WP at Warwick News

The WP Team have been delivering summer schools as part of the Sutton Trust's UK Summer School programme since 2016, and the opportunity to take part, whether from participants or our academic departments' perspective, continues to be highly sought after.

This year's delivery team was made up of Paul Beaufoy, Leanne Harris, Danny Shaikh-Syed and Elliott Wooden. The week-long event at the end of July takes practically the full academic year to plan and prepare for, and it isn't the only project that the team members are responsible for during the year.

During autumn term, the team reach out to all academic departments asking for summer school stream proposals. Priority is given to departments who are able to collaborate with others, alongside looking at where there is likely to be the highest demand for places by the year 12 participants. Examples of interesting collaborative streams include Psychology and Education; History and Politics, Mathematical Sciences, and Classics & Ancient History-Film & TV Studies-History of Art.

Our final list of subject streams for 2025 was:

• Cyber Security (WMG) and Engineering
• History and Politics (History and PAIS)
• Life and Health Sciences (SLS and WMS)
• Mathematical Sciences (DCS, Maths and Stats)
• Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Philosophy, Econ and PPE)
• Psychology and Education (Psychology and Education Studies)

Spring term is all about the applications - The Sutton Trust manage the application portal, our role is to promote the opportunity across our networks, speak to schools and ensure we have as broad a geographical reach as we can! Participants need to meet various eligibility criteria to be awarded a place, which includes meeting certain academic criteria alongside social mobility criteria. This year we had over 700 applications for 120 places, meaning the team had their work cut out during the shortlisting process. In the background, other tasks are being completed, such as recruiting current Warwick students to work as Group Leaders; planning out the social elements of the programme; liaising with Warwick Conferences and academic colleagues on various elements of the overall programme.

Summer term is when communication with the selected participants begins in earnest, to keep them interested in coming to our summer school! Over the last three years, we have delivered three virtual events prior to the in-person residential event, to prepare the participants for what to expect and give them the chance to meet their academic leads and group leaders.

For our team, most of the hard work is done by the time the actual summer school week comes around - that's when we hand-over delivery of content to our academic colleagues. However, there are always unexpected things that crop-up which is par for the course when running such large-scale events, and it is fair to say that the team did not get a lot of downtime in the week!

During the residential, participants experience lectures, seminars, and lab sessions linked to their subject area. On the penultimate day, they spend time in groups working on a project which usually produces an academic poster, zine, or other tangible item that demonstrates what the participants have learned about their subject area.

The social programme aims to give the participants a flavour of what students do outside of their academic studies and in the last couple of summer schools, this has included student society sessions. The week wraps up with a formal dinner and silent disco!

The highest praise of the week is directed at our amazing team of Group Leaders and Night Staff, made up of current Warwick students. The team could not run these residential events without them. The Group Leaders help participants navigate their way around campus, attend all their academic sessions and keep them entertained in the evenings. The Night Staff make sure everyone stays sleeping soundly in their flats overnight and are the first port of call should anyone need them.

The feedback received from participants makes it all worthwhile - the team do read all feedback, both positive and constructive, and look to see where changes can be made based on that constructive feedback.

Taking part in the Warwick Summer School has been a transformative experience for me, both academically and personally. The programme exposed me to teaching in an engaging and an intellectual environment. The lectures were thought-provoking and challenged me to think critically, especially when interacting with students from diverse backgrounds who brought unique perspectives to discussions.

I've made great long term friends and gained insight to whether or not university is for me

It has showed me there are many people out there in the same situation as me and that the best thing you can do is try!

It has made me more confident and independent.

It's been a bit of a roller coaster, but one I thoroughly enjoyed and would definitely queue for again