A learning
centre designed to help young people from under-represented backgrounds in Newcastle
progress into higher education has supported more than 1,200 students in the
past year.
Set up in
2021, the IntoUniversity Newcastle East Centre is a partnership between
Northumbria and Newcastle Universities and – the
UK’s largest university access charity. Based at the Monkchester Community
Centre in Newcastle’s east end, the learning centre provides young people aged
between 7-18 with academic support, soft-skill development and experience of
the world of work – all aimed at inspiring them to achieve.
According
to its 2022/23 annual report, IntoUniversity Newcastle East worked with 1,283
young people from disadvantaged backgrounds – providing them with advice,
guidance and a way to progress into higher education or another chosen
aspiration. This represents a significant increase on the 884 students
supported through the Centre in its first year of operation. And impressively, the
average progression rate into higher education for students supported at the
Monkchester Centre is currently 74%. This compares with national average
progression rates for students from local authority-maintained schools of 44% –
and just 12% locally.
Professor
Andy Long, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of Northumbria said: “A
key plank of our strategy at Northumbria is to offer life-changing
opportunities through social mobility, so to see how many students we are now
working with through IntoUniversity Newcastle East, and their positive
progression rates, is incredibly rewarding. Up to 40% of our
undergraduates come from traditionally under-represented backgrounds, which is
a record of which we are incredibly proud. Our IntoUniversity
collaboration, together with a number of other outreach programmes with schools
and colleges in the region and beyond, clearly demonstrates our commitment to
young people and enabling them to engage with higher education.”
Across the
UK IntoUniversity centres have supported more than 52,000 young people in
the past year.
In her introduction
to the latest report IntoUniversity Chief Executive Officer Dr Rachel
Carr OBE said: “Our collaborative work has become ever more important as
the long-term impacts of the pandemic are becoming increasingly clear, in
particular on those from the least advantaged backgrounds. The educational
challenges following the pandemic are not going away for our young people; it
is crucial that we continue to work with our partners to ensure that our
support remains impactful and that we adapt where necessary to meet emerging
challenges and opportunities.”
Maximising the value of
working in partnership with IntoUniversity is part of the , which
brings together the world-leading expertise and collective power at Newcastle
and Northumbria Universities to support the health, wealth and wellbeing of our
local communities.
Among a range of
social mobility initiatives, Northumbria also encourages partners to donate
through its . This provides financial support, mental health and
wellbeing services and community-based projects to make participation in higher
education more achievable for academically talented students regardless of
their social or economic circumstances.
