The ‘DUX’ Award

Emma Fletcher and Charlotte Taylor in Year 9 were the recipients of the DUX Award, resulting in them visiting Exeter University on Tuesday 18th June 2013.

This is a scheme run jointly by the 24 Russell Group Universities and the Department for Education. The aim of the scheme is to give high achieving students an insight into university life through academic seminars and encourage them to go to higher education. Emma and Charlotte joined other students from across the UK and attended four sessions throughout the day. The seminars were delivered by lecturers from the areas of BioSciences, Social Sciences and International Studies, Business and Computer Electronics and they were very interactive. Participants had to determine which e-coli bacteria had been synthetically introduced in order to ‘glow in the dark’, others had to vote for their favourite politician’s manifesto, some had to programme a robot and navigate it around a maze, whilst others were asked to form a cake company and compete to see who could make the most profit. In this seminar we came a very close second!

As an introduction, three undergraduate student ambassadors spoke to the audience about why they had chosen Exeter University and about the courses they were following. They excited the audience by telling them about the vast array of clubs and societies they could join. How do they get time to study?!  They also took the students on a tour around the campus at lunchtime which gave Emma and Charlotte the chance to ask lots of questions about university life.

The day was most worthwhile and Emma and Charlotte came away even more determined to work hard and go to university after they leave school.

Charlotte: “I really enjoyed my trip to Exeter University and I learnt a lot about university life. It has definitely inspired me to work harder. I felt very privileged to be given this opportunity”.
Emma: “I felt that this trip was a great opportunity and I was really inspired by the spirit of everyone at the university. I thought the campus was beautiful but I had no idea how vast it was. The facilities were amazing and the lecturers were very friendly. Overall, it was a wonderful and interesting day and I feel very privileged for being chosen”.

---

Owned by: | Last Published: 03/07/2013 10:59:57 | Next Update: N/A