MORE than 700 primary school pupils from across Teesside have had a taste of life as a university student as part of a summer initiative.

The University of Teesside opened its doors to pupils from 18 primary schools for the fourth Meteor Summer School, which gives children aged ten and above taster sessions in some of the courses it runs.

The aim of the two-week summer school is to help raise the aspirations of pupils and encourage them to think about going on to higher education to gain further qualifications after leaving school.

Student mentors have also visited schools to work with pupils throughout the year.

The pupils took part in activities such as drama workshops, printing greeting cards, virtual reality sessions, Egyptian poetry classes, team building exercises with the Army and sessions on forensic investigation.

The summer school ended on Friday with two mini-graduation ceremonies at Middlesbrough Town Hall for all the pupils involved.