Sutton Trust US program

Hi just wondering for the people who got accepted to the Sutton trust US did you have 7s and 8s at GCSE? I’m a little worried about my grades since I got 5s.

Hi. I'm sorry to tell you this but if you have straight 5s, you are at quite a disadvantage. They state on their website this:

"Have excellent GCSEs or S4 qualifications. This means you have achieved at or close to the grades below. In England and Northern Ireland: at least eight GCSEs at grade A or 7 or above, or near this level. In Wales: at least eight GCSEs at grade A or above, or near this level. In Scotland: at least six B passes at National 5 or above, or near this level."

You would need a lot of widening participation criteria and/or extenuating circumstances for your application to be competitive. It also depends on how competitive the applicant pool is, which no one knows at the moment. However, based on previous years, it's very competitive. I'd recommend that you also apply to other UK summer schools and programs as well, just to maximise your chances of getting onto a program - I don't know of any other US programs so you'd need to look into that.

If there are any tasks or interviews that you have to do, do the best you can to maximise your chances.

I didn't apply for the US program, but for the UK Summer School program, I got in with 998887766 and extenuating circumstances. It might be worth posting on r/6thForm on Reddit to see if anyone else has either in the same situation as you or has been before.

I do hope your application goes well though and that you are able to get in. Good luck

Hi,
Thank you for replying. I have a lot of extenuating circumstances involved in my application which I included. I did achieve a 7 and a level 2 distinction which is equivalent to a 7. Would this be okay?

Also I was planning to apply to summer schools however completing my application I chose the option that this was the only programme of the Sutton trust that I was applying to. Do you think I could still apply although I chose that option.

Apologies for all the questions and thank you!

Hi,
With the extenuating circumstances, your chances do increase so that's good you've got them down. I don't see why they wouldn't take the Level 2 Diploma as its equivalent to a 7. By the "a 7" do you mean straight 7s or do you mean 1 grade 7?

You can choose to apply to the Sutton Trust Summer School as well, it's just if you were offered places on both, you'd have to pick between them as you can only do one. However, apply outside of the Sutton Trust as well. Look into Surrey Scholars, Discover Bath and type into Google "Free Y12 Summer School 2023" (and similar things) to find more. Apply to as many as you can/want - They worst they can do is say no. I think I applied to 13/14 in the end.

Absolutely no problem, feel free to ask anymore questions

Hi,

By a 7 I mean one 7 and one level 2 diploma at Gcse the rest are 5s. I’m happy including the extenuating circumstances will increase my chances. Again so kind of you to let me know! Are there any other programs you know about or recommend? And how did you find the UK summer school?

Thank you

Hi just wondering for the people who got accepted to the Sutton trust US did you have 7s and 8s at GCSE? I’m a little worried about my grades since I got 5s.

Hi. I'm sorry to tell you this but if you have straight 5s, you are at quite a disadvantage. They state on their website this:

"Have excellent GCSEs or S4 qualifications. This means you have achieved at or close to the grades below. In England and Northern Ireland: at least eight GCSEs at grade A or 7 or above, or near this level. In Wales: at least eight GCSEs at grade A or above, or near this level. In Scotland: at least six B passes at National 5 or above, or near this level."

You would need a lot of widening participation criteria and/or extenuating circumstances for your application to be competitive. It also depends on how competitive the applicant pool is, which no one knows at the moment. However, based on previous years, it's very competitive. I'd recommend that you also apply to other UK summer schools and programs as well, just to maximise your chances of getting onto a program - I don't know of any other US programs so you'd need to look into that.

If there are any tasks or interviews that you have to do, do the best you can to maximise your chances.

I didn't apply for the US program, but for the UK Summer School program, I got in with 998887766 and extenuating circumstances. It might be worth posting on r/6thForm on Reddit to see if anyone else has either in the same situation as you or has been before.

I do hope your application goes well though and that you are able to get in. Good luck