![IntoUniversity learning centres inspire young people to achieve. [Photo: Martin Shields]](/media/Media_853190_smxx.jpg)
Opening up opportunities into university
Gaia is from Philadelphia, USA and is a first-year student at UofG.
Jamie is from Maryhill, Glasgow and is in his last year of primary school.
On the face of it they don’t seem to have much in common. But they have been matched as part of the IntoUniversity mentoring programme, where students such as Gaia become positive role models to inspire and support school pupils to reach their full potential.
IntoUniversity is an educational charity which provides local learning centres where young people are inspired to achieve. Three new IntoUniversity learning centres have recently opened in the heart of some of Scotland’s most disadvantaged communities as a practical response to the poverty and educational limitations that can impact the lives of young people growing up there. The centres are a ground-breaking collaboration between the University of Glasgow, the University of Edinburgh and IntoUniversity to provide additional educational support to those aged 7-18.
Gaia and Jamie have had their first meeting at the Maryhill Hub, home to the IntoUniversity Maryhill, the third Scottish centre to be opened in the last year. The first two centres launched in Govan, Glasgow and Craigmillar, Edinburgh.
“I hope to help Jamie with his social and academic skills,” says Gaia. “And I hope to impress on Jamie the idea of university as an option he might wish to explore.”
"I really look forward to continue getting to know Jamie and to be able to give back to my new city.” Gaia
“Gaia is really nice and I am looking forward to her being my mentor,” says 11-year-old Jamie, who attends IntoUniversity Maryhill along with his 9-year-old sister Rosie. “I hope she will be able to help me with homework and maybe other things like help about studying as I will be going to secondary school later this year."
As part of the partnership, the IntoUniversity mentoring programme provides young people attending the centres with positive role models and the opportunity to reach their full potential.
Our student mentors, who sign up for a minimum of ten sessions, provide one-on-one support to their mentee and give them the chance to develop their social skills, explore their future options and improve their academic attainment.
Amna Ahmed is the Mentoring and Enrichment Coordinator at IntoUniversity Maryhill: “It is such a joy to watch the confidence of a young person grow after each meeting with their mentor; even the simplicity of having someone to talk to can do so much for their development.”
This article was first published June 2022.
Main image: Martin Shields
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At Glasgow, our commitment to tackling inequality has informed our approach for centuries. We admitted the first-ever African American anywhere in the world to obtain a medical degree, James McCune Smith in 1835, and now offer innovative programmes that continue to help level the playing field.
Young people living in a Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation priority postcode area, the 20% to 40% most deprived in the country, are almost five times less likely to attend university, but at Glasgow, 28% of our students come from these communities.
We offer a variety of pre-entry programmes which can entitle students from these areas to adjusted offers of university entry. They include programmes aimed at pupils interested in specific careers such as engineering, law or medicine; summer schools; and initiatives with early secondary and primary school children.
Our progressive work includes signing up to the StandAlone Pledge, supporting students who are navigating university while estranged from their families; a carers’ policy, which helps students with caring responsibilities by allowing greater flexibility; and a corporate parenting plan which regards the University as a stand-in “parent” that agrees to safeguard the wellbeing of care-experienced young people.
We work with all 120 secondary schools in the west of Scotland, helping to increase awareness of university life, demystifying the application process, raising aspirations and giving young people the opportunity to fulfil their potential, regardless of their background, making a real difference to their life chances. We also offer tailored support to asylum seekers and refugees, including our humanitarian scholarships.