Accelerate

There are three main aspects of Accelerate: Physics :

• Specialised tutoring and support designed to stretch your knowledge and challenge you in Physics; 
• Sessions to support you in your transition into higher education, enabling you to build on your current skills and tailor these to undergraduate level study; 

• Familiarising yourself with Imperial College London and higher education more generally, encouraging you to become a part of the College community. 

The programme is structured into four different types of session:

There are three main aspects of the Accelerate: Chemistry programme:

• Specialised tutoring and support designed to stretch your knowledge and challenge you in Chemistry;
• Sessions to support you in your transition into higher education, enabling you to build on your current skills and tailor these to undergraduate level study;
• Familiarising yourself with Imperial College London and higher education more generally, encouraging you to become a part of the College community.

The programme is structured into four different types of session:

To apply for Accelerate, you must be:

• In Year 12 at the time of application;
• Attending a state-funded, non fee-paying school or college.

This outreach programme aims to support state school students from backgrounds under-represented at university and Imperial. We use the criteria below to assess who is eligible to participate. The more criteria you meet, the more likely your application will be successful.

We recommend that you use our eligibility checker tool to see if you are eligible to apply.

We will prioritise your application if:

• You have been in care;
• You live independently (estranged), meaning you no longer have the support of your family due to a breakdown in the relationship which has led to ceased contact.

We will give preference to your application if:

• You do not live near London.

We will also assess whether:

• You are a young carer and have caring responsibilities for a close relative with a disability, long-term illness, mental health condition, or drug or alcohol problem that is a significant demand on your time;
• Your family income is below £50,000 each year;
• You are eligible for free school meals and/or pupil premium;
• You are the first generation to attend higher education (meaning your parents, step-parents, adoptive parents or guardians have not completed a higher education qualification); 
• You live in a neighbourhood with low overall progression rates to higher education (POLAR4 Quintile 1 or 2 areas) or high levels of deprivation (IMD Quintile 1 areas);
• Your school has a high percentage of students receiving free school meals;
• Your school has below average attainment.
  
  

Academic requirements

To be considered for this programme, you must:

• Be studying Maths (compulsory) and either Physics (for the Physics strand) or Chemistry (for the Chemistry strand) at A-level;
• Expect to study a science, technology, engineering or maths subject at university;
• Have achieved a minimum of eight GCSEs with at least five at grades 7-9, including maths and sciences;
• Have achieved a minimum of a grade 5 in GCSE English Language.

Applications for Accelerate are now closed. The deadline for teacher and parent/guardian references is Thursday 23 January 2025 at 23:59. We expect to release decisions in mid-February 2025. 

Applications are made through Aspire (our online application system). You must create an account with Aspire before you can fill out your application.

We recommend you use a personal email address, as opposed to a school email address, when creating an Aspire account. Security settings used in some school email servers will prevent you from receiving emails from Aspire.

As part of your application, you will be asked to provide details for a parent/guardian and a teacher. Both your parent/guardian and your teacher will be contacted to provide a supporting reference and verify some of the information you provide.

We will ask for the subjects you are currently studying. If you do not have predicted grades for your current subjects you can type NPG or N/A in the grade field.

For more information about applying, please see our Outreach FAQs. Unfortunately, we cannot accept late applications.