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Uni Connect - Linking London Update

This month we have continued our intensive work with year 12/1 learners who are engaged on our one-to-one Pathway programme run by our Engagement Coordinators. At this point in the year the majority of learners are looking at all the different options for post-college as well as what preparation can be done over the summer break. For students looking at the HE route, the Engagement Coordinators will start to encourage them to consider preparing their personal statements for UCAS and for students looking at the apprenticeship or work route, students start to look at what work experience can be lined up for the holidays.

On the 26^th May we held 2 in-person graduation ceremonies for students from Havering Sixth Form and Havering Further Education College who had taken part in the third Mindmapper programme this academic year – this was a 6-week intensive programme for both year 12 and 13 students and focused on aspects such as time management, study hacks, motivation, working styles and resilience.

Finally, this is an important time of year to begin to reflect on our work so far and we are asking all our students on our Pathway programme to complete a final survey. The results of this survey will then be compared to the pre-survey that the students completed before their first sessions, allowing us to look at the distance travelled and the impact of our programme. The report from this will be submitted to the OfS Uni Connect national evaluators – CFE.

Adult learner and strategic outreach strand update

As part of our adult learner work, we have produced several resources which may be of interest. Case study videos featuring mature learners speaking about their experiences of higher education can be found on our YouTube channel in a playlist here. Please feel free to use/show these during any outreach or IAG work you think is suitable – the three students are from Birkbeck, University of Westminster, and Point Blank Music School and provide some valuable and inspirational insights.

As a continuation of our ‘Curriculum to Careers’ poster series, we have produced 5 new versions which are specifically aimed at Access learners. Copies have been distributed to colleges, and PDFs can be found on the Linking London website. The subjects covered are Nursing, Education, Social Sciences, Art and Design, and Business.

Following feedback from college partners, we, with very helpful inputs from OCN London, put together a simple guide for adults on Level 2 courses considering their next steps. The guide covers key aspects to consider when choosing a Level 3 course and what to consider when deciding to go onto higher education and is designed to spark ideas and highlight elements learners may want to research further. The digital guide can be accessed here.

Based on request from FE partners we have put together a transition support resource for prospective students. This resource signposts to useful information and websites surrounding the support that is on offer within partner HE institutes and more generally. This information can be found here.

Following in-depth discussions we have had with our FE partners, we have written up an overview of the gaps FE partners believe there are in outreach support for their adult learners and where more input from HEI’s is necessary. This discussion report will be sent to all partner HE and FE’s on Tuesday the 7^th of June, please get in touch if you have any comments or questions surrounding this.