Universities reach out to younger students

**Universities are being advised to reach out to children as young as seven in an attempt to encourage them to go to university.**

The Office for Fair Access (OFFA) says universities wishing to charge higher tuition fees should aim to raise the aspirations of young children.

Universities are required, for the first time, to set out plans for what OFFA describes as “long-term outreach activity”, demonstrating how they will work with pupils from the age of seven and over.

OFFA director Les Ebdon commented: “We are keen to see more long-term schemes that start at a younger age”.

Warwick’s work with primary school children already includes primary taster days run by Warwick’s Outreach team, as well as a range of activities devised and delivered by Warwick Volunteers. The University also runs a “Thinking About University?” website which has specific sections aimed at pupils in years 5 and 6.

Recognition of Warwick’s work with primary school children came in February last year when the Warwick Arts Centre education team was awarded a Coventry Community Cohesion award for a project in which children from three local primary schools painted artwork on to the hoardings at the site of the new Sherbourne residences.

Canon Park Primary School teacher Hilary Wilson said of the project: “It opened the kids’ eyes to the possibilities which are out there in front of them. It has also built excellent links between the school and the University”.

Professor Ebdon from OFFA says that many outreach programmes currently focus on teenagers who might already have an interest in going to university.

He wants universities to attract more pupils who might not otherwise have considered higher education and believes that this means reaching them at a younger age.

Kim Eccleston from Warwick’s Outreach team told the _Boar_: “The University of Warwick recognises the importance of conducting outreach in a way that supports learners over their educational life cycle, rather than focusing solely on short-term goals and working exclusively with students who are just about to enter university.

“Starting secondary school with a positive attitude to education, and the options that might be available in the future should help pupils get the most out of their time in secondary education.”

OFFA’s access agreements will also put an emphasis on universities evaluating and measuring the outcomes of their access work so that they can show what works.

Kim Eccleston from Warwick’s Outreach team was keen to highlight that the University’s work “isn’t a reaction to the government policy”.

She commented: “We’ve been doing this for a long time in support of our own values. The work has to be part of a wider scope – working with primaries alone would not work”.

With respect to how Warwick will measure the impact of their outreach work, Andrew Higgins, director of the student admissions and recruitment office, said: “The lead in time and benefit of interventions is long-term so it is very hard to measure. We are looking at contextual data and progression data but it is still relatively early days.”