This is one of the key reasons why the St Paul’s Way Trust Science Summer School has been running for 5 years. The project aims to inspire young people to become the next generation of Britain’s scientists. It is also part of a major transformation initiative for the local community led by social entrepreneur Lord Andrew Mawson OBE.

Since 2012, St Paul’s Way Trust School has changed from being a school without a sixth form to one that now sees most of its students attend top universities.

This year’s event ran over 2 days at the start of the summer holiday and was our largest and most adventurous challenge to date! Students joined with leading scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs for a programme of seminars, discussions and hands-on experiments and workshops.

• 409 students attended across the two days, ranging from Year 6 to 6th formers.
• 31 different schools participated from East London and the North of England as the Science Summer School went ‘National’ for the first time.
• 8 London boroughs were represented: Tower Hamlets, Bromley, Barking and Dagenham, Newham, Hackney, Greenwich, Lewisham, and Redbridge.
• A large student cohort attended from North Cumbria heralding the launch of Science Summer School North in Autumn 2017.

The Science Summer School attracted strong media coverage including Reuters and 2 ‘live’ early-evening TV interviews with Professor Cox for BBC News Channel and ITV London. An estimated 2 million viewers watch BBC News Channel and 1.3 million watch ITV London.