million is being donated, over the next six years, to fund the new summer schools programme at Oxford University from 2010 to 2014.Regional teachers' conferences:
  • This is the second year Oxford has held regional teachers' conferences at locations around the country. The free, one-day conferences run through the whole application process from the point of view of teachers - how to identify and support potential Oxford University candidates before they apply, the deadlines for forms and tests, and how to help students prepare for the often unfairly dreaded Oxford interview. Those who attend can ask questions of the tutors and students who run through mock interviews, and the aim is to assist teachers and guidance advisors in preparing school and college students to make informed applications to Oxford.
  • Seven conferences are being held in England this year, in June and July.
  • These conferences will be in areas not covered by the 2008 series of conferences, which visited all four countries of the UK.2009 conferences:
  • 8 June: Yorkshire (Leeds)
    10 June: West Midlands (Birmingham)
    11 June: East Midlands (Nottingham)
    6 July: North West (Preston)
    8 July: South Central (Luton)
    9 July: London (central London)
    10 July: South East (Gatwick)
  • The Campaign for the University of Oxford is the largest campaign in European University history and one of the biggest in the world, aiming to raise more than £1.25 billion in order to transform the University for many generations to come.
  • £679m of this Campaign goal has already been raised.
  • A programme of priorities has been developed by colleagues right across the collegiate University, based on their identified academic priorities and in furtherance of their strategic vision. These are grouped into three main areas which have equal importance:
    Supporting students
    Supporting academic posts and programmes (both existing and new)
    Supporting buildings and infrastructure
  • Each part of the collegiate University (the colleges, divisions, departments, library system etc) have their own identified priorities within those broad themes.
  • See www.campaign.ox.ac.uk

 

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