The Oxford Summer Academy - an academic and cultural program in Oxford, England, for high-school students

Students choose one elective each fortnight. Electives lead to a recognizable achievement - an achievement that students can use in university applications to show that they have extensive and broad abilities and interests.

With the support of the academic staff, electives take place during the afternoons and are designed to lead to recognizable, tangible outcomes.

Electives, more than anything, are designed to be fun, and to allow students to let off steam!

Options available include:

Drama Workshop: Students write, direct, produce and, if they wish, perform in their own play, with the assistance of a professional playwright and actors and the tutors.

Art: Working with a variety of media, students produce works based on still-life, landscapes and cityscapes and exhibit their work at the course-end.

Creative Writing: The skills of writing prose, poetry and journalism are developed as students design, write and create The Oxford Summer Academy Magazine. This will be distributed to all students at the course end, as well as published on-line.

Photography: The unique architecture, cityscapes and landscapes of Oxford will be used in this elective. An exhibition of students’ work will be mounted. Images will also contribute to the Academy Magazine.

Debate and Public Speaking: Oxford has a long tradition of debate - many UK and US politicians learnt their public speaking skills in the Oxford Union. Students will gain confidence and competence in the art of argument and will lead a debate amongst all students.

As well as cultural options, there are electives available in sport. These include:

Tennis: Students may alternatively elect to attend a tennis academy held at Esporta, Oxford. Tuition is provided by Lawn-Tennis qualified coaches.

Orienteering: For the more adventurous, map-reading, navigation and hill-walking may be tackled in the countryside surrounding Oxford.