Over 150 sixth formers came onto the University’s Luton campus in the first part of the week, with nearly 50 more attending the summer schools at the Bedford campus.

The mostly local students, though some coming from as far afield as Lancashire, were given an experience of just what it is like to study at university with three days and two nights on campus.

With areas as varied as Nursing, Art and Design, Media, Social Sciences, Computing, Business and Law, Sport Science, Creative Writing and Teaching, there was something for everyone.

Organised by the Access and Outreach team, the schools hosted a series of workshops and interactive sessions – ranging from robot wars, live television production and screen printing in Luton to teaching masterclasses and sport science testing in the labs at Bedford.

These were balanced with cinema nights and free time for the students to explore the area.

Trevor Sinclair, Access Partnership Manager at the University said: “Summer Schools are a great way of actively engaging students that may feel unconfident in their abilities or unsure if the university path is right for them.

“Getting them on campus for a few days lets them get a taste of what university life is really like. We try to schedule both academic and non-academic activities to give them a flavour of the variety that attending university affords students.”

James Main, Media, Radio and Journalism student commented: “I really enjoyed all the sessions and the staff did a great job in leading the event. I made friends quickly and made some good memories”.

Toni-Ann Malcolm-Botchway, who took part in the Art and Design school, added: “I think you should extend it to a week!!”