12 Jul 08

Samantha, Susanne and Sian have been enjoying their stay at Magdalen College

Over 300 sixteen and seventeen year olds from across the UK will be getting a taste of university life at Oxford this summer.

From attending lectures in their chosen subject and living in student accommodation, to sampling college food and the evening entertainment on offer in the city, the school and college pupils will have the chance to see whether going to University, and particularly to Oxford, will be the right choice for them.

The Sutton Trust Summer Schools celebrated their 10th anniversary last year and over 800 school pupils take part in a summer school at one of the five participating universities every year. The aim is to leave students with the knowledge – and the confidence – to apply university.

Sian Mitchell, from Dunraven School in Streatham, says she has been surprised by the lectures she’s attended: ‘They’re a lot more interactive than I expected. You’re not just being talked at.’ She would like to study medicine and adds, ‘The summer school’s given me a chance to find out how the subject is taught and whether I would be suited to studying it.’

The summer schools are free for students who are offered places and are designed to give the teenagers a chance to see what university is like when they are achieving good marks at school but could be the first generation in their family to go on to higher education, so might not have someone easily to hand to help answer questions about life at university.

There are three summer schools at Oxford this year and the first 120 students finish their week-long visit today.

‘I want to apply to a well respected university and Oxford’s pretty much up there,’ says Samantha Goodrick, from Ryton Comprehensive School in Gateshead. ‘I had some pre-conceived ideas but it’s a lot more laid back and friendly than I thought.’

‘I was thinking everyone at Oxford was going to be superhuman but you don’t have to be degree level before you arrive. You’ve got to want to study your subject and I’ve really liked the way you can disagree and discuss things in lectures’, adds Samantha, who would like to go on to study French at university.

Susanne Seaton, from Allerton Grange School in Leeds, would like to study law but says she too had reservations about coming to Oxford: ‘I was thinking the city would be too small and wondered what kind of social life the students would have. Now I’m not worried about that – there’s a busy high street and there might not be many clubs but there are still lots of things to do.’