Widening Participation Summer School

Programme overview

The Widening Participation Summer School is designed to enable participants to meet their conditional offers of entry, and prepare them for university life.            

Summer School will run from Monday 15th June to Friday 10th July 2026 (inclusive)

Summer School is open to applicants who:

  • Require completion of the programme as part of a conditional UCAS offer
  • Have been invited to attend by the Widening Participation Team
  • Have been invited to attend by Disability Services
Programme Requirements

Full Summer School involves the study of two academic subjects and the completion of our online Academic Skills Module. Some participants will only need to complete the Academic Skills Module. 

Whether an applicant is required to participate in full Summer School or just the Academic Skills Module will be made clear in the wording of any UCAS offer received. 

All participants in Summer School must attend at least 75% of all classes to receive a final grade and must achieve a grade C or above in all subjects and the Academic Skills Module to pass Summer School. Due to the intense nature of Summer School, and the large number of participants each year, we are unable to accommodate holidays. 

Summer School places are guaranteed to anyone who requires completion of the programme as part of their conditional UCAS offer. 

Programme Structure

Students within travelling distance of the UofG main campus are expected to participate in on-campus classes or a hybrid model (i.e. a mixture of on-campus and online classes).

Students who live further aware from campus will participate fully online. 

Academic classes run from Monday to Friday with around 20 hours of contact time per week, although individual timetables may vary. The Academic Skills Module can be completed in participants' own time, but does have certain deadlines that need to be met. Students participating on campus will have access to study spaces, student unions, and sports facilities. 

Research and evaluation indicates that Summer School prepares participants for successful transition to university study, with Summer School students performing to a higher standard in first year, and a higher likelihood of completing their degree than comparable students who did not attend. 

Academic Skills Module

The online Academic SKills Module is hosted on Moodle (the University of Glasgow's Virtual Learning Environment). Participants are expected to complete the module in their own time, within the 4-week run of Summer School. Support is available throughout the module via the Summer School team. There are four sections of the module, each taking around 4-5 hours to complete. 

Academic Subjects

Full Summer School participants will be assigned two subjects from the list below:

  • Biology
  • Business and Management
  • Chemistry
  • Computing Science
  • Economic & Social History
  • Education
  • Engineering
  • English Literature
  • Film and TV Studies
  • French
  • Geography and Earth Science
  • German
  • History
  • Mathematics
  • Philosophy
  • Physics
  • Politics
  • Psychology
  • Sociology
  • Spanish

Subjects will be assigned to align as closely as possible to the subject(s) that an applicant holds their offer for. Classes hosted entirely online (i.e. not hybrid or on campus) will be reserved for participants who are not local to the university. Due to the limited nature of online places, we are unable to provide online classes for participants who live within travelling distance of campus who will be abroad during Summer School. 

Eligibility

If you are a school leaver and meet one of our Widening Participation criteria below, it is likely that any conditional offer the University makes will include your completion of Summer School as part of your adjusted entry requirements (if you have not already completed a UofG Widening Participation programme). Our Widening Participation criteria applies to you if you:

Additionally, all applicants to the University from college with an HNC/HND qualification will receive Summer School as part of their conditional offer of entry. 

You may also receive a conditional offer based on the completion of Summer School if your application is being considered under Admissions Extenuating Circumstances policy. 

If you are unable to attend the Summer School, it may be possible for your offer to be altered to standard entry requirements, which you can find on individual subjects' webpages. A standard offer of entry is not guaranteed, and is only considered if an applicant holds the relevant mandatory qualifications and is predicted to meet or exceed the standard entry requirements. Please contact the Summer School team for more information about this using the details in the 'Contact us' section below. 

Additional Eligibility

If you do not meet the Widening Participation criteria, you may be invited to attend Summer School to prepare you for the transition to university if you:

  • Participated in a SWAP or Access programme and are applying to the University for September entry
  • Have indicated that you have an Autism Spectrum Condition to Disability Services

These invites are not part of any offer and attendance in these cases are optional. Invites to eligible participants will be sent after the UCAS deadline for the University making offers. If you meet the additional eligibility criteria and have received a UCAS offer, but have not had an invite to Summer School by the start of April 2026, you can contact us directly. 

How to apply

Registrations for Summer School are now open.

  • You are guaranteed a place on Summer School if it is part of your conditional offer. 
  • Please read these Summer School Application Guidance Notes 2026 carefully before you start your registration.
  • Make sure to 'create a new account' in the portal rather than using existing details for applicant self-service. 

If you have any questions as you complete the form, please email us (see Contact Us section).

Register Now

Why take part

Aside from meeting the conditions for entry, by taking part in Summer School, participants will get first-hand experience of what it is like to study at the University of Glasgow. Students receive a head start to their studies by learning the key academic skills required for successful learning like

  • critical thinking
  • critical reading
  • debate and discussion
  • note-taking and note-making

Participants also receive early access to their MyGlasgow account and Moodle which are both used in daily student life. 

 

Summer School is accredited on the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) and by completing the Academic Skills Module, students receive 15 credits at SCQF Level 7, while those who complete the full Summer School receive 55 credits. 

Contact us

To find out more, please email: wpsummerschool@glasgow.ac.uk

Please include your UCAS Personal ID (if you have it) when contacting our team. 

Testimonials

Please see our testimonials page.

Frequently asked questions

I do not meet any of the eligibility criteria but have had adverse circumstances impact on my exam results/education. Can I take part?

If you are currently at school, speak to your pastoral care teacher in the first instance. Alternatively, you may wish to consult our Extenuating Circumstances policy.

I am taking part in the Reach Programme. Should I take part in the Summer School as well?

Successful completion of the Reach Programme will lead to an adjusted offer of entry to one of the four Reach professional degrees. If you apply to any other degree areas you will need to complete either the Top-Up programme or our Summer School programme.

I am taking part in the Top-Up Programme. Should I take part in the Summer School as well?

Successful completion of the Top-Up programme can form part of your adjusted offer of entry from the university. If you have or are currently taking part in the Top-Up programme but have been asked to take part in the Summer School as part of your offer from the University of Glasgow, please contact the Summer School on the details above. It may be that you have been asked to complete both programmes due to subject requirements for your chosen degree choice but we will be able to confirm this.

Can I go on holiday for some/all of Summer School?

Summer School is an intense 4-week programme which enables participants to meet the conditions of their offer to UofG. Participants must attend a minimum of 75% of their programme. This is the equivalent of 15 days out of the 20 on the programme. The leeway is designed to accommodate for unavoidable events such as illness, shifts at work that cannot be swapped, medical appointments and similar. Students should not book holidays during the run of the Summer School. We cannot accommodate for missed classes, deadlines, or failure to complete any part of the programme due to holidays. 

I was planning to work full-time during the Summer School. What do I do?

We understand that students will want to or need to work during the Summer. While the programme is full-time, students will not be in classes from 9am to 5pm on Monday to Friday. Some of the scheduled time will be for study or coursework and students are allowed to move this around to suit their own timetables. We will not be able to move scheduled live classes (online or in person) and so students should prioritise attending these. If a shift is unavoidable during a class, students should inform the Summer School team of their absence to this can be recorded. It will probably be quite difficult to work full-time during Summer School (unless you are doing the Academic Skills Module only), but we anticipate that students should be able to carry out some employment during their time on the programme. 

When do we find out if we have passed Summer School?

Summer School results are released on the same day as the SQA results in August. Students who have passed Summer School will see their Conditional offers change to Unconditional via their UCAS portal in the first instance, and the breakdown of Summer School results will be emailed to all students later the same day. 

 

For clarification of any terminology please consult our Glossary of Terms.