"Marvellous transformational summer course for my 12 year old!..."

My son attending the Wycombe Abbey programme for 2 weeks and absolutely loved it. I was really amazed at the feedback he gave me during our catch ups.
He loved the inspiring small classes where he got hands on experience on creating a computer game as part of his tech explorer course. Or during his enterprise explorer course, he created fascinating adverts for his marketing campaign, and grew his entrepreneurship spirit.
Since the first day, he immediately made friends with others from across the globe, and really enjoyed the groups activities like water polo. The trips he took was another huge highlight like the Harry Potter studio and the Black Country Living Museum.
In just two weeks, I noticed my son undergo a transformational experience which resulted in him growing his confidence, social skills, adaptability and independence.
It has been such a valuable summer that I've already signed my son up for another summer course but this time in Cambridge.

"Really Amazing Experience......"

I have attended Oxford Summer Courses for two years and I loved it due to the wonderful classes that I learned so much in. It was also amazing to meet people from different countries and different backgrounds and learn in such a diverse group. I also liked that the classes were in small groups which meant our teacher could help all of us easily. The activities that I attended in the afternoons and evening were all superb and interesting. My favourite was undoubtedly punting, but I loved all of them. The staff were helpful and friendly, and I felt that I could talk to them. I fully intend to return next year.

"Amazing Experience..."

I spent two weeks at Stanford in the Summer and enjoyed every moment of it. I met some amazing friends. Although I was initially nervous about travelling on my own and meeting so many new people I found it easy to settle in and make friends.

I really enjoyed all the classes and found them all interesting and challenging. It allowed my to explore subjects I had not previously come into contact with often in fun and interesting ways.

In addition to the classes we participated in lots of fun activities like going to a baseball match or exploring pier 39. The course allowed me to gain independence as well as find out more about studying at a University in the US

"Life-changing Experience..."

Attending OSC was a life-changing experience, and I hope to participate in the course again. I had applied to study law. It had been a life-long dream of mine to visit Oxford, not to mention study there. Like anybody else, when I was driving up, my stomach was filled with butterflies. However, the moment that I had stepped into the house that I would be staying at for two weeks, all of those worries had disappeared. I felt welcomed and ready to begin a new adventure. Instantaneously, we had all become friends. We still speak to this day! Like I had said before, I was studying law. My tutor was wonderful. He had shown me a side of the law that I would have never been able to see myself and continues to not only help me in my education but also with my morals. This is a program that helped me learn more about my future profession, make new bonds and lifelong friendships, but not only that, it helped me grow as a person and I will forever be grateful.

"An Experience of a Lifetime..."

This summer I spent two weeks at Oxford Summer Courses studying International Relations and Politics. This course was life changing, and an experience I will never forget. I learned so much in those two short weeks and since the class sizes are small I was able to really talk to my tutor, ask questions and get feedback on my work. This course sparked my interest in IR and politics and I am now looking at courses available at my school in this subject. The program at Oxford Summer Courses is absolutely amazing, as it is a well rounded and encompassing course. Not only do you have the opportunity to learn from amazing tutors, but day trips to nearby towns and other activities including palace and museum tours, classical music concerts, and punting down the river give you a feel for the culture and an understanding of the history of the country. This course also gives you a chance to meet people from around the world. During this program I met the most amazing people and formed great friendships with them, something I never would have been able to do without attending the course. Traveling across the world to attend a course where I knew no one was a little nerve-racking, but as soon as I arrived I felt welcome and comfortable. I truly cannot express what an amazing course this was, and it is a decision I will be proud of making for the rest of my life.

"Huge Disappointment..."

My child attended a week-long summer camp through Oxford Summer Courses this past summer, yet came home with nothing to share with us in the way of writing samples, feedback, or even a certificate. Frustrated by this, I reached out to my contact there and discussed at length my concern that my child did not grow academically as a result of the time spent at Wycombe Abbey. I expressed the need for the writing teachers to provide real guidance and instruction on my child’s writing. In response Oxford Summer Courses apologized, sent me a pdf version of a certificate and a four-sentence description of my child and then proceeded to say that written feedback “is not something that is expected or that we promote as part of the course across the website or in any conversations regarding the programme.”

From my perspective as a parent, if I am signing my child up for a week-long writing camp through Oxford Summer Courses, that should absolutely include feedback and hands-on assistance with their writing skills, particularly in light of the small student to teacher ratio. If this is not to be expected, Oxford Summer Courses should clarify this on its website. Otherwise, the experience that emerges is not much more than a “fun” experience with preteen childcare, and not one aimed at serious academic study.

Our child has attended writing camps at local universities for 1/10 of the cost of Oxford’s and received a much more impressive experience, with several written samples of work, feedback, and something to meaningfully share. In contrast, I now question the value of the Oxford “brand” and I do not feel comfortable recommending Oxford Summer Courses to anyone.

"OSC Stanford has changed my future…..."

OSC Stanford has changed my future entirely. My stay there consisted of a two-week general knowledge course, where I learned many things. It covered many, many topics such as Cancer Research, Entrepreneurship, Cryptography, Genome, Creative Writing, Critical Thinking and Decision Making. These are merely a few subjects we learned about. Furthermore, the classes offered an insightful look into how lectures are structured. They helped us learn how to take notes from a lecture and how to engage effectively with our teacher and the material.

Naturally, the Course was not centred around solely education. As I am naturally introverted, you can take my word for the following. The course opened a whole new view of social life to me. It encouraged me to make friends and lasting bonds. Sitting in the corner on my own had always been a very comfortable lifestyle. However, as it turned out, I was missing out on a whole world of fun, feedback and support. The friends I met were special. For the first time, I was surrounded by people that I could relate to. The friends I made there are still my friends today, multiple months later, and I am convinced that anyone else will build such bonds as well.

Every course needs trips. The Stanford course had multiple magnificent trips out of and through Stanford. We got to go to very many interesting places, and we even watched a baseball match. Throughout Stanford, we visited many sites including the anatomy lab. I was afraid, but I wanted to step out of my comfort zone, although there were limits. We also got to see the peers and go around to shop. One of my favourite sits was the museum and the sea lions.

One of the activities that we did was to build a country. It was much more a significant project than an exercise, but it was nonetheless a fun adventure. We could use the knowledge that we gathered in out classes to build a country from scratch. We made history, a government, educational system etc. We had to include everything a working state needed. Our groups usually consisted of about 8-12 people (don't take my word for it), and we were able to present our country at the end with either a skit or a song.

In conclusion, OSC Stanford was a magnificent experience. It supported me in connecting to a whole different part of my life. I came out a changed person with a new personality on standby. It gave me insight into what university would be like and how my day would look. The friends I made were always ready for fun, learning and socialising. The country building exercise helped me connect with new people, solve problems and work in a group. Finally, I just wanted to express my sincere thanks to the course for letting me participate, and I am sure that every person to sign up will have changed in a considerably positive way once they come back.

"Fun and educational experience..."

Spending two weeks at Stanford this summer was truly an enlightening and exciting experience for me. It was my first time ever travelling to America and I wasn’t sure what to expect. Upon my arrival, I was greeted warmly by fellow students and counsellors, which instantly made me feel like a part of this large group of new people. Everyone was extremely kind, open, smart and funny, which made it very easy to become friends and establish connections.
The program included many different classes so that every day we were taught a new subject. Cancer genomics, democracy, math: selection of stock markets, leadership, cryptography, human anatomy and phenomena of lights were some of the most interesting classes for me personally. The unforgettable lesson activities went from investigating real lungs, a heart and a brain to making our own holograms provided me with useful and interesting information that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. Besides regular classes, we had a long-term project for the whole 2 weeks where we got put into groups with random students and came together to create our own country, with focus on the main aspects of running a country e.g. politics, economy and trade, environmental sustainability, defence control, immigration and assimilation. During this project, I got to work together with my new friends, becoming even closer and use my imagination skills to create the best country possible.
During the program we also had day trips to Pier 39, the Stanford Shopping Mall and the city where we got to explore and have fun all together, making memories that will be cherished forever.

"Oxford Summer Courses has been a great…..."

Oxford Summer Courses has been a great learning experience. The tutors were great and very helpful. The entire organisation of the course was excellent and they maintained a balance between the study and other activities. The Course directors showed us around what Oxford has to offer. All in all, I would recommend high school students to sign up for this course.

"OSC is life-changing...."

Oxford Summer Courses is one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences that you will never forget. Coming from a historical background that restricted much travel, I feel extremely proud of the purpose of OSC: providing education and encouraging global citizenship.

I studied Economics, Marketing and Business Management in my first year at OSC at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. Not only was I exposed to the vast, historical culture of Cambridge, but I was also immersed in a world of focused academia. The programme was educational, entertaining, and enlightening.

The next year I attended the Stanford programme that OSC and Stanford Pre-Collegiate International Institutes partnered together for. Again, this was an incredible experience substantiated by a focus education and an entertaining programme. I would highly recommend this programme for anyone!