Year 12* Sutton Trust Summer Schools

Every year we run a series of Summer Schools in partnership with the Sutton Trust. We have a wide range of subjects to choose from, designed to give you a taste of studying at University.

General Information

In 2022 UCL Sutton Trust Summer Schools were delivered both online and in person during July and August 2022. We used the Sutton Trust Online Platform to deliver an exciting mix of online sessions over the first two days of the Summer Schools. Then, we welcomed participants to UCL the following week for a range of sessions with UCL staff and students. Students took part in part in social activities and stayed overnight in university accommodation.

Summer school students work together in Law building

Architecture summer school students working on their project

Group of summer school students taking photos on a River Thames cruise

Summer school student taking photos on the River Thames

Summer school students dancing on the River Thames cruise

Summer school River Thames cruise at dusk

Archaeology summer school students examining bones

Student using VR headset at the Physics Summer School

Causeway educator delivering Personal Statement lecture

Fine Art Summer School student working on their final project

Student at the final day of the Chemical Engineering Summer School

Summer school students enjoying pizza at final day celebration

Fine Art Summer School students working on their final projects

Summer School lead delivering wrap-up and final celebration

Summer School students at final celebration

Summer School students enjoying a final send-off

Heading home after the final Summer School

Ready to go for the first Summer School!

Scholarships and bursaries advice at the first Summer School Welcome

Student leaders at the Summer School welcome

Summer School students listening to Law academic

Psychology and Language Sciences Summer School students

Psychology and Language Sciences Summer School student listening to lecture

Academic delivering tutorial at Summer School

Presentation at the Mathematics Summer School

Students at the Mathematics Summer School

Summer School student taking photos on campus tour

The Summer Schools, give you the chance to gain vital skills such as time management, organisation, and teamwork. You'll also meet students from across the country and our friendly Student Leaders (current UCL students) will be on hand to answer any questions about your work, living in London, studying at UCL, or university life in general.

For those who complete the Summer School, we have partnered with Causeway Education who offer personal statement mentoring. You'll be paired with a subject-specific mentor who will help you to develop your personal statement. This is completely free and available for all students on the UCL Summer School. Causeway will also deliver a Personal Statement workshop during the Summer School to introduce you to the platform and get you thinking about personal statements.

We are currently planning our 22-23 Summer School and will update the website once our programme is confirmed. Applications typically open in January 2023.

What can I study on the Summer School?

The subjects below give you a taste of the subjects we offered in 2022, however, they may change for our 2023 Summer School.

Subject	Online	Residential
Languages and Cultures, Laws, Maths and Computer Science, Psychology and Education	20 and 21 July**	26 - 28 July
Archaeology, Architecture, Biosciences, Geography, Physics	3 and 4 August	9 - 11 August
Chemical Engineering, Economics, Fine Art, History, Natural Sciences	16 and 17 August	23 - 25 August

*S5 in Scotland or Year 13 in Northern Ireland

**Please note, these two days may overlap with term time in some areas of the UK. Any live sessions for these subjects will be delivered after 4:00 pm to ensure you can attend.

Apply

Applications for our 2022 Year 12 Sutton Trust Summer Schools have now closed. Applications typically open in January 2023. We will update this website once our programme is confirmed.

Application Information

To attend our programmes, you must meet certain eligibility criteria.
Applications are not selected on a first-come-first-served basis, so this will not affect any application outcomes.
All applications will go through the Sutton Trust. If you have any problems with the application form, contact the Sutton Trust in the first instance.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to pay for these summer schools?: No! Our Summer Schools are completely free to attend.
Can my friend/family member take part too?: Only applicants who applied through our system and have been notified that they have a place on the Summer School can attend and take part in the Summer School.
When will I hear if I have a place?: This varies for each subject. If the application deadline gets extended for any reason, we will email existing applicants to let them know the new deadline date. We aim to have students notified of their outcome in early May. We usually shortlist around 7000 applications for our various activities, so it can take some time. Please be patient, and rest assured that you will be notified whatever your outcome. Please do not email to ask about the status of your application, as this significantly slows down the shortlisting process.
Can I come to the residential part of the Summer School and not do the online sessions?: We expect all students to attend both the online and residential parts of the summer school. It will not be possible to only attend one part on its own.
I've already applied to another Summer School, can I apply to yours as well?: You can only apply to one Sutton Trust Summer School. If you have applied to a Summer School which is not in partnership with the Sutton Trust, you are welcome to apply to one at UCL as well. Just make sure the dates don't overlap with our Summer School. You can't attend more than one Summer School at the same time.
My question hasn't been answered here. What do I do?: Email wp.taster@ucl.ac.uk with your query, and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.