Sutton Trust Summer School in Cambridge are doubling their spaces available this year; this will enable pupils from a wider range of backgrounds to experience student life in Cambridge for a week this Summer.

The program has been running for thirteen years and is aimed at year 12 students from state-maintained schools or colleges. It will give 380 pupils the opportunity to spend a week living and studying like a first-year undergraduate at Cambridge.

According to its Chairman, Sir Peter Lampi, "the main objective of the Sutton Trust is to improve educational opportunities for young people from non-privileged backgrounds, and to increase social mobility."

Successful candidates must be the first generation of their family to attend university; the program also favours those whose schools have little history of sending students to research-intensive universities.

Tom Levinson, Head of Widening Participation at Cambridge University, told Varsity “the decision to double the number of places was actually taken some years ago because of the immensely positive impact that attending a Summer School has on disadvantaged students in terms of their university aspirations and confidence.”

The program contains lectures, seminars, discussion groups and practical work in the participant’s chosen subject courses; these are led by some of the leading academics in their field. This is aimed to raise the aspirations of the participants, and to provide them with an insight into further education.

All costs for students are covered, including transport to and from the event, meals, accommodation and all activities.  This year Fitzwilliam, Christ’s, Newnham and Churchill College are being used as bases for the participants.  Students will be able to meet current undergraduate students, find out about the application procedure and interview process, aswell as enjoy the social activities that university life at Cambridge offers.

Rachel Yelland, who took part in the summer school in 2008, told Varsity what a typical week studying geography involved: “we took part in a field trip to investigate the distribution of vegetation and then used the data collected to conduct experiments within the lab. The techniques that I learnt were adaptable to the coursework required for my A level studies.”

James Mollard, now studying at the University of Edinburgh, was one of many who benefited from this experience: “the Sutton Trust was brilliant for me. My mother is disabled and at the time my Dad was unemployed, so I had never been able to go to things like this before."

He went on to say that "there were a lot of students who were in similar positions to me, in terms of hardship. There were also many people who had come from emotional hardship backgrounds, not just from financially poor families.”

To take part, pupils must have achieved at least five A or A*s at GCSE, and show an enthusiasm for one of the seventeen subjects on offer. These range from medicine to history; renewed emphasis is being placed on subjects that are not studied at A-levels, such as Psychology and Sociology.

This years Summer School will witness several new subject combinations, including Theology and Religious Studies with Philosophy.

Other universities taking part in the scheme include Bristol, Nottingham and St Andrews Universities.

Online applications can be made from 11th January until 12th March 2010. Students are informed of decisions by the end of May.