Alongside our summer schools for individuals, we host a wide range of school and partner residentials, where students visit as a group from their school or organisation to experience university life together. These visits are short, high-impact stays designed to build familiarity, raise aspirations, and make university feel achievable.
While our summer schools (like Discover Bath and Step into Bath) are open to individual applicants, these residentials are arranged with schools and outreach partners and involve cohorts of 30 to 200 students visiting together, usually in Year 10 or Year 12.
What Our Residentials Offer
This year, we’ll be hosting a variety of residential experiences, including:
- School and partner group visits, typically involving Year 12 students staying one or two nights on campus
- The Villiers Park summer school, designed to give Year 10s a supportive first taste of university
- The Smallpeice Trust residential, which introduces Year 10 students to engineering through practical team-based challenges
These experiences are deliberately broad and inclusive, less about academic specialism, and more about providing insight into what university is, how it works, and how students can see themselves there.
Students take part in:
- Campus tours and facilities visits
- Student life talks and Q&A sessions
- Accommodation stays in university halls
- Taster lectures and skills-based workshops
- Opportunities to explore the city of Bath
- Informal conversations with current students
That peer interaction, hearing directly from student ambassadors, often makes the biggest impact. It gives participants honest, relatable insight into student life, and a chance to ask the questions that really matter to them.
Building Confidence, Changing Perceptions
These residentials create space for young people to step outside their usual environment and see university up close, not just as an abstract idea, but as a place they could belong.
Feedback from teachers and students tells us how powerful that can be. For many students, it's their first night away from home, their first real sense of what a lecture feels like, or their first chance to explore what they’d want from university life.
The result? Students leave with more confidence, greater clarity, and a stronger sense of their next steps.
Why Residentials Matter
Residential visits are consistently cited as one of the most impactful tools in widening access and for good reason. They allow students to experience the reality of university life: staying in accommodation, exploring the campus, and building familiarity with a setting that might otherwise feel distant or intimidating.
But what makes these school and partner residentials particularly powerful is how accessible they are.
Unlike summer schools, which require students to submit an individual application and often attract those already confident or interested in university, these residentials bring students in as part of a group they already know; classmates, friends, or peers from the same school or organisation.
That makes a big difference.
The social familiarity removes much of the anxiety or pressure that can come with stepping into a new environment. It allows students to engage at their own pace, with trusted teachers and friends alongside them. For many, this is a “softer entry point”, a way to experience university in a low-pressure, supportive context that still feels exciting and new.
It’s also a practical enabler. Schools that are based further away from Bath and might struggle to justify a long day trip can bring students for an overnight stay and make the most of their time on campus. This opens up access to students who may otherwise never have the chance to visit a university in person.
These residentials offer breadth as well as depth. They let us reach whole groups of students, including those who may not put themselves forward for a summer school and provide an experience that’s designed to spark curiosity, build confidence, and show students what’s possible.
