Insight into Bristol

Applications for Insight into Bristol 2025 are now open. Applications close 6pm on Sunday 09 March 2025.

Submit your application

About the programme
A guaranteed contextual offer
Eligibility criteria

About the programme

Participants in the summer school will get the opportunity to experience student life at the University of Bristol by:

• staying in student accommodation
• meeting similar students from across the UK
• exploring the City of Bristol
• attending academic sessions in an assigned subject stream delivered by our world-leading academics
• getting to know current University of Bristol students, including some of our student societies
• taking part in social activities throughout the week
• receiving information, advice and guidance to equip you to navigate to a top UK university

Dates and times

The summer school will take place from Tuesday 22 July to Friday 25 July 2025 on the University of Bristol campus with accommodation provided.

Accessibility on the Summer School

We want to provide a positive and equitable experience to all participants on our outreach programmes.  This involves providing reasonable adjustments to support individuals who may need additional support due to a disability, health condition or specific learning difference.  It’s vital that you share details of any support you need as soon as possible so that we can agree adjustments with you to enable you to participate fully in the programme.  To help you identify support you might require, we have provided details on the more practical aspects of the outreach programme below: 

• Travelling around campus independently.  This can require walking for durations of up to 20 minutes across distances of up to 1 mile between sites. You may also be navigating busy, congested and/or loud areas in and around campus.
• Engaging in 1:1/small/large group discussions with other students. This can involve discussion on various topics which can be political, controversial and sometimes with adult and/or emotionally difficult themes.
• Participating in on-line sessions, switching cameras on when directed by staff to do so.
• Staying overnight in on-campus accommodation.

Guaranteed contextual offer

For most courses, completing Insight into Bristol guarantees participants a contextual offer, providing they meet the full entry requirements of the course applied for (such as GCSE and subject requirements).

The contextual offer is usually set two grades below the standard offer (e.g., ABB instead of AAA). Students who are undertaking the appropriate subjects but do not have the predicted contextual offer grades are usually made an aspirational offer at the contextual level.

If the course holds interviews as part of the selection process (such as Medicine and Dentistry), Insight participants will be guaranteed an interview, rather than a guaranteed contextual offer. The interview will be guaranteed if their predicted grades meet the contextual entry requirements and the GCSE requirements. If participants are successful at interview, they will be made an offer at the contextual level.

Eligibility criteria

To apply for the Insight into Bristol summer school students must:

• be in year 12 (or equivalent level of study) in the 2024-25 academic year (and under 18 during the summer school dates)
• attend a non-fee paying school or college
• identify as Asian, Black or mixed heritage featuring one of these groups, or belong to other global majority backgrounds (meaning students from Arab, Latin-American, Mixed, and Multiple-Ethnic backgrounds).
• be eligible for Home (UK) fee status
• have the academic ability to study at the University of Bristol (meeting the GCSE entry requirements for their chosen subject stream and studying any required Level 3 subjects)
• have the potential to meet the contextual entry requirements where eligible

When allocating places, certain criteria will be taken into consideration. Applicants will be more likely to gain a place if they:

• are from an ethnic group that is under-represented at the University of Bristol: Asian Pakistani, Asian Bangladeshi, Black Caribbean, Black African, mixed backgrounds featuring one or more of these groups
• are first in their family to go to university
• live in an IMD (Indices of Multiple Deprivation) quintile 1 area as defined by their home postcode
• are or have been eligible for free school meals
• attend a school or college listed by the University as an 'Aspiring State School/College'
• have spent three or more months in Local Authority Care
• are an Estranged Student (considering university without the support of a family network)
• are a Young Carer
• are a Refugee who has been granted refugee status by the UK Home Office
• are part of the Gypsy, Traveller, Roma, Showmen or Boater (GTRSB) community
• have a parent or carer who currently serves in the UK Armed Forces, or who has done so in the past
• have a disability

The programme is designed to meet the needs of Students of Colour. There is an emphasis throughout the week on the formation of a cohort and the opportunity to engage with undergraduate Student Mentors with shared lived experiences and culture.