For students with autism, applying to university can raise a unique set of questions. What will lectures feel like? What support is available? What happens when something goes wrong?
At Bath, we’ve spent the past several years building a structured, evidence-informed approach to help autistic students not only access higher education but also feel confident and supported throughout their journey.
That journey often starts in Year 11 with our purposefully small, high-support Autism Summer School.
The Autism Summer School: Confidence Through Clarity
Unlike most residentials, our Autism Summer School is designed for Year 11 students and a parent or supporter to attend together. This small change has a big impact, reducing anxiety, increasing confidence, and ensuring that both the student and their supporter can ask questions, explore the campus, and understand what university life is really like.
Each summer, we welcome around 40 students and their supporters for two days of interactive activities and conversations. The focus is not academic content, but student life and support. Participants:
- Hear from current students with autism about their experiences
- Learn about the range of academic and wellbeing support available at Bath
- Take part in skills-based workshops on independence, transition and living independently
- Get a chance to explore the campus and ask practical questions in a low-pressure environment
The event is shaped by research, refined by feedback, and delivered in a way that recognises how important it is to get the tone, pace and structure right for this audience.
A Supported Flow, Not a One-Off Event
The summer school isn’t a standalone offer, it’s part of a wider flow of support that can follow a student right through to enrolment.
- In Year 12, students can take part in our Pathway to Bath, Step into Bath or Discover Bath programmes, and we provide additional support within those activities if needed.
- In Year 13, autistic offer holders have access to the Autism&Uni toolkit, a tailored digital guide to preparing for university life, as well as a transition summer school focused on building confidence and practical preparation.
- Once they arrive, students are supported through Bath’s dedicated Transition to University resources and staff team, with clear signposting and embedded support across the student experience.
This consistent support helps students move forward on their terms with continuity and choice built into the process.
Underpinned by Research and Student Voice
Much of our approach has been informed by ongoing research through the Centre for Applied Autism Research (CAAR) at Bath and shaped in partnership with autistic students themselves.
Through our TASO-funded project, we developed an Enhanced Theory of Change (EToC) to better understand how outreach, information and transition support interact to create lasting impact. This research highlighted the importance of early reassurance, scaffolding confidence over time, and building trust in the university experience.
We don’t assume a one-size-fits-all model. Instead, we focus on consistency, choice and communication, key ingredients for a positive transition into university life.
Why It Matters
Students with autism are more likely than their peers to face challenges in accessing and thriving in higher education, not because they lack ability, ambition, or potential, but because university systems are often built around assumptions that don’t reflect their needs.
Simple things like navigating a new environment, interpreting unwritten rules, managing transitions can create barriers that are invisible to most but deeply felt by those affected.
Too often, the higher education journey assumes that students will arrive with confidence, resilience, and insider knowledge about how universities work. But for many autistic students, and their families, these assumptions can make university feel distant, unsafe, or simply not designed for them.
That’s why programmes like our Autism Summer School and the flow of support that follows are so important.
They send a clear signal that:
- Students are seen, understood, and welcomed as they are
- Support is available early, not just after problems arise
- University is not something to survive, but something to thrive within; with the right scaffolding
Crucially, this approach doesn’t just offer more information; it builds trust; trust that students can ask questions without judgement, that parents can be partners in the journey, and that university staff are committed to walking alongside students, not just setting expectations from a distance.
It also recognises that widening access isn’t just about getting students through the door. It’s about creating pathways that start early, grow confidence over time, and are informed by research and lived experience rather than assumptions.
Every student who attends the Autism Summer School, and every family who engages with our wider support helps shape a more inclusive culture at Bath. Their questions, feedback and journeys continue to refine our practice, challenge our thinking, and push us to build a university that feels possible and welcoming for everyone.
This is access work at its best: evidence-led, student-informed, systemic, and above all, human.
