The Sutton Trust
Impact of the Summer Schools in 2014
OUR SUPPORTERS
We are very grateful to all of our donors who support the
Summer Schools programme and are committed to the
Trust’s work.
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OUR PARTNERS
In 2014, The Sutton Trust worked in partnership with ten of
the UK’s leading universities to deliver the largest
summer schools programme to date.
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APPLICATIONS
The summer schools attracted a record 10,000
applications from 1740 state schools/colleges across
the UK
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ATTENDANCE
The summer schools reached 1900 students
= 40
students
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ELIGIBILITY
96% of attendees had at least 5 A/A*
at GCSE or equivalent
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ELIGIBILITY
85% of attendees will be the first generation in their family
to attend university
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ELIGIBILITY
74% of attendees came from schools with low
attainment
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ELIGIBILITY
49% of attendees lived in areas with the lowest level
of progression to university
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TARGETING HARD TO REACH SCHOOLS
We specifically targeted 900 hard to reach schools through a
series of interventions, which resulted in an increase in both
applications and attendances from these schools.
984
1000
900
800
700
600
587
500
2013
400
2014
257
300
181
200
100
0
Applications
Attendances
In total there were 984 summer school applicants from
these target schools, with 257 of these applicants going on to
.
attend a Sutton Trust Summer
School. 88% of these
attendees met 3 or more of the eligibility criteria.
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POST-SUMMER SCHOOL SUPPORT
600 summer school students are currently engaged
in mentoring schemes and are receiving follow up
support and guidance from undergraduates and
professionals.
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PROGRESSION OF 2012 COHORT
Three quarters of Sutton Trust Summer School students
went onto leading universities.
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
76%
70.00%
58%
60.00%
Attendances (% of
total cohort)
50.00%
39%
40.00%
30.00%
23%
20.00%
12%
10.00%
0.00%
Leading
universities
(Russell
group/1994
groups)
Russell Group
Sutton 13
Summer school Host institution
institution
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PROGRESSION RATES
A report by Dr Tony Hoare and Rosanna Mann at the
University of Bristol found that Sutton Trust Summer
School attendees are 50% more likely to go on to
leading universities than their peers.
‘Our study provides strong empirical evidence that summer schools do work
from the perspective of the host universities, the Sutton Trust, the students
and society as a whole, which benefits from identifying something that kickstarts social mobility. Not only does the summer school experience
encourage all attendees to target the more elite universities, but what is
particularly encouraging is that they reduce, sometimes to vanishing point,
the greater reluctance of the more underprivileged groups to do so’.
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HEAR FROM OUR STUDENTS
‘I believe that the summer school has broadened my horizons and
allowed me to see that an education at my dream university is perhaps
not as unreachable as I first thought. Also, it was an amazing experience
to be able to meet so many like-minded people and to be able to talk to
people with the same aspirations and the same passion as myself.
Thank you very much for allowing me to take part in this wonderful
opportunity!’
‘Thank you so much for this opportunity!! It has given me
so much more confidence to apply to the top universities
I wouldn't have gained from elsewhere. As well as the
fascinating subject hours!!!’
‘It was such an amazing experience that I'll never forget and I enjoyed
all of my academic sessions. They were so interesting and the
academics were really inspiring. The student ambassadors were great
too!’
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CASE STUDY ONE
Nik Cerutti
First year undergraduate at The University of Cambridge
Nick was a student on the 2013 UK summer schools
programme and subsequently gained a place at the
University of Cambridge studying Natural Sciences.
He is the first in his family to attend university.
‘The summer school was above all an amazing experience. It
helped me to firmly decide my university choice and made me
believe it was achievable. It was also very helpful that the exact
same problem that we solved at the summer school came up in
my interview!’
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CASE STUDY TWO
Helen Sheehan
Graduate of the University of Nottingham
Helen grew up in Edgware, London where she attended St
James Catholic High school and was eligible for free school
meals. Her mother was a secretary and her father a
carpenter. In 2006, she attended a Sutton Trust summer
school at the University of Nottingham and two years later
returned there to study Physics (Msci) . She is currently
working at Bloomberg as a software developer.
‘The Sutton Trust summer school was a great experience and it
really boosted my confidence. It showed I had an interest in my
subject beyond what I had learnt in my A-levels’
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CASE STUDY THREE
James Duffy
Graduate of the University of Oxford
James grew up on a council estate in Surrey with his mother, who worked as a
receptionist and his father, who was as a part-time barman/security employee.
He was eligible for free school meals. In 1999, he attended a summer school at
Oxford University. He subsequently applied to Oxford to read Law and was
offered a place in 2000. He was the first in his family to attend university. He
went on to achieve a First and then study a Masters (Bachelor of Civil law) at
Oxford. In 2005, he was called to the Bar and is now a barrister at Fountain
Court Chambers in London, specialising in commercial law.
‘The Sutton Trust summer programme was my first experience of
Oxford: it was a chance to meet tutors and current undergraduates
who instilled a belief that students from all backgrounds could aspire
to study at Oxford. I left that summer inspired and determined to
come back. Sutton Trust opened the door and gave me the
confidence to walk through it and not look back.’
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