The Student Room Group

What do I do in the summer after GCSEs?

Hey, I'm in year 11 and it's a big goal of mine to go to a uni like oxbridge. I have a conditional offer at Kings Maths School which I know has a high acceptance rate at oxbridge, and i've had this aim since year 8. Throughout secondary i've done sports (taekwondo) gone to competitions (mostly STEM and math based) and i'm part of my school's robotics team (which i'll have to leave after gcse 😞), but I don't know how to spend my summer in order to make my oxbridge application easier during sixth form. Teachers and older peers have suggested STEM summer schools, but i'm worried I haven't met the deadline and I can't afford most programs, also can't travel anywhere due to parental shared custody arrangements but i can't find any free online summer schools. Same issue for getting a summer job, with the travel, sort of. What do i do? Are there any things I haven't thought about that I can do over the summer to contribute to the application?

Reply 1

Original post
by Shayla Waggie
Hey, I'm in year 11 and it's a big goal of mine to go to a uni like oxbridge. I have a conditional offer at Kings Maths School which I know has a high acceptance rate at oxbridge, and i've had this aim since year 8. Throughout secondary i've done sports (taekwondo) gone to competitions (mostly STEM and math based) and i'm part of my school's robotics team (which i'll have to leave after gcse 😞), but I don't know how to spend my summer in order to make my oxbridge application easier during sixth form. Teachers and older peers have suggested STEM summer schools, but i'm worried I haven't met the deadline and I can't afford most programs, also can't travel anywhere due to parental shared custody arrangements but i can't find any free online summer schools. Same issue for getting a summer job, with the travel, sort of. What do i do? Are there any things I haven't thought about that I can do over the summer to contribute to the application?

First of all, it's amazing that you got an offer for Kings Maths School. Well Done!!!
Second of all, Year 11 summer will be one of the last times where you'll get to fully enjoy yourself. Maybe learn a new skill/language or go out with friends.
What you have already done such as the STEM competitions and robotics club already shows interest now it keeping up with these commitments in year 12 because what Oxbridge truly cares about is if you truly have passion for the subject and you can demonstrate this in many ways such as reading books or watching lectures but this is stuff you'll be doing in year 12 where you'll learn knowledge that enables you to dig deeper. With summer schools, I'd say don't pay for any of them because unis tend not to like them and instead apply for ones like the Stem Smart one or the Sutton Trust ones that open up in year 12.

Tbh I didn't really even do any super curriculars for Oxbridge until year 12 summer but it's crazy that you're thinking about it now. You don't need crazy amounts of evidence. I had maybe one linked paragraph about aerogels research, a physics research project I did about invisibility cloaks, and a summer school at Imperial and I still somehow got in😭

What course are you thinking of applying to?

Honestly don't stress about this and focus on getting your GCSE grades and enjoy the summer. You could perhaps watch some Youtube vids or read books about stuff you like.

Reply 2

Original post
by Fkdkfkflfle
First of all, it's amazing that you got an offer for Kings Maths School. Well Done!!!
Second of all, Year 11 summer will be one of the last times where you'll get to fully enjoy yourself. Maybe learn a new skill/language or go out with friends.
What you have already done such as the STEM competitions and robotics club already shows interest now it keeping up with these commitments in year 12 because what Oxbridge truly cares about is if you truly have passion for the subject and you can demonstrate this in many ways such as reading books or watching lectures but this is stuff you'll be doing in year 12 where you'll learn knowledge that enables you to dig deeper. With summer schools, I'd say don't pay for any of them because unis tend not to like them and instead apply for ones like the Stem Smart one or the Sutton Trust ones that open up in year 12.
Tbh I didn't really even do any super curriculars for Oxbridge until year 12 summer but it's crazy that you're thinking about it now. You don't need crazy amounts of evidence. I had maybe one linked paragraph about aerogels research, a physics research project I did about invisibility cloaks, and a summer school at Imperial and I still somehow got in😭
What course are you thinking of applying to?
Honestly don't stress about this and focus on getting your GCSE grades and enjoy the summer. You could perhaps watch some Youtube vids or read books about stuff you like.


Thank you so much for the advice! I really appreciate it. To answer your question, I want to specialise in pure maths and/or potentially astrophysics at uni but I haven't set my mind on any particular course yet. I have heard of something called MMath at a bunch of unis which I find interesting and if possible I wanna take more of a researcher route. You mention having done physics research, how do you go about starting that if you don't mind me asking?

Reply 3

Original post
by Shayla Waggie
Thank you so much for the advice! I really appreciate it. To answer your question, I want to specialise in pure maths and/or potentially astrophysics at uni but I haven't set my mind on any particular course yet. I have heard of something called MMath at a bunch of unis which I find interesting and if possible I wanna take more of a researcher route. You mention having done physics research, how do you go about starting that if you don't mind me asking?
Astrophysics is really cool and Pure Math seems quite interesting. You could potentially message people on LinkedIn over yr11 summer who are on paths you find interesting.

As for the physics research project, it was a part of my physics class because we had time at the end and he wanted to teach us research methods because a lot of us were pursuing STEM degrees at uni. But essentially start out with a topic you find quite interesting for me which was metamaterials and then a specific application as in my case invisibility but I also could've done holographs as well. Break it into what?, how? and why? and then answer each. I think someone in my class did black holes but i'll see if I can attach what I did. And also doing research is about showing a chain in thought in your ps and deeper understanding which is quite cool as well.

Reply 4

Original post
by Shayla Waggie
Hey, I'm in year 11 and it's a big goal of mine to go to a uni like oxbridge. I have a conditional offer at Kings Maths School which I know has a high acceptance rate at oxbridge, and i've had this aim since year 8. Throughout secondary i've done sports (taekwondo) gone to competitions (mostly STEM and math based) and i'm part of my school's robotics team (which i'll have to leave after gcse 😞), but I don't know how to spend my summer in order to make my oxbridge application easier during sixth form. Teachers and older peers have suggested STEM summer schools, but i'm worried I haven't met the deadline and I can't afford most programs, also can't travel anywhere due to parental shared custody arrangements but i can't find any free online summer schools. Same issue for getting a summer job, with the travel, sort of. What do i do? Are there any things I haven't thought about that I can do over the summer to contribute to the application?


Hi,

Honestly, enjoy your summer after GCSEs as much as you can! You’ll have plenty of time for university preparation during the Year 12 summer.

It sounds like you’ve already built an impressive profile with STEM competitions, robotics, and sports, so you’re off to a strong start! Some ideas include:
•Free online courses or workshops there are lots of MOOCs in STEM subjects.
•Independent projects work on a small STEM project you can document.
•Reading and preparation read widely around your subjects or try introductory books for your intended A-levels.
•Online competitions and challenges many maths, coding, or science competitions are free and run online.
•Volunteering or tutoring locally/online even helping peers with maths or science online can show leadership and initiative.
•Part-time work if possible, can help you develop experience, communication and time management skills while earning money

Hope this helps,

Tayba
Student Rep

Reply 5

You’re already on the right track—universities like University of Oxford and University of Cambridge care much more about your academic curiosity than expensive summer schools. If you can’t travel or pay for programs, focus on “super-curricular” work from home: read beyond your syllabus, take free courses on platforms like Coursera or edX, and practise problem-solving (especially for maths/STEM). You can also build a small project (like coding or robotics-related) and keep notes on what you learn. This kind of independent learning and reflection is exactly what strengthens an Oxbridge application.

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