Successful third year for the Pre-University Summer School

This summer saw the third year running of the Pre-University Summer School, a two-week course for International students in their penultimate year of high school, which aims to give students a taste of what it is like to study in a top university in London.

31 students from China, Thailand, Japan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Russia, France and the UK were introduced to the theme of Global Citizenship and looked at the academic and personal qualities needed to succeed at university.

Students benefited from a wide range of classes, including academic English, subject-specific lessons across the sciences and humanities and participation in a laboratory session, where students carried out their own lab experiment.

Print Yingtavornkul, a Thai student on the Pre-University Summer School, said: “I really enjoyed the Carrot Pigment Experiment lab class… we used a lot of special scientific instruments that I had never used before, such as a spectrophotometer. I learnt how to do an experiment, analyse the results, make conclusions and explain things in scientific ways.”

They also developed essential research skills through exploring different topics, writing up an essay and then presenting their findings to their classmates.

There was an active social programme in the afternoons and weekends for students to experience London and the local area, including day trips to Greenwich, Brighton, a shopping trip to Oxford Street and a visit to the West End.

“I really enjoyed the musical, Aladdin” said French student, Juliette Helfi, “I was impressed by the special effects and the costumes were so lavish. The singers and dancers were also excellent, I was enraptured by the show!”

The programme was enriched by the addition of two UK students from UCL Academy, who won CLIE-funded scholarships to participate. Scarlet Malynn and Susanna Saghir were selected by the Academy after writing winning essays about why they should attend the course. They both provided a local perspective on what it is like to be a student living and studying in London.

Course Coordinator, David Albery, was delighted with how the programme went after receiving such positive student feedback.

“It was great having so many young people from so many different countries all working together to make the most of their studies at UCL. The highlights for me were seeing students produce such excellent presentations at the end of the course combined with their incredibly positive reactions to the different visits and events.”

The course will run again next year between 22 July – 2 August 2019.