Frequently Asked Questions

We have a variety of afternoon and evening activities, from formal visits to watch an outdoor Shakespeare play to informal evening football/rounders sessions – and plenty more. Click here to read about our activities and trips.

We want you to make the most out of your time with us, so we pack in lots of activities to offer a fun and rewarding schedule. However, we know you’ll want to have free time to explore Oxford, spend time with friends or just relax in your room, so you’ll get a couple of hours off for lunch each day. The weekend is more relaxed, although there are still optional activities that you can choose to take part in with your friends.

When outside of our accommodation, we ask students on our Discover summer courses to be in groups of at least two people.

The morning will typically involve your classes. After lunch, you will normally have a mixture of either workshops or seminars, while the evening will usually involve fun social activities. For a more detailed outline, click here.

Students are asked to be in their own rooms by 10.30pm, with lights out at 11pm. This will enable you to get enough rest for the next day ahead.

We spend a lot of time hand-picking and training the best tutors for each course. You can read more about our typical tutors here.

We do accept bright, mature 11 year olds onto our Discover courses (designed for ages 12-14), so please do submit an application here. If you’d like to discuss your specific situation, please contact us here and we’ll be happy to advise you.

We do sometimes allow bright, mature 14 year olds (usually 14.5 years old and above) to join our Experience courses, which are designed for ages 15-18, so please do submit an application here. If you’d like to discuss your specific situation, please contact us here and we’ll be happy to advise you.

• You must be aged between 11-18 years old at the beginning of your summer school session
• You must be motivated to learn more about the course you wish to study (there is space for you to write a personal statement on our registration form). We find that for students who are self-motivated and eager to make the most of the opportunity, the summer school can be a truly transformative experience
• You must be able to speak, read and understand English well. Though we require no formal testing, our minimum English level is Common European Framework Level C1 which equates to IELTS 6.5. If you’d like to arrange a call to check whether you have the right level of English please feel free to contact us

All students who successfully complete the course will be awarded an Oxford Scholastica Academy certificate after the programme ends.

Students who meet our requirements will also receive a personalised Letter of Recommendation from their tutor on the programme.

You are welcome to join us for four weeks. You get to choose a second course to study with us for your second two weeks.

While there will be some parts of the programme which are the same, you’ll get to experience a new class, choose some different Masterclasses, experience different trips and make new friends. We’ll sit down with you at the end of your first session (along with the other students attending for four weeks) to discuss what you would like to do in your second two weeks (for example, whether you would like to participate in some of the activities again with the new friends you’ll make on the second session, or whether you’d prefer to do something different).

We can only accept students who haven’t yet started university. If you have just finished attending school and are not yet at university you are welcome to join us, but if you have already started at university unfortunately you aren’t able to attend.

No. Whilst we use Oxford University facilities, and a number of our tutors teach or study at the university, it’s important to understand that we have no formal connection with The University of Oxford. Read more about our relationship here.

Our accommodation has residential staff, so there is always someone on site 24 hours a day. During the summer school, we provide a 24 hour emergency phone number that students, family and friends may call. As well as getting contact details from parents/ guardians, we ask students to provide another emergency contact as a precaution.

Our students have a full programme of classes and activities, and as such we know where they are. However, if students choose to use their free time to explore Oxford, we have a signing-in and signing-out register. Please note, students on Discover courses are only allowed to leave the accommodation with a friend (they are not allowed out on their own).

From dinner time onwards, students are always supervised. They must either participate in one of our group activities or relax at our accommodation.

You’ll be given a fob/key to access your accommodation building, and you will also be able to lock your door. We have a safe in the main staff office where students can choose to deposit items such as passports, bank cards, travel documents and other items of value (though students should also take out relevant contents insurance and we recommend not bringing anything too valuable).

Upon arrival, we hold an opening “Welcome Drinks” for all parents and students on the first Sunday afternoon. Parents are also welcome to come and visit during the summer programme if we are given notice (we also advise you to check what activities your child will be doing at that particular time so as not to clash with their activity scheduling).

We are used to accommodating most dietary requirements – including vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, lactose intolerant, as well as religious dietary requirements and other dietary needs. We’ll ask you to let us know what your dietary requirements are so we make sure we can cater to your needs.

A number of our students have allergies. If you have an allergy, please inform us when you book so we can talk you through how we can best support you, and so we can make sure we can cater to your needs. We have an Allergies Policy which is available on request.

There are washing machines and drying machines (and washing powder) available to use for free. If you aren’t used to doing your washing, our friendly team of Activities Coordinators will be on hand to help you and provide you with training!

We make every effort to place boys and girls on separate floors within the accommodation, within any limitations due to the layout of the accommodation.

If you have a friend or family member attending and would like to register an interest in being in the same building, you’ll be able to let us know their names on the Student Information Form, which we’ll send after you’ve confirmed your place.

Please note that building allocations depend on a variety of factors, including age (12-14 year olds are in a different building to 15-18 year olds), sex (we allocate males and females to different areas within the buildings), course choice and room type (standard rooms may be in different buildings to ensuite rooms). We’ll do our best to take your preference into account, but due to these various factors it’s not always possible to guarantee that we’ll be able to accommodate the request.

Yes. This means you can meet up with your friends in different classes for lunch.

We appreciate that travelling can be a bit daunting! We’re here to help:

• If you are flying, we recommend arriving at London Heathrow airport as this is the easiest airport to get to Oxford from. Our friendly staff members will be present on arrival day at Heathrow, and we will also give you their contact number so that if there’s any problem you can contact them
• We can provide a link for you to book a taxi from any airport or arrival destination. Their driver will have your name on a board and will meet you in the arrivals part of the airport. They will then chauffeur you directly to our campus.
• Alternatively, you can join our Oxford Scholastica minibus transfer from Heathrow Airport (£150). You will receive extremely detailed instructions (with lots of photos) on how to find our meeting point at Heathrow Airport and will head to our accommodation in Oxford with a group of new summer school friends
• As a final option, we can give you the details of the direct bus service which is accessible from Heathrow and Gatwick airports and which will take you to Oxford. Our campus is only a couple of minutes from the bus station
• For extra peace of mind, we have members of staff at Heathrow airport on arrival and departure day to help the students finding their way to their preferred method of transport and to support them in case they have any issues

We want to make your travelling experience as easy and stress-free as possible, so please contact Stephanie if you have any questions.

If you are from the UK, European Union or the European Economic Area you shouldn’t need a visa.

If you are from another country we recommend you click here to find out more information about whether you will need a visa.

As we are fully accredited by the British Accreditation Council, we are able to welcome students who need a visa. We will issue you with an official, stamped acceptance letter so you can use it to apply for your visa. Please note that by law we can only provide this when you have paid all the fees for your place, so we typically issue your letter from April each year.

It can take a while for visas to be processed, so please let us know as soon as possible after you have paid the balance if you require a letter from us. You’ll need to make sure you apply for your visa with plenty of time to spare before the summer school starts.

Please note that we can only offer informal advice on visas, and that it is your responsibility to check the latest information and make sure you apply for the correct visa in a timely manner. If you have an existing visa, it is also important that you check that your visa allows you to study with us.

If your visa application is rejected, unfortunately we can’t offer a refund outside of the refund period outlined in our terms and conditions.

Students are welcome to check in from 12-5pm on the arrival Sunday. If you want to arrive earlier in the day, that’s no problem – your room may not yet be ready but we would be happy to store your bags while you explore the city. Please let us know in advance if you will be arriving before 12pm, so we can do our best to ensure your room is prepared.

If you need to arrive on an earlier day, please let us know and we will always try our best to help. If you are arriving in Oxford as a family, we’d suggest you book one of the local hotels and we would be happy to advise you on the best hotels to book (we have created our own Oxford Scholastica Guide to our Favourite Oxford Hotels for your convenience).

We’ll ask you to be all packed and ready by 9am on the final day (when you’ll need to vacate your room). You’re welcome to stay in the accommodation building any time until midday, but most of our students tend to head home around 10am. If you would like to stay for additional days, we can provide you with details of the best local hotels.

Yes absolutely! We’ll add you to a private group chat on our community page with other students from your course before you come to Oxford. This is optional, but it’s a great way to get to know your fellow students in advance.

We have a casual dress code at Oxford Scholastica. As the courses will be during the summer, you should bring clothing that is suited to warm weather. However, England is renowned for rapid changes of weather – so be prepared for this too!

We have two occasions when you will want to wear something a little bit more formal – our Graduation Ceremony and our Oxford Scholastica International Ball. For the Graduation Ceremony we ask that you dress at least smart casual. For the Ball it is really up to you, and we encourage you to consider wearing something that represents whichever country you call home! You can find out more about the Ball here.

We recommend bringing shoes durable enough for walking as Oxford is a relatively spread out city and there will be a fair amount of walking. You may also wish to bring trainers if you want to do any sport such as tennis/ football.

We have more information on what to bring to Oxford in our Welcome Pack which we’ll send to you when you register with us.

You should bring the standard stationery that you would take with you to school – pens, pencils, paper. There are good stationery shops in central Oxford if needed. You will also need a laptop or a tablet (if you’re studying on our Experience Computer Science & Coding Academy or our Discover Technology Academy, you must bring a laptop rather than a tablet).

We recommend bringing a small amount of spending money (£15-20 per day) so that you can buy lunch and do other things such as shopping. We do not recommend bringing large amounts of physical cash – there are plenty of banks and ATMs in Oxford which we will show you, and we recommend you bring a credit/ debit card if you can. Apple Pay and Google Pay are also widely accepted.

Wireless internet is provided at our accommodation and we strongly recommend that you bring a laptop so that you can use this to do research/ work on, and to keep in touch with your family and friends.

If you are studying on our Experience Computer Science & Coding Academy or our Discover Technology Academy, a laptop is essential.

We ask you to bring your phone with you, and there are plenty of stores in Oxford where you can buy cheap UK Pay As You Go SIM cards.

We will give you some suggested reading. While this is not compulsory, it will give you an introduction to your course so that you can make the most out of your classes with us.

You will have two hours a day of live contact time with your tutor, and about two hours of independent study or group work to complete each day. In total, therefore, you should plan to spend about four hours a day on the course.

Yes, upon successful completion of the course you will receive a Certificate of Achievement. For those students who impress us and meet our requirements, we will also provide a Letter of Recommendation, which you can use for future course, job or internship applications.

You don’t need any special equipment in order to attend our online courses. All you need is a computer with a stable Internet connection and a webcam. Ideally you would be able to sit in a quiet room where you won’t be disturbed for your tutorials.

Our online courses (as with all our online offerings) are project-based, meaning you’ll constantly apply what you learn to real-world problems. While these courses have been designed in accordance with our learning philosophy of Learn, See, Do — just like our Oxford Summer Schools — the content is different, with a greater focus on problem-solving. You can join us for both an online course and the Oxford Summer School in your subject without repeating material.

We spend a great amount of time carefully selecting and training the best tutors for each course. Our tutors are subject experts from world-class institutions, including Oxford and Cambridge. Learn more about the tutors who lead our online classes.

No - while we're based in the city of Oxford and our tutors teach or study at universities such as Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard, it’s important to understand that we have no formal connection with universities such as Oxford University (you can read more about our relationship here).

We ask that our students can speak, read and understand English well (our minimum English level is Common European Framework Level C1 which equates to IELTS 6.5). If you'd like to arrange a call to check whether you have the right level of English please feel free to contact us.

However, we offer scholarship places for students who have been nominated by teachers at any one of our Partner Schools, and who would otherwise be unable to attend. Learn more about our scholarship programme.

Absolutely! Our Oxford Scholastica Online courses for teens are independently rated 4.9 out of 5 stars by parents and students.

The courses give students the opportunity to learn new skills and master their favourite subjects. ​​Our online programme also gives students the opportunity to network with other students and get the Oxford Scholastica experience from anywhere in the world.

There is no fixed deadline, as we assess applications on a rolling basis until we’re full. We’ll reply to your application with a decision within one working day.

At the discretion of your Mentor, depending on your performance, you’ll receive a Letter of Recommendation after your internship. You’ll also leave with a better understanding of what it’s like to work in your chosen field, a network of contacts from around the world, and the valuable experience of real problem-solving or research.

On our Academic Research Internships, you'll also have the chance to have your work published in an academic journal online, and you'll be able to share the link with your family, friends and in future applications.

We love your enthusiasm, but it’s unfortunately not possible to do more than one internship at the same time, given the time you’ll need to dedicate to your project. However, many students choose to join us for multiple internships, in the same or different subjects, over time.

You don’t need any special software or equipment – just a quiet space in which to work and a reliable internet connection. You’ll be provided with a login to the software you’ll use to communicate with your team and your Mentor.

Your Mentor is a young professional or academic with experience of studying and working in your chosen field. They will support you and your fellow interns throughout the internship, helping to push your ideas further and ensuring that you make the most of the opportunities given.

Absolutely. As long as you’re able to be online each day at the specified time with your Mentor and your team, you’re welcome to join us from any time zone and any country! We’re very excited to welcome students from around the world to our events each year. We have internships running at various times to suit time zones from around the world.

During the internship, interns will work with peers from around the world on a challenging project or area of research. Supported by their Mentor, interns will produce real work that will have an impact. Read more about the specific projects on offer here.

Students enrolled in our internship programme don’t get paid, but the programmes are extremely beneficial to students who want to gain experience in specific fields that aren't usually open to under-18s.

Yes! Online internships provide valuable experience for students and a competitive edge in university applications and in the jobs market. They allow students to gain skills and real work experience, along with the tailored support of a dedicated Mentor.

For students looking to expand their learning and professional development, our Oxford Summer School and Oxford Summer Courses also offer enriching opportunities. These programs can complement the experience gained in virtual internships, providing a well-rounded educational experience.

Online internships are a great way for high-school students to get a taste of real research or working life, in a supportive environment. Interns can learn from experts and Mentors from around the world and gain valuable skills in their field of choice. Interns will receive a Letter of Recommendation at the end of their internship, and the opportunity to co-author an academic research paper or get real-life work experience.