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T H E B A S I C S
Contrary to other summer school programmes, Eton Summer School is not means tested and this year's fee was £475- but it is important to mention that this cost was subsidised and there was an opportunity for the fee to be remitted if you did not have the means of paying it yourself. This fee includes everything from accommodation to food to potential trips.
The programmes offered this year included: Mathematics; Mathematics with Physics; Mathematics with Chemistry; Physics with Chemistry; Chemistry with Biology; English; History; Politics and Economics; Geography; French; Classics. To provide you with a bit of context, I think it's probably useful to mention that I did the French course and was accepted with GCSE grades 8A* 3A (4 8's and 4 9's, with a 9 in French).
A T Y P I C A L D A Y, W H A T W A S C O V E R E D E T C .
Aside from the Specialist Course Sessions, we would usually have a tutorial wherein we could discuss any pressing issues we had in small groups (as well as the whole matter of university applications) and also a lecture wherein the entire Summer School would gather and listen to a variety of topics such as the value of modern art being discussed. Between that we would have various points where we could grab something to eat/drink/socialise as well as recreation, where we would usually have a choice of around 4 activities that we could sign up for as a bit of a de-stress; these included: dodgeball, rounders, swimming, bracelet making and going for a walk. Although perhaps not being as free as anticipated, I ended up quite enjoying these activities because what really made and got me through the experience was the people around me!
Sunday was entirely different as there were no Specialist Course Sessions and you simply signed up for an activity to do for the entire day, these included: debating, water sports, drama and so forth. As you will see in the timetable, Saturday was also slightly different due to the disco that took place- something which was certainly a highlight for me, it's not everyday you get to say that you were in a mosh pit at Eton! In addition to the disco, Saturday provided a great university focus to the Summer School and we had the opportunity to discuss the whole matter with Oxbridge tutors as well as the undergraduates that also supported us through the course- for me this was definitely one of the most helpful aspects of the course and I got some brilliant feedback from others' questions as I did my own! What was also particularly nice was 'Speeches' which took place on the penultimate day, a little bit like Eton's-Got-Talent if you will, as well as the farewell supper. Admittedly, due to the regimented nature of the activities and timetable, it didn't feel as if there was all that much down-time and this was something which I know a lot of people including me found particularly difficult in the first few days- but after that little rough patch, you definitely begin to pick up the pace and get the best out of the programme!
T H E P R O S & T H E C O N S
In terms of the pros, the greatest without a shadow of doubt is the academic expertise that you have access to- which, after all, is what you're there for. Not to delve too greatly into it, but there have been various reasons as to why I've found A-Level French to be a real challenge and the Summer School got me to think about the subject in an entirely new light, showing me that there was so much I had yet to know and invigorating a fire in me once again. In addition to that, I found the experience to be invaluable on a personal development front too- not only giving me more confidence in knowing that I have the skill-set and knowledge to apply for a languages degree, but also on the whole social front given than I'm naturally more on the reserved side! As I think I've mentioned above, I think the experience has also made me a lot more disciplined and resilient. Finally, I would say that the third major pro was the people; I've come out of the Summer School with an amazing set of friends, but in general the atmosphere was lovely because everybody was in the same boat of being hard-working and passionate about their subject- but nobody was stuck-up and in general people were a lot more relaxed than I thought they'd be!
Needless to say, if you liked what you heard (or rather, read) and you're currently in Year 11 now, I could not recommend applying enough- and please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any more questions!