Imperial Global Summer School in London

Students choose one subject and stay with it for the academic part of the programme: chemistry, data science and artificial intelligence, engineering, medicine and life sciences, or physics. Teaching is run by Imperial academics and mixes classroom lectures with laboratory sessions and practical workshops, so the subject is learned by doing it rather than hearing about it: dipstick urine analysis in the medical workshops, models and prototypes in the engineering teams, practical chemistry alongside programming and simulation. Masterclasses run beside the chosen subject. In the second part of the programme students are put into mixed groups with students from the other subjects to solve a real-world challenge together, led by the Imperial Enterprise Lab, which is where the presentation, communication and group-work skills come in. Two subjects are offered in only one of the two programme sessions.

The programme fee covers all tuition, course materials including experiment materials, lab supplies and protective equipment, the masterclasses, use of campus facilities such as the sports hall, classrooms and catering facilities, accommodation with on-site wi-fi, three meals a day, induction and orientation activities, the social programme including travel to and from activities and any entry costs, finale celebrations, a certificate of participation awarded by Imperial, and a meet-and-greet transfer service at Heathrow airport on the first and final day. Travel to and from London, insurance, visa costs, laundry, stationery, spending money and food outside mealtimes are not covered.

Students live in Imperial's Prince's Gardens halls of residence in South Kensington, a short walk from the teaching rooms and the rest of the campus. Staying on site for the whole programme is compulsory. Each student shares a twin room with one other student of the same sex: two single beds, an en-suite bathroom with toiletries, linen and towels, two desks with lamps, a wardrobe, tea and coffee making facilities, two fans and laundry baskets. Rooms are refreshed daily and linen and towels are replaced every three days. Clusters are mixed-sex, with single-sex clusters available on request, and students have access only to their own cluster. Pastoral managers and mentors are on duty around the clock, and the halls have swipe-card entry, CCTV and a manned reception and security around the clock. There is a laundry room, hairdryers to hire, drinks and snacks at reception and a convenience store next door. The halls have level or ramped access and automatic doors.

Three meals a day are included in the programme fee. A range of dietary requirements can be catered for when the school is told in advance. Food and drink outside mealtimes are not part of the fee, but drinks and snacks are sold at the accommodation reception and there is a convenience store next to the halls.

A social programme runs alongside the teaching, with evening events and a weekend of activities around London; travel to and from the activities and any entry costs are included in the fee. The programme opens with induction and orientation activities and closes with finale celebrations. Students also get advice and guidance on applying to study at a university in the United Kingdom.

Teaching takes place on Imperial's South Kensington campus, with the medical workshops held at St Mary's Hospital, an Imperial-affiliated institution. Students use the university's classrooms, laboratories, sports hall and catering facilities, and wi-fi covers the campus and the halls. The halls themselves have a laundry room, a manned reception with drinks and snacks, and a convenience store next door.

The point of the programme is to find out what studying science or engineering at a demanding university actually involves, before choosing where to apply. Students work in real laboratories with real equipment, are taught by the academics who teach the degrees, and then have to explain their thinking to a group of strangers from other subjects under time pressure. They live away from home in a university hall in central London with staff on duty around the clock, eat in the campus catering, and spend their evenings and the weekend with students from around the world. Guidance on applying to a UK university, and to Imperial in particular, runs through the programme.