Praise for Widening Access
Published: 3 July 2014
The University of Glasgow's Widening Access initiatives have been heaped with praise in the Herald newspaper.
The University of Glasgow's Widening Access initiatives have been heaped with praise in the Herald newspaper.
On 23 June, under the headline "Initiative takes higher education message to around 50 schools", the paper's Education Correspondent Andy Denholm reported:
"Thousands of pupils as young as 11 will be told about the benefits of going to university or college as part of a £400,000 initiative to promote equal access to higher education.
"The drive by Glasgow University will see staff visiting nearly 50 target secondary schools across the west of Scotland to speak to more than 12,000 pupils from S1 to S3 about their future choices. University staff have already visited around 3000 pupils at 12 secondaries under a pilot project this year which focused on schools with comparatively low progression rates to higher education, as well as serving high numbers of disadvantaged postcode areas."
The Herald's main leader column backed this up by saying:
"The University deserves credit for the initiative, which it has backed with £400,000 of its own money, although perhaps it should come as no surprise from an institution that has already proven itself among the best for widening access."
ESP
Jonathan Jones, Deputy Director: UK Recruitment & Widening Participation with RIO - who was singled out for praise by the Herald, says: "In 2013-14, UoG piloted a new Early Secondary Programme (ESP), working with 3,100 S1-S3 pupils in 12 schools across the west of Scotland.
"Evaluation of the pilot is being conducted to allow a roll out of the programme to a broader range of schools in 2014-15. The ESP aims to introduce pupils to university and college from an early stage and increase aspirations amongst pupils to study further after school, outlining the varied routes to employment via education. Pupils are encouraged to consider their own skillsets and interests and to consider carefully the subject choices they make in S3 and beyond, keeping their options open or selecting subjects in an informed way, dependent upon their intended study and/or career path.
"The ESP will point pupils to the HE pre-entry programmes provided in S4-S6, by UoG, FOCUS West and other HEIs, to hopefully increase the uptake on these programmes and ultimately the numbers entering HE from target schools."
First published: 3 July 2014
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