2022 marks the 20th anniversary of the Norfolk Summer School and this year’s event was as successful as ever. 

Hosted by Norwich School and funded with the support of private benefactors, Norfolk Summer School aims to help the brightest pupils from all backgrounds who are considering Oxbridge, other academically demanding universities and medical school. Through a range of activities, including sessions on interview practice, in-depth subject seminars taught at university level and a chance to experience a university-style interview, pupils are given the chance to hone their subject knowledge and improve their skills in preparation for university application. This year teaching was delivered by Norwich School staff who were joined by industry experts from UEA, Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital, Southampton University, the University of Dundee and Bishop’s Grosseteste University. in addition, guest speakers are invited to give talks on student finance, studying abroad and gap years. Participants are also given the opportunity to meet existing university students to learn about their experiences. 

The organisers were delighted to hold the event onsite once more at Norwich School, following a 2-year diversion to an online model during the pandemic. The 2022 Summer School was held on two consecutive Saturdays and one day midweek to minimise the loss of contact time for the Year 12 pupils within their own schools. 

Overall, the school welcomed 40 Year 12 pupils who joined from 16 Norfolk Schools. During the week, 98 seminars were delivered covering 14 subjects including Maths, English, Science, Psychology and Medicine. A real asset of the Summer School is its ability to cater for the more niche areas not commonly offered at A Level such as Law, Art History, Religious Studies and Politics, meaning pupils have the opportunity to explore these new subjects at undergrad level before embarking on their university applications. 

The 21 Norwich School staff who delivered the programme were joined by guest speakers and former pupils and in total each pupil had access to 21 hours targeted information and guidance around university study. 

Here is just some of the feedback from pupils who enjoyed Norfolk Summer school this year:

"Insightful, thought-provoking, engaging, individual."

"I most enjoyed getting to further explore my subject and talk through my ideas with like-minded individuals."

"It was intellectually stimulating."

"The tutorials where amazing, really interesting and will be great to talk about on a personal statement or in interviews. Everyone was so nice and really helpful and I absolutely loved the Summer School. Thank you so much everyone!"

Before the event, pupils rated themselves an average of 3.3 on a scale of 1-5 for how prepared they feel for applying to university. Following the event this increased to 4.1 out of 5. All pupils reported that they found the interview practice either useful or very useful, and the most popular element for most were the subject tutorials. 

The Summer School will continue to offer UCAS support to all its alumni for the next academic year and we look forward to supporting pupils through their applications!