Applications for the Virtual Summer School 2024 are now closed. Applicants will have been notified whether or not they have been successful by the end of March 2024.

About the programme
A guaranteed contextual offer
Eligibility criteria

About the programme

The Virtual Summer School is open to Year 12 students and offers many of the benefits of an in-person program but is accessed online via Zoom.

The three-day event comprises academic talks, social sessions, and information, advice and guidance to help you make informed choices about your future options in Higher Education.

Subject streams have included:

• Biomedical and Biological Sciences
• Economics and Finance
• Engineering
• English Literature
• Historial Studies
• Law, Social and Political Sciences
• Medicine and Health Sciences
• Modern Language and Culture
• Maths and Physics
• Psychology
• Veterinary Science

Dates and times

Successful applicants will be expected to attend all three days online from 10 am to 5 pm usually taking place in May. There will be regular screen breaks worked into the programme.

Guaranteed contextual offer

For most courses, attending and completing The Virtual Summer School 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 (for example, 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), Virtual Summer School 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 Virtual Summer School you must:

• be in year 12 (or equivalent level of study) in the 2023-4 academic year,
• attend a non-fee paying school or college,
• attend a UK school or college,
• 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. Participants will be more likely to gain a place if you:

• are or have been eligible for free school meals,
• 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 your family to go to university,
• live in an area of low participation in higher education (a score of 1 or 2 for 'POLAR4 young participation quintile'),
• 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),
• be a refugee or asylum seeker,
• are a Young Carer.

We ensure our programmes are inclusive and welcoming. We welcome applications from students with disabilities, learning difficulties and other physical and mental health conditions.