An aspiring polyglot and an ambitious robotics developer are among 42 state school students who will attend some of America’s top universities over the summer.
The Sutton Trust US Programme encourages academically talented British pupils from low and middle income families to consider studying at a university in America. The trust covers most of the costs for the students to get a flavour of what full-time study in the States is like.
About 60 per cent of applicants are from households with incomes of less than £25,000 a year, with 76 per cent the first in their family to attend university.
Ella Apostoaie, a pupil at Notre Dame high school, Norwich, has been offered a place at Wellesley in Massachusetts, a private women’s liberal-arts college.
The 17-year-old is fascinated by languages, and taught herself Korean and Mandarin. Through studying in the US, she hopes to add more lingual strings to her bow, as well as to build on her existing skill-set.
Fellow applicant, 18-year-old Matthew Baldwin from Nottingham, has done extensive research into how robots could help to improve sustainability in his local area. He has secured a place at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and has hopes that it will help him to achieve his goals of building robots to use around his home. He will be the first in his family to attend university.
Founded in 1997 by Sir Peter Lampl, the trust aims to improve social mobility through education, giving young people the chance to experience educational opportunities that aren’t always easily accessible to those from non-privileged backgrounds.
“America’s leading universities are bastions of progressive values and outstanding education. Their campuses are welcoming places for international students, whatever country or social background they come from,” Lampl said.
“I’m delighted that 42 of our brightest state school students have won places to study in the States. They will benefit from a broad and varied curriculum as well as in-depth study.”
Featured picture: The 2016 cohort on the Sutton Trust programme
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