The benefits of attending a residential summer school

This year’s residential summer school took place at the start of July, where we welcomed 28 prospective students onto campus to attend a four-day Business and Law Summer School.

Residential summer schools are a great opportunity for year 12 students to take part in a free project-based university experience. Students get a taste of what to expect if they choose to come to uni, as well as giving something to write about on their personal statement.

In this blog, Amber Elazegui, who attended and is interested in Law, tells us all about her time and the skills and knowledge it has provided.

I graduated!

My four-day residential at the University of Brighton was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had!

I attended the Law summer school where we took part in various taster sessions in regards to criminal law.

We looked at the sentencing and punishment of a convicted criminal and different forms of punishment through the years. We also had a special lecture about interviewing clients in the pro-bono legal clinics and how to carefully approach the situation.

When we weren’t on campus, we visited the old prison cells underneath Brighton and Hove Town Hall and examined forensics such as fingerprinting!

We had the task of creating a presentation debating for or against the death penalty which meant that our previous lectures about criminal law would assist us in this. We presented this to our peers on the last day and the lecturers would pick which presentation was the best and my group won!

However, we didn’t only focus on law. We attended general lectures about writing our personal statements and one about student finance and wellbeing. We also had a specific lecture on how to give effective presentations!

In the evenings, we took part in social activities such as glow in the dark mini golfing and going to the beach which gave us an understanding of the things Brighton has to offer.

Finally, on the last day, I ‘graduated’!

How summer school will support my career and development

I would like to thank the lecturers , Jo Smith , Jane Woods and Kate Fernandez for being extremely supportive and helpful! They gave excellent advice and I am proud to say that I am confident in pursuing a career within the legal field- I hope to become a future barrister!

Also, I would like to extend my gratitude to the University of Brighton for this opportunity – I left this summer school with many life-long friends and an experience I’ll never forget!

Find out more about our summer schools

Our on-campus residential summer schools offer you the chance to try out what it’s like studying at university. You will get a chance to explore varied sessions during the day to give you a taste of different courses, social activities in the evening, and overnight stays in our halls of residence – all supported by our undergraduate students at the University of Brighton.

Think you might know someone who’d be interested in taking part? Check back on our summer school webpages for more details next year.