UCL Sutton Scholars Year 8
Programme 2015-16
Information for Year 8 applicants and their families
What is the UCL Sutton Scholars Year 8 programme?
UCL Sutton Scholars is an academic development programme for 100 highly able students from non-selective state
schools across London, supported by The Sutton Trust and run by UCL. The programme is designed to stretch and
challenge you academically across a range of science and humanities subjects during Year 8. You can read more at
this weblink: www.ucl.ac.uk/wp/sutton-scholars
Year 8 students will attend a series of Discovery Days at UCL during the February and May. Every student will be
assigned a UCL student mentor to support them through the programme, both in person and through an online ementoring programme. The Year 8 programme will conclude with a three day non-residential summer school at UCL
in August 2016. You will then be invited to attend a continuation programme in Year 9, which includes Saturday skills
sessions and a residential summer school in 2017.
Discovery Days
Each Discovery Day will focus on an interdisciplinary academic theme. The themes will cover a range of science and
humanities subjects, for example ‘History of Medicine’, ‘Languages & Culture’, ‘Outer Space’ or ‘Ancient Worlds’. You
will explore the theme through taster lectures and workshops, while developing key skills needed to succeed at
school and university. After each Discovery Day you will be asked to complete a short written assignment, for example
a short piece of creative writing or an essay about a topic from the day. You will receive feedback on your written
assignments from your student mentors to help you develop your writing skills, and prizes will be awarded for the
best homework assignments.
UCL Sutton Scholars Year 8 Programme
Event
Times
Weeknight in early February 2016
(exact date TBC)
5.00 – 7.00pm
February 2016 programme
9.30am – 3.30pm
daily
May 2016 programme
9.30am – 3.30pm
daily
August 2016 programme
9.30am – 3.30pm daily
Details
Information Evening: Optional event for parents, students
and teachers to learn more about the programme and
meet UCL staff and students.
Day 1: Ice breakers to get to know your group and UCL
mentors. Introduction to the online e-mentoring system.
Workshops to develop your understanding of university
Day 2 and 3: two themed Discovery Days on different
topics (topics will be confirmed nearer the time)
Three themed Discovery Days on different topics
(topics will be confirmed nearer the time)
Three day non-residential Summer School on an
interdisciplinary theme such as ‘Global Citizenship’ or
‘London’.
Who can apply?
The UCL Sutton Scholars Year 8 programme is open to highly able students (in the top 10% of ability nationally),
attending a non-selective state school in the UK, who come from backgrounds that are under-represented in higher
education. The criteria are outlined below:

Academic criteria - students must meet several of these:
o Students recognised as gifted and talented or highly able by their school
o Students whose end of primary Key Stage 2 sub level test results in Maths, Reading and Writing
demonstrated high ability
o Students whose most current teacher assessments of sub levels for English, Maths and Science
demonstrate high ability
o Students who have the potential to achieve five or more A*s and As at GCSE
o Students who receive a strong academic reference from their teachers

Social criteria - students must meet two or more of these:
o Students who will be the first generation in their family to attend university
o Students who come from neighbourhoods with low overall progression rates to higher education
o Students who are in, or have lived under local authority care
o Students with parents from non-professional occupations
o Students who are or have been eligible for free school meals within the past five years
o Student who are from an ethnic group which is currently underrepresented at UCL
Please note that applications to the programme are competitive: not every student who applies is guaranteed to get
a place. We will prioritise places to applicants who meet the majority of the academic and social criteria outlined
above.
Travel arrangements
Please note that we are unable to arrange transport to and from UCL for the programmed events: parents/
guardians will either need to drop off and collect you from each event, or to give permission for you to travel to and
from UCL by yourself.
We will provide free travel cards for every event for students who would otherwise not be able to attend. Full details
of how to claim the travel cards will be included in the enrolment pack if you are offered a place.
Application process
If you would like to apply for a place on the UCL Sutton Scholars Year 8 Programme 2015-16, you will need to
complete the application form and ask your teacher to provide you with a reference to support your application.
The application form is available to view and complete on our website: www.ucl.ac.uk/wp/sutton-scholars
You will need to complete the application online and press the submit button at the end of the form.
Please note we are no longer accepting paper application forms.
Once you have submitted your application, you will then need to ask your teacher to provide you with a reference to
support your application. You could choose your form tutor or a subject teacher to provide you with the reference.
Please discuss your application with your chosen teacher so that they can complete their part in time.
Please note that applications will not be considered without an accompanying teacher reference.
The deadline for you to submit your application, including a teacher reference is Friday 8th January 2016.
We will contact you by email to confirm if you have a place on the programme by the end of January 2016.
If you are successful, we will send you an enrolment pack in the post with the relevant consent forms to complete
and return to us before the Information Evening in February 2016.
Contact
If you have any questions, please email us at scholars@ucl.ac.uk or call Joycelyn Mate on 0203 108 7646 or on
07469 118172.
We look forward to receiving your application!