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Uni Connect Overview
Our privacy notice for learners is available here (last updated November 5th 2021).
Uni Connect is a national network of consortia across England which offer impartial advice, guidance and activities on the benefits and realities of higher education in college and university. The programme, via 29 consortia, delivers outreach activity in geographical areas where the HE participation of young people is low or much lower than expected based on GCSE attainment, with the overarching aim of supporting the most disadvantaged young people in England to progress into higher education.
The OfS’s investment in the remainder of phase three of the Uni Connect programme aims to:
- Contribute to reducing the gap in higher education participation between the most and least represented groups.
- Equip young people from underrepresented groups to make an informed choice about their options in relation to the full range of routes into and through higher education and to minimise the barriers they may face when choosing the option that will unlock their potential, including barriers relating to academic attainment.
- Support a strategic local infrastructure of universities, colleges and other partners that can cut through competitive barriers, offer an efficient and low-burden route for schools and colleges to engage with higher education outreach, enable schools to engage with attainment-raising activity, and address outreach ‘cold spots’ for underrepresented groups.
- Contribute to a stronger evidence base around ‘what works’ in higher education outreach and strengthen evaluation practice across the sector.
If you would like to find out more information about Uni Connect please visit the OfS website here.
Linking London works alongside existing networks, Access HE and Aimhigher London, to form the London Uni Connect. Together we are working within the 13 target wards that have been identified by the OfS as areas with high levels of social deprivation and low levels of learners progressing onto higher education.
Linking London works specifically with Further Education and Sixth Form College learners who live within these 13 wards. Together with our partners, we have developed a programme of sustained and progressive outreach activity that is tailored to local needs and offers inspiration, increases aspiration and supports students to make informed decisions about their future.
Phase one of the programme ran from January 2017 - July 2019.
Phase two of the programme ran from August 2019 - July 2021. The two main strands of activity were:
- Targeted higher education outreach (delivered to young learners residing in target wards).
- Outreach hubs within the 29 local partnerships with the aim of offering schools and colleges higher education outreach and providing a platform for wider collaboration.
Phase three of the programme began in August 2021 and is due to run until July 2025. This will involve three main strands of activity:
- Targeted outreach delivered to young learners residing in target wards.
- Strategic outreach to address information, advice and guidance (IAG) and outreach ‘cold spots’ for underrepresented groups in the local area.
- Signposting to support staff to find out about outreach activity in their local area.
An additional element, attainment raising at Key Stage 3 and 4, was added to the remit of Uni Connect in 2022.
To stay up to date with Linking London's Uni Connect work, you can find us below:
The below image shows the Uni Connect target wards in London. This interactive map can be found on the OfS website here.
