Northeastern London Summer School Changes Students’ Paths

The four-day program is designed to prepare 16-year-olds for the crucial final two years of their time in school.

A couple of presenters shown during entrepreneurs day at the London summer school. The free summer school offers school pupils study tips and a taste of university life. Photos by Khuram Mirza

LONDON — A weeklong summer school at Northeastern University’s London campus has the power to change your whole academic trajectory, according to one high school student who was part of the program last year.

“I’m going to be completely honest — the summer school changed a lot of things for me,” Farhiya Hassan told this year’s cohort.

The free summer school, now in its third year, takes students who are 16 and going into their final two years of school in the U.K. system, during which time they take their A-levels and other school leaving qualifications that are equivalent to a high school diploma in the United States.

The 2025 class spent time experiencing university taster sessions, being given study tips and sitting in on sessions about budgeting, while also getting a glimpse into what life at a higher education institution is like. Out of the 60 teenagers enrolled this year, 75% came from underrepresented and disadvantaged backgrounds.

Hassan, who returned along with a host of her peers from the 2024 class to explain what she learned from the summer school, said her experience at Northeastern opened her up to the possibility of studying in the U.S.

The pupil from St Dominic’s Sixth Form College in Harrow, north-west London, had only recently returned from a “fully funded trip” to America, she explained, visiting a slew of colleges after being accepted onto the Sutton Trust U.S. program.

Her time at the summer school also totally changed what subjects she wanted to study before applying for higher education. “When I first came here, I told everyone I was going to do maths, further maths, physics and then classics as well,” she said.

“But I did a politics taster with a professor here along with a friend and we both came out saying we have to do politics A-level. I’d say [the summer school] definitely made me more open to different options.”

The four-day course, run by London’s widening participation team, invites Innerscope, an education coaching and motivation outfit, to give a keynote address to the students.

Students listen and take notes at the entrepreneurs day in London. Scenes from the entrepreneurs day at the London summer school. Photos by Khuram Mirza

A student with white fingernail polish writes notes with a bright green marker. Scenes from the entrepreneurs day at the London summer school. Photos by Khuram Mirza

Students huddle together, brianstorming, over a white board with writing on it. Scenes from the entrepreneurs day at the London summer school. Photos by Khuram Mirza

Groups of students sit at large tables chatting and working together. Scenes from the entrepreneurs day at the London summer school. Photos by Khuram Mirza
The final day of the London summer school gave the participants a chance to test their entrepreneurial skills. Photos by Khuram Mirza

Jess Parker, from Marriotts School in Stevenage, south-east England, said the talk given by Innerscope chief executive James Aidoo last year motivated her to step up her extracurricular activities.

“The speaker said, ‘If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got,’” Parker recalled. “That really stuck with me because I knew that previously I had been doing my work, but I wasn’t trying to get more out of it. I was just handing it in and being done with it.

“This year I’ve thought, ‘Well, if I’m doing what I’m doing, I’m just going to get the same as last year.’” The speech, said Parker, inspired her to sign up to mentor other students at her school, and the 17-year-old has since been promoted into a more prominent mentoring role.

It was not only last year’s summer school participants who found the Innerscope session valuable.

Oladunni Omodunke, from Sydney Russell School in Dagenham, east London, said Aidoo had pressed home to her that she should understand the reasons behind her dream of becoming a neurosurgeon.

“During the Innerscope session, he said that, in order to be focused, you have to have a ‘why’ — a reason why you want to be what you want to be,” she says.

“I’ve said to myself, if I’m going to be a neurosurgeon, I have to be able to look at myself in the mirror and not think, ‘Oh, I want to do it because my Dad said or because my Mum said.’ I have to look at myself and say, ‘This is for you.’”

“I feel like that would be a really big push factor for me to want to go through 17 years of schooling and training, for sure.”

Echo Tai, who has aspirations of studying a form of engineering at university, says the summer school was “eye-opening,” had “broadened his perspective,” and was helping him to network.

“People who applied to this summer school are all ambitious,” says the pupil at Rutlish School in Wimbledon, south-west London, “and so I want to connect with more people who are like-minded and gain more connections, which I have.”

Sam Waterman, an assistant professor in English at Northeastern who presented as part of an academic taster session, says the time with the high school students is “always one of the highlights of the summer.”

“This year in particular,” he continues, “the students came with a high level of curiosity and open-mindedness, and a willingness to engage in rigorous and respectful conversation and discussion.”

The final day of the program at Devon House was dedicated to testing the students’ entrepreneurial mettle. They were divided into teams and tasked with coming up with a startup business idea, including a name and brand for their concept, before presenting it to a set of judges.

Students talking together and writing on a tabletop whiteboard. Scenes from the entrepreneurs day at the London summer school. Photos by Khuram Mirza

A student writing on a small whiteboard with a purple marker while another looks something up on their phone. Scenes from the entrepreneurs day at the London summer school. Photos by Khuram Mirza

Paws gives a small trophy to a smiling student who holds a paper saying Year 11 Summer School. Behind them is a backdrop of graphical elements representing London. Scenes from the entrepreneurs day at the London summer school. Photos by Khuram Mirza
Out of the 60 teenagers enrolled this year, 75% came from underrepresented backgrounds. Photos by Khuram Mirza

The two winning pitches were Well-Bee, a wellbeing app aimed at teenagers that offers support from peers, sports groups and brands, and SolGate, a solar film laminate that could potentially be applied to domestic and commercial windows.

Omodunke says the entrepreneurial experience was useful even to students like her who are not necessarily considering venturing into the world of business.

“I feel like having that creative side of knowing how to pitch yourself is useful in terms of understanding how to prepare yourself for interviews at universities or elsewhere,” she explains.

Lenny Pegg is not from London, so he spent a week in a hotel with his father in the U.K. capital to ensure he could attend the summer school. He is hoping to either undertake a degree apprenticeship in finance or study for an undergraduate degree in economics and math when he reaches 18.

The 16-year-old, who attends Ashby School in Leicestershire, England, says the experience introduced him to a “new way of looking at learning” and helped build his confidence before entering a crucial period in his schooling.

“I’ve loved it, it has been amazing,” he says. “I knew it was going to be good, but I didn’t know I’d enjoy it so much.”

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Northeastern London Summer School Changes Students’ Paths

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