Frequently Asked Questions

We carefully select and train the best qualified tutors for each course. Our tutors are subject experts from world-class institutions, including the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Learn more about our tutors here.

Students who meet our criteria will also be awarded a personalised Letter of Recommendation from their tutor, highlighting their strengths, participation, personality and more.

We have a variety of afternoon and evening activities to help you relax after a long day of learning, from formal visits to watch an outdoor Shakespeare play to casual games of football and rounders. Click here to read about our activities and trips.

Note: When outside of our accommodation, we ask students on our Discover Academy courses to stay in groups of at least two people.

We’ll sit down with you at the end of your first course to discuss what you’d like to do in your second two weeks (e.g. whether you’d like to participate in some of the activities again or whether you’d prefer to do something different).

The only elements not included in the fee are your lunches (you’ll be able to explore Oxford with your new friends over lunch) and, if you’re travelling from abroad, your flights and airport transfers (we can help to arrange transfers from the airport).

We have three entry requirements:

i) You must be aged between 11-18 years old at the start of your chosen course.

ii) You must be motivated to learn more about the subject you wish to study (there’s space for you to write a personal statement on our registration form). We find that when students are self-motivated and eager to make the most of the opportunity, the summer school can be a truly transformative experience.

iii) 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.

We don’t have any academic prerequisites, as for many of our students this will be their first time exploring the subject. However, we do need to see clear evidence of motivation to join the course.

We do accept bright, mature 11 year olds onto our Discover Academy 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 and we’ll be happy to advise you.

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

Cancellations before 30th April: Full refund of the balance paid.

Cancellations between 1st May and 15th May: 50% refund of the balance paid.

Cancellations between 16th May and 31st May: 10% refund of the balance paid.

If you have an allergy, please inform us when you book so we can advise on how we can best support you. Our Allergies Policy is available upon request.

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

Note: Students should also take out relevant contents insurance and we recommend not bringing anything too valuable.

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

If you’re flying, we recommend arriving at London Heathrow airport. Our friendly staff members will be present there on our arrival and departure days to help you find your way to your preferred method of transport. We’ll also give you their phone number so you can contact them if there are any problems.

If you’ve booked our Oxford Scholastica minibus service, which goes directly from Heathrow to our campus, you’ll receive detailed instructions and photographs on how to find our central meeting point at the airport.

If you’ve booked a taxi through our link to a chauffeur firm, your driver will meet you at arrivals. They’ll have your name on a board to confirm you’re the right person and they’ll then bring you directly to our campus.

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

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

If you’re from another country, we recommend you click here to find out more information about whether you’ll 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. By law we can only provide this once 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’ve 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, we can only offer informal advice on visas. 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 to check that your visa allows you to study with us.

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

If you’d prefer to arrive earlier in the day, that’s no problem. Your room might not quite be ready but we’re happy to store your bags while you explore the city in the meantime. Please let us know in advance if you’ll 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’ll always try our best to help. If you’re arriving in Oxford as a family, we can provide you with details of the best local hotels.

If you’d like to stay for additional days, we can provide you with details of the best local hotels.

There are two occasions when you’ll want to wear something a bit more formal: our Graduation Ceremony and the Oxford Scholastica International Ball. For the Graduation Ceremony, we ask that you dress at least smart-casual. For the International Ball, it’s really up to you! We encourage you to consider wearing something that represents whichever country you call home.

We recommend bringing a pair of durable shoes that are comfortable to walk in for longer periods of time. Oxford is a relatively spread out city so there’ll be a fair amount of walking. If you’re planning to take part in any of our sporting activities, we also recommend bringing a pair of trainers.

You can find more information on what to bring in our registration Welcome Pack.

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 do not recommend bringing large amounts of physical cash. There are plenty of banks and ATMs across Oxford and we recommend you bring a credit/debit card if you can. Apple Pay and Google Pay are also widely accepted.

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

Our online internships run for a month, with live sessions held on four consecutive weekends.

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

Interns enrolled in our online internships don’t get paid, but the programmes are extremely beneficial to those who want to gain experience in specific fields that aren’t usually open to under-18s.