Homerton College Archaeology Summer School, 10 – 14 July, 2017

This year Homerton College, University of Cambridge will be holding a Year 12 Archaeology Summer School, in collaboration with the Division of Archaeology, from Monday 10th to Friday 14th July 2017.

Students will stay in Homerton College for four nights, and the summer school will act as an exciting opportunity to discover both the academic and practical basis of Archaeology as a University subject at Cambridge. It will include sample lectures and seminars, workshops, and excavation. Topics will reflect the breadth of the Cambridge Archaeology degree, which also offers tracks in Egyptology, Assyriology, and Biological Anthropology. There will also be guidance on admissions and interviews, and chance for students to explore the city of Cambridge for themselves.

As a subject which uniquely spans the Arts and the Sciences, Archaeology is suitable for students with a broad range of A level subjects.  Participants are not required to be doing Archaeology A level, and the content of the summer school will presume no previous knowledge.

For students from the state maintained sector, there is no charge for the food, accommodation or activities. A charge of £200 will be made to students from the independent sector and from outside the UK (unless they attend on a full scholarship). Travel bursaries are available for students who come from a household with an income of £25,000 or below.

Applications have now opened, and can be made via the booking link. Applicants will also have to arrange for two teachers or equivalent (e.g. a museum curator; not a parent) to each send an academic reference commenting on their academic ability and intellectual enthusiasm for Archaeology, Egyptology, Assyriology and/or Biological Anthropology to . Both the form and the references must be sent by the deadline of 15th May. Successful applicants will be notified of their place no later than 1st June.

To be eligible to apply, applicants must:

  • be in year 12 or equivalent
  • have achieved at least 5 A/A*s at GCSE or equivalent, and be on track for achieving the grades to make a competitive application to Cambridge

In addition, priority will be given to applicants who meet the following criteria, though this is not a prerequisite to applying:

  • from the state maintained sector, particularly where they attend schools or colleges with a low overall A-level, Higher/Advanced Higher (or equivalent) point score and/or schools or colleges with low progression to higher education
  • the first generation in their family to attend university
  • eligible for free school meals and/or pupil premium
  • who are (or have been) looked after, accommodated or in care who will only need to meet the study year and academic requirements.

Please note that we will not accept applications to the summer schools from students who have already applied to university.

Comments from the participants of the 2016 St John’s College Archaeology Summer School

‘I enjoyed having the chance to learn more about archaeology and meet other people with similar passions and aspirations’

‘For me, I enjoyed the entire summer school. I hadn’t had much of a chance to explore many of the periods we did and it provided me with a new, broader perception of what interests me. The ancient languages that we explored were particularly fascinating’

‘I loved the wide range of topics covered – expanding my knowledge. I also really enjoyed the fact that we took part in other activities that were non-academic as it gave me a feel of uni life’

‘I enjoyed everything. I liked the dig as I had never done that before and it was an amazing experience. I liked the languages as well and all the activities and lectures offered. Everybody was really lovely and it was an amazing and memorable experience’

‘I honestly enjoyed everything, the lectures were excellent and the atmosphere was superb’

‘I liked learning about different topics within archaeology and talking to staff members about different careers they had and how they arrived at Cambridge in their career’