Access for Rural Communities

Access for Rural Communities 

Access for Rural Communities (ARC) is a pioneering project aimed at supporting and enabling young learners on their journey into university. The ARC project provides online opportunities for S4 to S6 pupils to explore higher education via weekly tutoring sessions, information and guidance sessions, and subject taster sessions. Learners on the ARC programme will be eligible to apply for the S4 Summer School.

S4 Summer School

Applications are welcome from S4 pupils who will progress to S5 after the summer break. This year the S4 Summer School will be held from Thursday 30 May to Sunday 2 June 2024. Please apply below for the Summer School.

In previous years, the University of St Andrews has covered the cost of transport, accommodation, and meals over the course of four days and three nights. 

The summer school is an opportunity to explore subjects offered at the University of St Andrews and to network with other learners from rural communities across Scotland.

S5 Summer School

S5 pupils are encouraged to apply to the Sutton Trust summer school programme. 

Register for the ARC programme 

Rural learners interested in applying to take part in the ARC programme are invited to contact us at rural.access@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Similarly, please get in touch with us to arrange in person visits or online sessions for your school.

The University of St Andrews is interested in understanding the particular barriers pupils applying to and attending university from rural areas may face, and understanding the best ways we can support pupils going forward. Colleagues have therefore undertaken research which assessed the effects of rurality on access to higher education in Scotland, in particular to the University of St Andrews.

This research:
- gathered evidence to gain a better understanding of the perception of access to higher education from these rural communities
- proposed some guiding principles to ensure that young people living in these rural communities have equal opportunities to attend highly competitive courses offered at Scottish institutions and in turn realise a positive destination
- developed an index reflecting the level of access to higher education according to the degree of rurality.
Please see the documents below for further information:
- Access to Higher Education for Scottish Rural communities: an exploratory analysis
- Facts explained: access to higher education for Scottish rural communities: an exploratory analysis

Apply now for the S4 ARC summer school from Thursday 30 May to Sunday 2 June 2024.

Applications close on Wednesday 10 April 2024.

The information collected in this form will be held and used only in the ways outlined in the University's data collection statement.

Access for Rural Communities

ARC research

Apply now for the S4 ARC summer school from Thursday 30 May to Sunday 2 June 2024.