From outreach visitors to Imperial students

Members of the very first cohort of a College outreach programme are marking their second term as Imperial students.

The Imperial STEM Enrichment Programme (ISEP) was launched in 2011 to encourage high achieving students from underrepresented groups to apply to the College.

The programme involves Imperial staff and student volunteers working with 16 -18 year old school students over a two year period. During this time they receive support to develop their skills and abilities to help them gain places on STEM subjects at the College and other leading universities.

The success of the programme, now in its third year, has seen over 300 pupils selected to take part since the original 2011 intake. Many of the students who completed the programme have since entered Higher Education with 11 pupils gaining places here at the College this academic year.

Among them are Nicholas Lucas and Meriame Berboucha who began their studies at Imperial last September.

Nicholas and Meriame

Nicholas, who is studying Medicine at the College, described how the range of activities on the ISEP programme, which include practical experiments, revision workshops and talks from some of Imperial’s leading academics, offered him a breadth of experience: “The programme helped with extra classes and support on key topics in my exams, but also gave me the chance to gain some hands on experience of the kinds of practical experiments you get to do as a student at Imperial.

The students also received a designated student mentor from the College who provided them with insights to day-to-day life as an Imperial student and shared their experiences of the application and interview process at the College.

Nicholas said, “My mentor Luke was excellent. He was great ambassador for the College and inspired me not only to apply to Imperial but also to be a mentor myself one day.”

Meriame, who is studying Physics, added: “Being able to see what College life is really like was really useful. The programme allowed me to shadow an Imperial student for a day and also provided me with support for my interview preparation that really helped me when my actual interview came around.”

For Meriame the programme not only encouraged her to apply to Imperial but also to become involved in the scheme as a mentor to support other school pupils in doing the same.

“The strong outreach programmes at Imperial are something that really attracted me as it’s something I’d love to get involved in myself now I’m here. I already volunteer at a Science Club at my old school helping 11 and 12 year olds with science experiments hopefully inspiring them to go on and study science in the future!”

For more information on Imperial’s Outreach programmes, please visit: //www.imperial.ac.uk/outreach/activities