University of Oxford UNIQ Summer Schools Materials Science Residential Course

You can apply only if you're at a UK state school or college, or home educated, and in your first year of sixth form. That means Year 12 in England or Wales, Year 13 in Northern Ireland, S5 in Scotland or the first year of the IB Diploma. For this course you also need to be studying Maths and Physics to A level or equivalent, because UNIQ won't take an application for a course without its required subjects. Chemistry or Further Maths help but aren't essential.

Beyond these rules, UNIQ looks at your grades and your background together. It normally expects at least six GCSEs with one or more at grade 7 or A (or, in Scotland, six National 5s with at least one A) and gives priority to students from backgrounds underrepresented at Oxford. UNIQ works with more than a thousand students a year across over 30 courses but doesn't say how many places this course has. You name a first and second choice, and if both are full you may be put on a reserve list.

• Age and residency

  You must be under 18 at the residential, and UNIQ normally expects you to be 16 or 17. The exceptions are Northern Ireland students in Year 13 who'll be 18, and students whose education was severely disrupted and who are in an offset year. You must also be a settled UK or Islands resident or expect home fee status when you apply to university, so overseas residents can't apply.

• Priority factors

  Care experience is strongly prioritized, and UNIQ also takes into account current or past eligibility for free school meals and your socioeconomic background, which can include checking your home postcode.

• Ruled out

  Students at independent or private schools (even on a bursary), anyone with more than one completed A level and anyone who has already attended UNIQ.

• Extenuating circumstances

  If something affected your GCSE results, the form has a section where you can explain it, and UNIQ takes it into account.

You arrive on Monday and leave on Friday, with four nights in an Oxford college. Teaching runs during the day on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and for Materials Science it mixes lectures with lab experiments and group research. The material is pitched at first-year Oxford undergraduate level, and academic and graduate teaching staff, along with student ambassadors, are there to help.

Evenings are for optional social activities with your college group, exploring Oxford and other colleges, or relaxing in the common room and asking current students questions. The week ends with a mini conference for everyone on your week, with extra advice and guidance. There aren't adequate facilities to practice music or train for sport, so expect a week off from both.

Nothing, for you or your school. UNIQ covers your travel, accommodation, meals, staffing and teaching. The exceptions are small. If you miss UNIQ's travel deadlines or lose your ticket, you may have to buy your own, and fuel isn't reimbursed if someone drives you. Snacks, souvenirs and anything you forget to pack are also up to you, although UNIQ asks you to get in touch if paying for anything during the visit worries you.

Current Oxford undergraduates, called ambassadors, stay with you in college and take you to lectures and seminars. Each college is run by a Site Manager, a senior ambassador who organizes drop-in sessions, tours and evening activities. UNIQ assigns your college, and you only find out which one when you arrive in Oxford.

You get your own lockable bedroom. Some rooms are ensuite, but many college buildings are historic, so you may well share a bathroom with a few other participants on a gender-segregated corridor. Every college serves a vegetarian option. Halal, kosher and other religious diets can't be guaranteed because each college runs its own catering, so tell UNIQ what you need as soon as you get a place. UNIQ also makes time for prayer during the day and has a few prayer mats to lend.

All applications are made online through the UNIQ website.

1. 1

   Check which 2027 week Materials Science runs in, which UNIQ plans to confirm by the time applications open, and make sure you can attend the whole week.

2. 2

   Apply between 15 December 2026 and 13:00 on 19 January 2027, choosing a first and second course and nominating a teacher. Applications aren't first come, first served, so there's no need to rush.

3. 3

   Make sure the form is fully submitted before the deadline, because unfinished applications aren't considered and UNIQ sends no confirmation email, only an application submitted screen.

4. 4

   Watch your email for UNIQ's decision, which arrives by early March 2027, and accept any offer within one week.

5. 5

   Go to a weekend regional launch event in the spring and an online preparation meeting in May or June before the residential.