Students will travel to Yale University in late July for a week-long study placement, with all expenses paid by the educational charity.

The scheme, which is run in partnership with the Fulbright Commission and education advice company Pure Potential, will be open to 64 students in its pilot year ¨C the same number the trust funded at its first UK summer school in Oxford in 1997.

Applications for the US scheme will remain open until 16 April. Talented students from homes with an income below ?40,000 a year will be prioritised.

Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust said: ¡°Studying at a US university is an appealing prospect to many UK state school students. With tuition fees increasing dramatically in England, and some generous financial aid packages in the US, it is also more attractive than before from a cost perspective.

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¡°If successful, we intend to establish many more US summer schools next year and beyond ¨C opening a pipeline for UK students to reap the benefits of higher education at leading US universities.¡±

Seventy-five percent of participants on the Sutton Trust¡¯s UK programme end up at a selective university, with seven applicants for every place.

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Simon Lewis, chair of the US-UK Fulbright Commission, said: ¡°An overseas experience, whether it is a full degree, internship or study abroad, provides students lasting benefits in their personal and professional lives.

¡°We are keen to enable British students to take the opportunity to spend time in America and to make use of our advisory services.¡±

jack.grove@tsleducation.com