IntoUniversity

A Successful Mentoring Partnership: Charles and James

2012-02-17T06:41:00.000-08:00

Charles is a mentee on our Cambridge Mentoring Scheme and is studying Law at St Catharine's College, Cambridge. He wrote this letter to IntoUniversity to let us know how well his mentor partnership with James has worked out:

'I feel like I should inform you that James has been a massive help to me! He's given me such great advice and has really helped me to settle into the previously unknown world of university life. He's helped me to organise myself, given me study tips and ensured that I was properly settled into college life. It's been so good to have somebody to talk when I have any fears about anything and I think that it is incredibly useful to get advice from him on what I should do. Without him, I don't know where I would be in life. When he came into my life, it was like a light switch being flipped in a dark room. He's even taken his time out to talk to me about future careers and has given me tons of advice on applications to investment banks for spring programmes. I honestly think that he has changed my life.'

James, Charles' mentor, had this to say:

'It is great to hear that Charles appreciates me as a mentor, however I have to say that it has been a pleasure and a privilege to guide someone so kind, caring and thoughtful through their first six months of University. Charles and I have a very good friendship that makes it much easier for us to communicate and be honest with each other - a cornerstone of any strong mentor/mentee relationship. Not only have I helped Charles, but he has also helped me:helped me realise that it is important to give back, important to be considerate but also important to ensure that others learn from your own experiences. I am sure that I will continue to be friends with Charles long after this scheme is done - I hope to help Charles with the decisions he continues to make throughout his university life, and beyond. I cannot praise enough the IntoUniversity scheme and the connections they help create.'

Find out more about our mentoring scheme here.

2012-02-10T03:12:00.000-08:00

IntoUniversity is excited to be beginning a new partnership with UNITE, the UK’s leading developer and manager of student accommodation. UNITE has launched a charitable trust, the UNITE Foundation, that will support widening access to university for disadvantaged young people and the integration of students within communities. In addition to significant funding, IntoUniversity will benefit from volunteer engagement by UNITE employees.

The UNITE Foundation will also be offering 21 bursaries, with a priority on care leavers, which will include free accommodation in a UNITE property for the duration of study and up to £4,000 per year towards living expenses. It is UNITE’s ambition to extend the number of bursaries offered each year so that by 2016 they are supporting 140 students within the scheme.

Mark Allan, Chief Executive of UNITE Group, said: “As a responsible business that is built to last, we are aware of the impact we have on the communities in which we operate; the UNITE Foundation will help us strengthen our positive and trusting relationships with the universities and communities we serve.”

Dr Hugh Rayment-Pickard, Director of Communications, Training and Planning at IntoUniversity, thanked UNITE for its donation of £50,000: " There is a natural fit between IntoUniversity and UNITE - we are both working for the benefit of students - and through their investment they are expressing in a tangible way a commitment to supporting more young people from poor backgrounds in their aspiration to reach university."

New IU Films

2012-02-06T04:54:00.001-08:00

by Ellie Stewart

We are delighted to share with you two brand new films about IU, which we've designed to illustrate our programmes to schools. Take a look at the work we do with primary schools and secondary schools and hear the views of teachers on what it's like to work with IntoUniversity and how our programmes make a difference to young people's lives.

2012-01-04T08:56:00.000-08:00

by Ellie Stewart

We are delighted to announce that our CEO Dr Rachel Carr has been made an OBE.

"I am surprised and and delighted to receive this honour and it feels very special that it comes at the start of the year which sees the 10^th anniversary of the founding of IntoUniversity.
It’s also really positive for my staff – they are all incredibly dedicated to our charity’s mission of raising young people’s aspirations and I think this honour reflects everything we have achieved.”

Dr Rachel Carr, Chief Executive, IntoUniversity

Read about the story in The Kensington & Chelsea Chronicle here.

Nottingham West: our newest centre

2011-12-16T02:25:00.000-08:00

by Ellie Stewart and Simon Collins

The transformation of Nottingham West began in October 2011. From the removal of old junk, ranging from redundant furniture to gym equipment, the team created their blank canvas and began the task of cleaning, creating displays and building new furniture. The team reached an incredible milestone when they held an opening for parents and students in the community and had a packed hall and 12 immediate signups to Academic Support. Highlights include reaching double figures in Academic Support, booking in and delivering Secondary FOCUS workshops and confirming the first Problem Solving FOCUS mini-Week.

After a Year 11 Education Choices workshop, these students had this to say:

'The best thing about this programme was learning about other career paths because I now have a wider range of paths available to me.' Daniel, Hadden Park High School

'Now I know what I want/need to do to get to where I want to.' Andre, Hadden Park High School

Young Londoners, social mobility and access to higher education

2011-11-25T05:29:00.000-08:00

Ellie Stewart

The Times Educational Supplement has published the results of a report by the think tank Centre for London, which has found that the most disadvantaged students in the capital are those from poor backgrounds living in affluent London boroughs.

Interestingly, it was found that poorer students are likely to perform better in poorer boroughs, and sometimes out-perform their wealthier counterparts in terms of securing a university place.

The report did find that 'in general, young people from poorer areas of London are less likely to go to university and far less likely than other young people to go to research-intensive universities.' However, the positive findings of the report mean that 'in a significant minority of London’s schools poverty does not reduce young people’s chances of an excellent university education.'

The report emphasises the importance of helping young people of all backgrounds to fulfill their full potential, an ethos that runs through all the work we do at IntoUniversity.

IntoUniversity win CYPN Award

2011-11-25T01:24:00.000-08:00

Ellie Stewart

We're delighted to announce that IntoUniversity have won the Learning Award at the Children and Young People Now Awards 2011.

The award recognises IU's contribution to improving educational achievement, particularly the work we do with children from disadvantaged backgrounds and children with special educational needs.

IntoUniversity's CEO blogs for PEF

2011-11-21T06:21:00.000-08:00

Ellie Stewart

Rachel Carr has written a blog post on PEF's inspirational new video Luke's World.

2011-11-14T00:48:00.000-08:00

Hugh Rayment-Pickard

James Lambert, our Chair of Trustees reflects on his role

http://newphilanthropycapital.wordpress.com/2011/11/01/trusteeship-being-an-ambassador-for-your-charity/

Luke's World

2011-10-28T06:13:00.000-07:00

Hugh Rayment-Pickard

The Private Equity Foundation has produced a powerful film illustrating the clear link between poverty, underachievement and potential unemployment.

The film underscores the importance of the work we do at IntoUniversity, transforming young people's futures through raised aspirations and education.

Guest Blog - Widening Participation: Then and Now

2011-10-21T09:22:00.000-07:00

Zoe Ashford

Zoe Ashford, 16, recently completed a week of work experience with IntoUniversity. She was keen to learn more about our charity because she is particularly interested in Education and Psychology.

Dr Rachel Carr, IU’s Chief Executive, recently spoke at the launch of ‘Impact: The Nottingham Campaign’. It was a great opportunity for the charity to celebrate its new partnership with The University of Nottingham which will allow IntoUniversity to open and run three more of its education centres in Nottingham over the next few years – starting this autumn.

In her address, Rachel discussed the roles of universities in the wider community. In the nineteenth century, the University Settlement Movement saw students living in settlement houses amongst the poor and helping the local community in any way they could. This included welfare support, clubs for children and evening classes, lectures and debates for adults. Like the team at IntoUniversity today, those students were committed to nurturing talent and reducing the burden of poverty and lack of education which so easily limits a person’s potential. Although very few of these settlement houses remain today, the same ideas of the role of the university can still be seen in some of the outreach work across the university sector.

Rachel and the team at IntoUniversity look forward to working with the University to open three new IU centres in Nottingham which will focus on providing a sustained, long-term educational and aspirational-building programme which values and recognises the talent of every child.

A degree still makes a real difference

2011-09-12T02:58:00.000-07:00

Gemma Fagbadegun

Both the Financial Times and The Guardian recently discussed research conducted by the Resolution Foundation into the value of a university degree.

It was found that 'those with degrees were more likely to see their earnings rise as they got older, while those with just GCSEs or A-levels were more likely to see their pay fall.'

Even more interesting was the fact that 'the difference was even more accentuated during the 2000s compared with the 1990s', which contrasts with the common belief that a degree has less value today.

We're pleased to see discussions in the press about this topic, as we have long held the belief that a university degree is key to enabling social mobility in this country.

Need A-Level Advice? Come to IU

2011-08-26T07:40:00.000-07:00

Gemma Fagbadegun

A Levels, AS Levels, GCSEs. Personal statements, clearing, applications. As, Bs, and Cs. That’s all we’ve been thinking about over the last few weeks (well, except for the team at the North Kensington centre, who have also been thinking about the upcoming Notting Hill Carnival quite a lot. But that’s another story). We’ve been working with our secondary students as they have been receiving their results over the past couple of weeks, helping them with finance queries, accommodation, and clearing. We’ve had some happy stories - pictured on is Mohammed Said Noor, a student on our Mentoring Scheme who achieved three A*s and an A, winning him a place at Cambridge to study medicine - but we've also had some sad ones too. With so much competition for places at university, it is only to be expected. We’re just glad that we’ve been able to help so many young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to achieve their goals, levelling the playing field just a little.

There’s been a lot of talk in the media recently about a lack of A-Level advice in schools. Our very own Dr Hugh Rayment-Pickard was even invited to BBC Radio 4 to discuss how our charity is filling this gap on Woman’s Hour (Listen again here). It is a disappointment that some young people are still struggling with little support when it comes to making the right choice about their future – especially in this day and age, when a university degree could cost you over £27,000.

IntoUniversity believes that the key is starting young. It’s not just about A-Levels, it’s about what you take at GCSE too – and that will be influenced by the way in which you have been educated in earlier years. If we start talking about careers and going to university whilst they are still at primary school, our children will be much better prepared for the difficult decisions that they will need to make later in life.

IntoUniversity works with children and young people from age 7 upwards. To find out more about the difference we are making to lives, please visit our website.

IU Mentors win Gold Volunteering Awards

2011-07-28T05:15:00.000-07:00

Three IntoUniversity volunteers, Maurice Rose, Wayne Yeang, and Harish Santhanam , have been rewarded with Volunteering England’s Gold Awards for their high standard of performance throughout the year.

Maurice, Wayne and Harish - all students at Imperial College London - have been actively involved in the delivery of the IntoUniversity programme.

Volunteering England’s Gold Award is the only national student volunteering award that marks the excellence in student volunteering by recognising achievement, dedication and leadership within Further and Higher Education. One of the winners Santhanam Harish describes his experience of being a volunteer: 'Through the Mentoring programme and the Buddy Days, I have been able to reach out to the community and provide a great deal of support to the students and give them more of an opportunity to succeed in life. In addition to that, not only have I been able to help others, I have also learnt and enhanced many skills from these students along the way.'

Intervening Early Crucial for Social Mobility

2011-07-05T00:29:00.000-07:00

Hugh Rayment-Pickard

Two very interesting presentations at the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Social Mobility yesterday: Prof Paul Gregg (University of Bristol) reminded us that education is the 'key driver' in social mobility and that international studies show that the most socially mobile societies are those that spend the most on education.

Claire Crawford (Institute of Fiscal Studies) reported that although poorer students are now more likely than 10 years ago to reach basic national standards at 11 and 16, there has been no significant improvement in higher levels of achievement. So pupils on Free School Meals are more likely to get 5 A*-C grades at GCSE (so long as we do not include Maths and English). But once English and Maths are factored in, the gap in achievement between Free School Meal Pupils and the rest has hardly changed at all. This gap explains the later gap in Higher Education participation, with pupils on Free School Meals ten times less likely than their peers to attend a 'high status' university.

Claire Crawford's conclusion is that 'early interventions have the potential to be more productive than later interventions. The strongest evidence is for high intensity interventions .... one cannot just intervene once and sit back; early interventions are most productive when followed up: consistency matters.'

This was good to hear because starting early and working over the long-term are central planks in the IntoUniversity programme.

Our Youngest Fundraiser

2011-05-27T06:54:00.000-07:00

Gemma Fagbadegun

Little Bella, just 6 years old, took part in a Superhero Fun Run for IntoUniversity this month with her mum and raised over £1,000 for the charity. On her Justgiving page, she said:

5k is a long way so I will probably walk and skip a bit, but I promise to try my best. Mummy has told me all about IntoUniversity and I would really like to raise lots of money to help other children. Thank you, Love Bella xx

And I can confirm that she did make it all the way around the 5km course, looking a bit tired at times, but determined to make it to the end! Congratulations to Bella, and everyone else who took part in the Superheroes Race this May - you've raised thousands of much-needed pounds for the charity!

Sponsor Bella here: www.justgiving.com/Bella-Hodges

If you would like to fundraise for IntoUniversity, contact us on 020 7243 0242 or by email on info@intouniversity.org. If Bella can raise over £1000, so can you!

Some Winning Poetry

2011-04-12T02:23:00.000-07:00

Gemma Fagbadegun

We recently asked some of our regular Academic Support students to write a poem about their experiences at IntoUniversity. The entries we received were at times comical, at times touching, with lines such as:

When I come here after school
I stand at the door and start to drool
I’m so glad that it is not a fad
I work really hard and this pleases my dad.

And

Four years ago I was a different person
I wasn’t as motivated as I am now.
I’ve learnt to apply myself in a positive way
and it makes me want to jump and shout hurray!

But our winning poem came from Liiban, a secondary student from our Lambeth centre. His poem really struck a chord with us – what do you think?

Untitled
Dark day at school, the body and mind aches,
Long dreary road to IntoUniversity
Feelings of excitement and apprehension.
Four o’clock outside IntoUniversity
The door opens
Warm laughter and chatter invites you in,
All of a sudden the outside world doesn’t matter.

A Little Reminder

2011-02-25T03:12:00.000-08:00

Gemma Fagbadegun

Charity work can be tiring, exhausting and frustrating at times. Our jobs, just like yours, have their highs and lows, whether we’re Education Workers, delivering our programme to young people at local centres or employed in the Head Office, doing our best to secure funding in a terrible economic climate.

But we’re always brought back down to earth by little reminders of why we’re here, and why we do what we do. This letter was written to the delivery team at our IntoUniversity Bow centre in Tower Hamlets. The sender was a Year 6 student from a nearby school, who had taken part in his first IntoUniversity FOCUS Week, on the topic of ‘Shakespeare’. The weeks are designed to inspire a love of learning; this one included a ‘Rapspeare’ workshop and an interactive quiz on Macbeth at the Tower of London, and ended with a celebration of achievement and a ‘graduation’ in caps and gowns at Imperial College London.

It was one of many lovely letters from students in the class. The Bow team were delighted about the impact that they had clearly had, and we wanted to share this with you. We hope it brightens your day too.

If you'd like to support the IntoUniversity FOCUS Programme with a donation, why not visit the SeeTheDifference website?

Alan Milburn's Speech

2011-02-02T05:52:00.000-08:00

Hugh Rayment-Pickard

Alan Milburn has made an important speech about his new role as 'Social Mobility Tsar'. He points out what we have long felt: that there needs to be a clear policy focus to the approach to Social Mobility. We argued in our submission to Alan Milburn's Panel on Fair Access that widening access to HE should be at the centre of policy making, so we were very pleased to read in Alan Milburn's speech that he 'will be examining what universities are doing to ensure fair access and what more they could do.' He will report in the autumn.

Is it debt, or is it a 'Graduate Tax'?

2011-01-27T03:05:00.000-08:00

Gemma Fagbadegun

We kicked off our first seminar of 2011 with a topic that has barely been out of the media spotlight of late; asking our four speakers, “Will tuition fees discourage disadvantaged students? Will this result in a Higher Education sector that continues to privilege the better-off?”

Answering the question were Professor John Storan, co-Director of Action on Access, Dr Tessa Stone, Chief Executive of BrightsideUNIAID, Wes Streeting, former president of the NUS and now Chief Executive of the Helena Kennedy Foundation and Mary Ann Sieghart, weekly columnist in The Independent.

I wondered quite how the four speakers would tackle a discussion about something which has pretty much already been argued to death by the British public. But, as Mary Ann Sieghart and Wes Streeting pointed out, much of the current perception of the raised tuition fees seems to be based on ‘false propaganda’ caused by the rhetoric that is being used in the media. The fact is, students aren’t being asked to pay these fees up front. They will only have to pay them back if they earn over £21,000. So, Mary Ann asked, why are we using the word ‘debt’? If anything, it would be more accurate to call it a ‘Graduate Tax’.

Despite this more positive skew on the tuition fees debate, there was still at times an air of doom and gloom amongst the panel and the audience. With prospective students being forced to choose subjects that are likely to lead well-paid jobs, Dr Tessa Stone expressed her fear for the fate of the humanities (a view echoed by comedian David Mitchell on Channel 4’s new satire show 10 O’Clock Live last week). John Storan worried that the loss of AimHigher would have a damaging effect on widening participation, whilst Mary Ann Sieghart articulated her concern for the ‘squeezed middle classes’.

It was when Wes Streeting highlighted the fact that this was the first time that a government has brought about such a huge change in university access that I realised we can’t really know what to expect. Certainly a key theme seems to be a lack of information, advice and guidance, and this needs to be addressed. Universities will have to raise their game as well if they are to attract students despite the high fees. And, as one attendee at the seminar remarked, the real challenge lies not just in access to H.E. for disadvantaged students, but in retention.

The Oxbridge Debate

2011-01-04T00:32:00.000-08:00

Hugh Rayment-Pickard

David Lammy MP received quite a bit of stick for his comments about the lack of black students at Oxbridge. I spoke to a socially-minded friend who teaches at Cambridge who was uncharacteristically angry about what he saw as the misrepresentation of the data.

The line being taken is that it is hardly the universities' fault if the quality of black students is not up to scratch and that pressure needs to be put on the school system rather than the well-meaning universities.

Surely this isn't an adequate response. Quotas for black students may not be the answer, but there are plenty of other things that Oxbridge can be doing to diversify its intake.

In the nineteenth century, Oxford and Cambridge had outreach settlements into the toughest inner-city areas: for example, Oxford House in Bethnal Green. It is perhaps time now for the universities to think how they can engage with disadvantaged communities in a more determined and ambitious way.

And it is not just for the sake of black students. The Sutton Trust reported over Christmas that pupils on free school meals are 55 times less likely to go to Cambridge or Oxford than those from private schools. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12048629. Can any Oxbridge college really remain sanguine reading this statistic?

Frank Field's Poverty Review

2010-12-03T05:29:00.000-08:00

Hugh Rayment-Pickard

Frank Field's Poverty Review has some very interesting analysis of the importance of the level of education and aspiration in parents. This underscores the intergenerational impact of our work because well-educated parents increase the life chances of their children:

'Nobody would doubt the fact that parents play the most significant role in influencing their children’s futures and the evidence backs up this instinctive belief. There is a weight of evidence which shows that a combination of positive parenting, a good home learning environment and parents’ qualifications can transform children’s life chances, and are more important to outcomes than class background and parental income.' (p.39)

The review also has an interesting graphic (page 41 of the report) showing the influence of good education and high parental aspiration on the future generation:

A Blast from the Past

2010-11-22T08:44:00.000-08:00

Gemma Fagbadegun

Four years ago, when IntoUniversity was still running as a pilot at The ClementJames Centre in North Kensington, our team took a group of students on a FOCUS trip to interview David Lammy MP for Tottenham and then Junior Minister in the department of Culture, Media and Sport. David Crace, journalist, covered the story for The Guardian, in which the sparky secondary students caught David out with a series of difficult questions, and spoke about their certainty that they would make it to university one day.

Four years on, and David Lammy is still a popular man in Tottenham. He’s now been MP for 11 years, and loves his constituency as much as ever. And he’s not lost faith in the impact of IntoUniversity, either. Which is why he cut the red tape at the launch of our centre in Haringey back in January 2010, and why we welcomed him back again this morning at the Tottenham based centre to kick-start a Journalism FOCUS week with a class of Year 6 pupils from Lancasterian Primary School.

John Crace described David perfectly:

“Lammy is almost everything you hope he will be. He's charming, attentive and
unpatronising. Most important, from the students' point of view, he's not white,
middle-class and middle-aged like every other politician they've ever seen or
heard. He may not talk street - though he says he can - but he's still
recognisably one of them.”

The excitement that simmered throughout the class as they anxiously awaited his arrival (which was slightly late due to an important meeting about Tottenham Hotspur – this only served to make him cooler in their eyes) was testament to his popularity in the community. Every child, even those who described themselves as ‘shy’ or ‘nervous’, had a question to ask him, and they were all eager to scribble down his answers lest they forget a single word. And like the interviewers from four years ago, these children didn’t make it easy for him; questions ranged from “What do you think about the 1000 job losses in Haringey?” to “Do you snore in bed?”.

Huge thanks to David Lammy MP for his continual support of our charity, and for putting up with so many awkward questions. But then again... what did he get into politics for? (Ask the Year 6 class at Lancasterian – they’ll definitely know.)

One small step for man...

2010-11-18T03:26:00.000-08:00

Gemma Fagbadegun

The Guardian reported this week that there was a 2.3% rise in the number of university students from the most disadvantaged fifth of the UK's population. At first glance, it's not exactly an awe-inspiring increase, but we can't expect miracles overnight, and it's great to see that over 30,000 teenagers from the poorest fifth of the population are settling into their first year at university right now.

We've been researching the destinations of our Y13 students who have benefitted from the IntoUniversity programme, which aims to inspire young people to achieve. We were really delighted to discover that 78% of our Y13 students have progressed to Higher Education or Further Study! We're so proud of their achievements and we look forward to hearing from them about how they are getting on in their studies.

Guest Blog: What have the last three months meant to you?

2010-10-29T08:06:00.000-07:00

Richard Watson and Rachel Reid

At IntoUniversity we recently expanded our Graduate Scheme, and took on 13 new members of staff to deliver our widening participation programme to young people across our network of centres. Richard and Rachel, part of that cohort, speak about the group's experiences.

It’s been over three months since IntoUniversity’s newest intake of Graduate Trainees arrived for their first day at North Kensington, but the time has certainly flown by. Our introduction to the organisation began with some intensive training but before we knew it we were delivering activities and programmes ourselves.

Sultana has commented on just how welcoming our introduction to IntoUniversity was, whilst Emily W felt that the opinions and input of all participants was acknowledged and valued.

Hannah P felt that the training we received from existing staff was extremely organised and professional, whilst I (Richard) particularly appreciated the way the training not only provided us with valuable content but also demonstrated different approaches to delivery which we “subtly absorbed”.

Our training flowed naturally into observations, time-teaching and finally delivery and Rachel felt that the well-devised training programme made it easy to apply the things we’d learned to real teaching environments.

Once he was given a particular strand of the programme to manage, Mike felt a real sense of ownership for our work. He also enjoyed being placed in a particular centre and being given a platform to help shape that centre’s own unique identity.

But even though everyone is very proud of their new centres it hasn’t stop the group adopting its motto of “One Team, One Dream!”.

Many new Graduate Trainees have also commented on the positive impact that IntoUniversity’s approach and values have had on their lives outside of work. Emily H believes that she has been able to extend the values she has adopted at IntoUniversity into her personal life. This has impacted upon the way she deals with friends and family in a really positive manner.

The past few months have been a wonderful experience but none of the new recruits are in any doubt that the remainder of the year will be even better!

What is Aspiration?

2010-10-08T06:48:00.000-07:00

Gemma Fagbadegun

Another successful IntoUniversity Breakfast Seminar. This time, the topic was ‘Understanding Aspiration’.

Our three speakers? Dr Louise Gazeley from the University of Sussex, Dr Simon Griffiths from Goldsmiths College, University of London and Prof Eeva Leinonen, Vice-Principal at King's College London.

I was interested to see how the three speakers might approach the topic – I mean, how can you answer a question like ‘what is aspiration?’. And furthermore, how can the answer help charities with mission statements like our own – to raise the aspirations of disadvantaged young people?

Despite not having got together to discuss their talks beforehand, all three speakers approached the subject from very different angles. Louise Gazeley considered how aspirations are formed – she voiced her belief that in some circumstances aspirations did not just need to be raised but actually produced. She was keen to point out that the emphasis must not be placed just on individuals and family life, but also on schools, and teachers, who must be taught themselves to raise the aspirations of their students.

Simon Griffiths, as a historian and a physical theorist, approached the question from a more theoretical point of view. He pointed out the relative newness of the term ‘aspiration’ and the problems that came with it. He was keen to point out the issues that surround ‘unrealistic aspiration’ in today’s celebrity culture; to him, a 10 year old who insists he wants to be David Beckham when they grow up has an aspiration that shouldn’t necessarily encouraged (unless he’s a whizz on the football field, of course).

On the flip side, Eeva Leinonen was eager to argue that unrealistic aspiration was at least a starting block – a desire to be rich and famous can lead to a desire to want a good education that might help you on your way. Eeva spoke to the group about her childhood in Finland, a country whose education system is highly lauded, partly, in her opinion, because it does not ‘stream’ its students. In her words, “I never felt like I was bad at anything”.

Plus, she remarked, she had a strong mother.

Lots to mull over. Our next seminar will take place in January 2011, and we’ll be discussing the arguments for and against introducing widening participation programmes to primary school students.

IU features in BBC Documentary with John Humphrys

2010-09-22T04:44:00.000-07:00

Gemma Fagbadegun

We were delighted to be featured in the BBC2 Documentary, 'Unequal Opportunities with John Humphrys' the other night. The programme explored the attainment gap between advantaged and disadvantaged pupils, visiting state and private schools in order to ascertain how best to tackle the disparities. In the clip below, John Humphrys visits Old Ford Primary School, a partner school of ours, and discusses a recent IU FOCUS trip to the University of Cambridge with the children. It was heartwarming to hear how the trip had raised the aspirations of the primary students who took part, with one child quoting:

"IntoUniversity... inspired us to go to university, so then we could succeed in life"

IntoUniversity is 'Charity of the Year'

2010-09-14T07:39:00.001-07:00

Gemma Fagbadegun

We are delighted to announce that IntoUniversity was named 'Charity of the Year (with an income of less than £1m)' at the Charity Times Awards Ceremony in September.

The Charity Times Awards are designed to recognise and reward excellence in the management and co-ordination of all charitable activities.

The judging panel, which represented the leading figures in the UK Charity Sector, remarked: “The winner showed a high level of dynamism and substantial evidence of impact.”

Our Trustee, Clare Richards and our Director of Operations, Zoe Cox, attended the lavish ceremony to receive our award, presented by Ruby Wax. We're overjoyed to have won, bringing us to a total of three awards this year!

You can read more about the award here.

David Willetts: University is still a good investment

2010-09-07T03:46:00.000-07:00

Hugh Rayment-Pickard

The OECD has reported that the UK is falling behind other countries in the number of graduates it produces. This has provoked an interesting response from the Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts: "The OECD report shows that our Higher Education faces some real challenges, which the Government is determined to tackle. We have already taken action to boost student numbers by funding an extra 10,000 places and more people than ever are starting university this autumn. Going to university is still a good investment. Graduates are more likely to be in work than non graduates and can expect to earn more over their lifetime."

A New Generation

2010-09-03T08:41:00.000-07:00

Gemma Fagbadegun

Our new team of Graduate Trainee staff started at IntoUniversity a couple of weeks ago, and it’s been great to see all these new faces on the team. We’ve been training them pretty solidly since they first arrived at the Head Office in August, and it’s great to see how efficient our recruitment process was - because they really do seem to believe in and emanate IU’s values: Quality, Talent, Aspiration, Teamwork and Compassion.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of joining in on a training session with the group, run by Christine de Cruz from SpeakersBank, a national network of professional trainers which is a part of Speakers Trust, a charity aiming to promote the development of speaking skills. We were all quite nervous at taking part in a public speaking workshop – despite being a confident and energetic group, no-one was too keen to get up in front of an audience and talk about a topic that really inspired them. But Christine’s enthusiasm won us all over, and in the end we had a great time both delivering our speeches in an effective and interesting way, and listening in turn to what everyone else had to say.

Sinead, a new Education Worker for our Brent centre, who hails from Sheffield but just spent a year living in Spain, spoke about walking the Camino De Santiago, a 900km ‘pilgrimage’ to a town in north-west Spain. London-born Laide, who’ll be joining the IU Bow team, alerted the group to the ongoing problems with racism in the UK. And Richard, originally from Edinburgh, and who’ll be helping out across our network of centres, gave us three reasons why everybody should use their vote.

It was a fascinating session to say the least, and I look forward to hearing more from this incredibly diverse and passionate group.

Sports Science in FOCUS

2010-08-24T03:50:00.000-07:00

Anna Jones

‘A footballer’ must be one of the most common answers we get when we ask Year 6 boys what they want to be in the future, so it was fantastic to have the opportunity to open their eyes to the wide range of career and study options relating to the sports industry when we ran our Sports Science FOCUS Week recently.

Eighteen boys and girls from Year 6 upwards attended the week during their summer holidays. They had the opportunity to work in teams, researching and presenting on inspirational figures in sport, as well as developing their teamwork and leadership skills through playing a wide range of sports, including trying archery for the first time.

On the final day of the FOCUS Week we took the young people to Brunel University, where they were amazed by the athletics facilities, even having the chance to meet and question medal-winning sprinter Mark Lewis-Francis.

Having the chance to meet the Student Ambassadors was a very rewarding experience too. Rebecca, a Year 8 student who has attended Secondary Academic Support since the centre opened, particularly enjoyed talking to Jameel, who is currently studying Physiotherapy at Brunel. Rebecca has been interested in studying Physiotherapy ever since we ran a careers workshop during Academic Support, and she has had help at the IU centre to research university courses and entry requirements. It was therefore invaluable for her to be able to speak to Jameel about his experiences and his passion for the subject.

Thanks to Lesley Mortimer, Widening Participation Officer, and the Student Ambassadors at Brunel University for making our visit such a success.

A Ray of Hope amongst the Gloomy Clouds

2010-08-20T08:18:00.000-07:00

Gemma Fagbadegun

We’ve been pretty anxious this week at IntoUniversity. It was hard not to worry, when every day the headlines in the Education sections of each paper were predicting a disaster for a large portion of school-leavers when the A-Level results came out on August 19th.

The teams at our centres in Bow, Lambeth, Brent, North Kensington, Haringey and Hackney made some nerve-wracking phone calls to their Year 13 students yesterday afternoon and this morning. They have been guiding these students through the highs and lows of applying to university, and, like everyone involved with the charity, they are dedicated to helping close the achievement gap between students from poorer backgrounds and those who are more privileged.
Whilst I awaited the news, I read an article by The Telegraph’s Jeff Randall, who offered consolation to those who hadn’t made the cut. I agreed with some of his points; for those who haven’t made it, all is not lost and there are other options. But I was also delighted to hear the results roll in from across the IU network, with students gaining places to Brunel, Southampton, Kingston and Surrey Universities to name a few, studying topics as varied as History, Pharmacology, Maths, Economics and Biological Sciences. Congratulations to them all.

Unfortunately, we can’t kid ourselves that all of our students will have a fairy tale ending in times like these. But IntoUniversity will be there to support those unlucky ones who didn’t quite achieve their dreams this time around, and to ensure that they go on aspiring to something more.

Milburn, Mobility, Mentors

2010-08-16T08:43:00.000-07:00

Rachel Carr

We were – very briefly! - on the news this weekend. Alan Milburn visited IU last summer (see photo) when the government’s Fair Access to the Professions report was launched from our North Kensington Centre. The BBC covered the (somewhat controversial) story of his appointment as Social Mobility Tsar by replaying the footage.

And I am delighted that it was seen by one of our first five mentors who got in touch with me to congratulate us on what we have achieved since her involvement with IU in 2003. Ingeborg is now a Senior Research Analyst. Back in 2003 she was a student at Imperial College and was paired with one of our teenagers who is now finishing her degree at University of Birmingham. In 2003 our pilot mentoring scheme had 5 university students from Imperial matched up with our students – today we have 370+ mentoring volunteers from across the University of London and our corporate partners. Another of those first five mentors – Spencer - came to work for IU before going on to train as a secondary school teacher. It would be good to hear from the other three – anyone know what happened to Joy, Angela and Hannah? We’d love to know.

Is there hope come August 19th?

2010-08-13T07:42:00.000-07:00

Gemma Fagbadegun

I enjoyed reading about Andrew Seaton, an Oxford student from a disadvantaged background (first in his family to go to university, receiving free school meals, and home-schooled) and the successes he has had, in The Independent yesterday. It’s nice to hear a positive story amongst all the negative press surrounding university applications at the moment (Just 1% of poorest students go to Oxbridge, The Guardian 5th Aug; Up to 170,000 applicants to miss out on a university place, The Guardian 16th July; New Students face £25,000 debts, The Independent 13th August).

Hearing Andrew’s account, I’m reminded of some the success stories that we have contributed to – Ayisha who is studying Law at Warwick University, Judith who is on her way to completing a History degree at Cambridge, and Francesca who’s currently at Loughborough University. But with the recession and the resulting increase in numbers of university applications recently, our mission is getting harder.

I really hope that, this year, widening participation doesn’t take a backseat as students scramble for precious places.

See Ayisha's story below

Our First Year in Haringey

2010-08-09T02:43:00.000-07:00

Anna Jones

Now that the summer holidays are here and our team are thinking about our objectives for the next academic year, I’ve had a chance to look back and reflect on what we have achieved so far at IU Haringey North.

It’s been an exciting journey. We got the keys to our new centre during the last week of October, and immediately set about painting and turning our hands to all manner of DIY tasks, including furniture building, carpet fitting and locksmithery.

We opened our doors for Academic Support three weeks later, and were overwhelmed (and overjoyed) by the huge number of registrations, proving that there was a real need for our services in the area. Not long after that we ran our first set of Science FOCUS Days with one of our new partner primary schools. By the time the centre was officialy opened by David Lammy MP on 21st January 2010, IU Haringey North was already very much up and running.

Since then we have seen nearly 100 children and young people for Academic Support, matched 15 pairs for Mentoring, and seen over 400 students on our FOCUS programme. Highlights have included filming Roald Dahl adaptations at Alexandra Palace on our Film in FOCUS Week, matching Year 12 students with corporate mentors from UBS as part of IU’s new Futures Fast Track scheme, and seeing the children and young people who attend Academic Support achieve the educational targets that they set for themselves, whilst gaining in confidence and in their love of learning.

Going forward, we are very excited to be welcoming two new Education Workers to our team, and I am confident that together we will be able to build upon this year’s successes as we become a fully-fledged centre. Thank you to all in the local community who have been so welcoming and supportive. I look forward to the journey to come.

Photo courtesy of John Cairns Photography.

Big Society and Education

2010-08-04T08:18:00.000-07:00

Hugh Rayment-Pickard

I bumped into a friend yesterday climbing off his bike and asked him about 'The Big Society' (he works in government, so I thought he might know). 'Mrs Thatcher reduced our expectations of what the state should do for us; New Labour raised our expecations again; the Coalition is bringing us back to reality: the state can't do everything and shouldn't do everything. At some point citizens have to do it for themselves. That's where "big society" starts.' He had to get to Marks and Spencer before I could explore further.

There was further enlightenement in a Carnegie Trust report 'Making Good Society': 'Liberal democracy is a three-legged stool — though, at present, it’s a pretty wobbly stool. One leg is government, providing public capital. Another the market, providing market capital. And the third, civil society, providing social capital. To get things back in balance, the third leg needs strengthening.' Which was well put, I thought, and implies that The Big Society is a very significant initiaive.

But if it is significant, then it will surely require significant resources to develop and sustain the traditions and habits of civil engagement and service that will be required, which reminded me of an essay by Frances Fukuyama, who was talking about these things a decade ago: 'the area where governments probably have the greatest direct ability to generate social capital is education. Educational institutions do not simply transmit human capital, they also pass on social capital in the form of social rules and norms. '

New Website for Students

2010-08-02T05:14:00.000-07:00

Hugh Rayment-Pickard

We had an interesting meeting with Christine Buccella recently about a new website called bestCourse4me.com. The site is designed to be used by students and their teachers to inform choices about courses and careers in the light of national statistics about future employability.

Totally independent and free to use, bestCourse4me shows you the link between what people study and their employment record afterwards. The website:

* Reveals the difference in earnings potential for graduate careers compared to non-graduate earnings.
* Displays the wider array of jobs that graduates from particular courses could go into.
* Discloses the percentage of graduates employed six months after graduating from a particular degree course. span>

Sarah Teather MP

2010-07-30T05:18:00.000-07:00

Hugh Rayment-Pickard

Sarah Teather MP, Minister of State for Children and Families, joined a Question Time event at IU Brent. The event was the culmination of a half-term's work on a Careers in FOCUS project looking at campaigns and campaigning coordinated by IU Education Worker Rachael Moss. Sarah Teather was subject to some tough questioning from our young people including questions about provision for pupils who do not have English as a first language and the Government cuts to the Building Schools for the Future programme.

The Economics of Underachievement

2010-07-29T07:30:00.000-07:00

Gemma Fagbadegun

We held our very first Breakfast Seminar in July on the topic of ‘The Economics of Underachievement’, bringing together economists, researchers, media and more. We welcomed three speakers – Dr Jo Blanden from the University of Surrey, Andrew Dilnot, principal of St Hugh’s College, and Dr Lee Elliot-Major from The Sutton Trust.

The discussion was a very interesting one, and the speakers certainly weren't afraid to look at the topic from every angle! Whilst Jo Blanden looked at the high returns of encouraging young people to enter Higher Education who might not have done so otherwise, and Lee Elliot-Major showed proof that reducing education inequalities can lead to a growth in GDP, Andrew Dilnot was slightly more cautious.

He reminded the group that the financial and economic benefits of social mobility and widening participation lay in the distant future. Moreover, Andrew believed that the reason why we provide programmes like IntoUniversity is not because of the economic arguments, but simply because we want to do the right thing.

Watch the video below to hear from the speakers themselves.

Move over Karl Marx

2010-07-16T07:08:00.000-07:00

Hugh Rayment-Pickard

I have been running public speaking training for our Head Office staff: Sam (top, Fundraising). Jeff (middle, Finance); and Gemma (bottom, Media).

Having prepared one-minute speeches, we took a bus up to Speakers' Corner to deliver them to mildly bewildered passers-by in Hyde Park. Previous speakers at this historic location include Karl Marx!

Gemma spoke in praise of singing, Sam told us that bicycles can change the world and Jeff offered a panegyric to his inspirational history teacher.

Being in this location was strangely liberating: 'It seemed paradoxical' Jeff commented, 'but being so far out of my comfort zone actually dispelled any sense of nervousness I might have had.'

IntoUniversity receives CSJ Award

2010-07-15T08:47:00.000-07:00

Hugh Rayment-Pickard

IntoUniversity has had its work recognised and celebrated with an award from the Centre for Social Justice. Last night's award ceremony was a glittering event with Jemima Khan and Sir Bob Geldoff in attendance. The award came with £10,000 of funding. We were particularly pleased that our award was sponsored by JP Morgan, who have provided strategic funding to IntoUniversity for several years.

More news and photos will follow on the blog in due course.

Broadening Horizons

2010-07-14T07:57:00.000-07:00

Anna Jones

It was with great interest that I read last week that Emmanuel College, which takes 63% of its undergraduate students from state schools, is this year at the top of the Cambridge league table for undergraduates’ degree results. This is resounding proof that widening participation is successful in enabling students to achieve their full potential, regardless of social or educational background. This was very much the message that two Year 6 classes from Risley Avenue Primary School in Tottenham were given when the team at IntoUniversity Haringey North took them on a visit to Cambridge last Friday.

When I questioned the children about their perceptions of Cambridge before the visit, one of the comments made was that it was ‘only for posh people’. Another child commented that she would not like to go to Cambridge University in the future because it would be ‘too much pressure’. Indeed, when asked how many of them would like to study at Cambridge one day, only one child in the class put his hand up. Certainly I’d never seen the children as quiet as at the beginning of their visit, awed both by the impressive architecture of the college and by being offered squash in wine glasses by uniformed staff. Yet they soon relaxed as they set out in teams to explore the college and the nearby Faculty buildings on their specially-written campus quiz.

The day ended in a ‘graduation’ where the children donned mortar boards and received certificates to celebrate their achievements. When asked again how many of them would consider studying at Cambridge, every single hand went in the air. Of course, not every child in the class will attain the academic qualifications to enable them to apply to Cambridge one day, but certainly they all came away fired by a new love of learning and a determination to achieve their aspirations.
Many thanks to Selwyn College and Murray Edwards College for their generous hospitality and for making our visits such a success.

What will The Pupil Premium mean?

2010-07-08T05:54:00.000-07:00

Hugh Rayment-Pickard

The Pupil Premium was one of the LibDem ideas to make it into the new coalition’s policy programme. The idea is that schools will get additional funds for each poorer pupil they educate. The LibDems wanted to spend £2.5bn on it, but the coalition is only saying that the premium will be ‘significant’.

Cathy Newman from Channel 4 has an interesting analysis of the Pupil Premium (http://blogs.channel4.com/factcheck/2010/05/26/does-the-pupil-premium-add-up/) in which she cites a recent IFS report, which concluded that ‘the effects of the extra cash on pupils’ attainment were likely to be “modest” at best.’

Haroon Chowdry, one of the report’s authors, told Channel 4 News. ‘The evidence seems to suggest that the impact of financial resources at the school level on children’s educational outcomes is actually very small... Instead, things that seem to be the most important first and foremost are children’s families, their home environment and the early years environment.’

What will happen to the Children of the Millennium now?

2010-07-08T04:02:00.000-07:00

Gemma Fagbadegun

It’s been a painful few months in education, with the plan to extend Free School Meals axed, and an end to the Building Schools for the Future programme at the forefront of discussions. We knew the cuts were coming; we knew they had to come, but it doesn’t make things any easier.

At the end of the day, if tough choices have to be made, then it is arguably better to direct the available resources to teaching. Our worry is that the cuts will have a greatest impact on poor young people who are already badly disadvantaged in the education system. The Government’s proposed ‘pupil premium’ may go some way to help, but only if it is directed by Headteachers to effective programmes that really make a difference to the most disadvantaged children.

I’ve recently been reading through some of the findings of the Millennium Cohort Study from the Centre for Longitudinal Studies, which has tracked the lives of over 15,000 children born in the millennium, with an emphasis on ethnic minorities and disadvantaged families. It covers topics such as parenting, school choice, income, parent’s employment & education and neighbourhood.

Even at age 5, the research already showed much of what we expected: ‘there are ...signs of a greater social divide between families in [social] housing and other tenures (such as owner-occupation)’* than in previous years. The reports also stated that ‘children from lower-income families with less highly educated parents are less advanced in their development than those with more advantaged starts to life’**.

With the changes taking place under our new government, I’m really interested to follow the progress of the Millennium Cohorts; especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds. How their lives are affected could be key to understanding just how the decisions made today might affect social mobility in the long term.

* 'Millenium Cohort Study Briefing 7: Neighbourhood and Residential Mobility' by Sosthenes Ketende, John 'Mac' McDonald and Heather Joshi
** 'Millennium Cohort Study Briefing 6: Teacher Assessment at age 5' by Kirstine Hansen and Anna Vignoles

Widening Participation: Quo Vadis?

2010-06-23T01:59:00.000-07:00

David Willetts has yet to spell out fully the new Government's approach to Widening Participation'. In a recent speech, he said: 'Widening participation, of course, goes hand in hand with diversity – not making every university conform to a standard model but allowing them to develop their own approaches to the various needs and ambitions of students.'

Part of the 'standard model' hitherto has been that WP funding should be channelled through universities (and Aimhigher). If the aim is to look at alternative approaches, we hope that agencies such as ours in the third sector may have the opportunity to bid for any future WP funding.

David Willetts may also have in mind the WP approach in the US. David Blanchflower (Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire) suggests in the New Statesman that higher fees could have a positive effect on widening participation by giving universities more cash to redistribute to the poor: 'About 50 per cent of Dartmouth undergraduates receive a scholarship. The average scholarship for the class of 2013 is $35,500, and the university awarded $63m in undergraduate scholarships in 2009. The school places special emphasis on those from less privileged backgrounds; roughly 14 per cent of scholarship students are the first generation in college and 33 per cent are from US minorities. Those whose family incomes are below $75,000 (£52,000) qualify for free tuition - 21 per cent of the present first-year class.'

We are very concerned about the impact of higher fees on the economically disadvantaged students we work with While it is true (so far) that fees have not been a significant disincentive to poor students, there will surely be a tipping point when higher fees start to narrow rather than widen HE participation.

Hugh Rayment-Pickard

We’re officially launching the IntoUniversity Blog!

2010-06-18T07:21:00.000-07:00

The time has come. We’ve recruited our bloggers, played around with the layout and colour scheme, changed the font a few too many times, and generally annoyed everybody in the office by talking about all things only in relation to the blog.

We’re ready to launch.

Please take a moment to subscribe, or add this page to your favourites. We’ll be discussing everything from policy and research to interesting news stories and case studies of the children and young people we work with. Dr Rachel Carr will talk about life as the Chief Executive of a thriving charity, whilst Doug Thomson will bring his expertise in fundraising to the table. Hugh Rayment-Pickard will continue his research into the impact of the IntoUniversity programme, whilst I will talk about, well, anything that I find interesting! And our resident cartoonist, Clare Richards, will continue to provide us with gems to brighten up those not-so-summery days.

So do join up and join in. Share with your friends, and let us know your thoughts. We’re looking forward to the conversation.

Gemma Fagbadegun

Dr Anna Vignoles and the True Value of a University Degree

2010-06-14T08:30:00.000-07:00

Working for a charity which strives to get as many young people from disadvantaged backgrounds into university as possible, the obstacle I most often come up against is:
"But aren't too many people going to university these days?"
So it was a breath of fresh air to meet Dr Anna Vignoles, a Professor in the Economics of Education at the Institute of Education at our Advisory Panel meeting last month.

Anna was keen to point out that the personal (and financial) benefits of going to university had not declined, despite the increase in graduates these days. But what really interested me was her revelation that the value of a degree depends much more on the subject you take than on the university which you attend. Unsurprisingly, it's the maths, science and economics grads who reap the most rewards (at this point I recalled my decision to take English Literature with just a tinge of regret).

She also reported that gaining a degree makes you less likely to commit a crime, less likely to smoke, more likely to vote, more likely to be in good health – but overall the social return on education is lower than the private (and economic) one.

Anna was keen to emphasise the need to provide advice and guidance to children and young people from an early age so that they could make informed decisions on their future. Of course that fits quite nicely with IntoUniversity's vision (and we didn't ask her to say that - I promise).

So the value of a degree remains high; research has proven that implications on both an economic and social scale are positive. There's no doubt that we should be encouraging all our children and young people to reach for the stars. Which is a great answer to the dreaded question, if I may say so myself.

Gemma Fagbadegun

IntoUniversity Award Winner

2010-06-14T07:36:00.000-07:00

IntoUniversity has just come first in the 'Buiding Bridges' category of the London Education Partnershp Awards. The judges were looking for
• A strategic and systematic approach to school/further/higher education progression
• Effective cross-organisational curriculum partnerships, including joint programme planning and delivery
• Widened participation for non-traditional higher education entrants

Hugh Rayment-Pickard

Heart or Head: what lies behind donor decisions?

2010-06-14T07:33:00.000-07:00

An interesting new YouGov survey asks donors whether their decision to give is based more on evidence or sentiment. ‘42% of respondents state that knowing the results achieved by a charity influences their decision to donate, while more say that having a personal connection with the charity (45%) does so. 29% claim their decision is based more on emotions than on rational decision making.’ http://www.yougov.co.uk/corporate/pdf/press-gradingSystemCharities.pdf

This echoes our own experience and we increasingly realise that we must make not only a rational but an emotional case for the value of our work.

Martin Brookes at NPC has some interesting thoughts about this survey: 'getting more donors to care about the performance of charities is an important part of building a better ‘market place’ for charitable funding. Building a market is very different from servicing an existing market and demand. The YouGov survey reinforces the importance of that shift.'

Frank Field's 'Life Chances' Index

2010-06-11T06:46:00.001-07:00

I notice that Frank Field has been welcomed into the bosom of the new coalition and is bringing some fresh thinking to the question of child poverty, arguing that we need to think of poverty beyond a narrow economic calculus. '...That means points for children whose parents talk to them as babies, read to them as toddlers and have them ready to hold a crayon and sit still by the time that they reach school.'
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7147986.ece

Frank Field will be chairing an independent review looking at poverty. Does this mean that the 'Social Mobility Commission' hinted at by the previous government will not be happening ?
Hugh Rayment-Pickard

Student Survey 2010

2010-06-11T05:31:00.001-07:00

The results of our 2010 Student Survey are encouraging and show the impact of the Charity's work.

Liberating Learning: Widening Participation

2010-06-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

IntoUniversity has contributed an essay to the recent collection Liberating Learning: Widening Participation. Teachers, philosophers, historians and chief executives put the state of contemporary secondary education under the spotlight. Their essays make the case that secondary education has been impoverished by a narrow curriculum and rigid bureaucratic assessment system, and that despite government attempts to widen participation, the social gap in education remains wide. Inspired by the liberal tradition, the authors call for a more generous approach that will kindle the interests of young people and give teachers more freedom. They examine the initiatives that are successfully raising aspirations and participation, and argue that the best way to get more people from diverse backgrounds into university is to liberate learning.

The contributors are: Simon Blackburn, Nigel Bowles, Patrick Derham, Dr Rachel Carr and Dr Hugh Rayment-Pickard, Niall Ferguson, Sarah Fletcher, AC Grayling, Simon Lebus, Ray Lewis, Sir Stuart Rose and John May, Michael Reiss, Elizabeth Swinbank and John Taylor, and Michael Worton.

IntoUniversity Seminars

2010-06-10T04:24:00.000-07:00

The work we do at IntoUniversity raises many wider questions about education and social policy: the role of ‘aspiration’ in students’ long-term success; the effectiveness of ‘early intervention’ work with young people; whether schools alone can ever close the achievement gap between rich and poor.

We will be exploring some of the educational and social issues behind our work in a series of 4 seminars, run in partnership with UBS, over the coming 12 months. Our first two seminars will take place in July and October this year.

The economics of underachievement
12 July 2010 9.30am – 11am
UBS, 1 Curzon Street, Mayfair., London.

Does educational failure have an economic impact? Or is our concern about underachievement just a moral objection to inequality? Is there an investment return on state spending on education? What is it that private schools are ‘selling’ – education, social advantage, enhanced personal development?

PANELISTS

Dr Jo Blanden
University of Surrey

Andrew Dilnot
St Hugh’s Oxford

Dr Lee Elliot Major
The Sutton Trust

Understanding Aspiration
6 October 2010 9.30am – 11am
UBS, 1 Curzon Street, Mayfair., London.

What is Aspiration? How is aspiration generated? Can it be taught or encouraged? Can it be measured?

Panelists

Mary Ann Sieghart
Journalist

Dr Simon Griffiths
Lecturer in Politics at Goldsmiths College, University of London

Dr Loiuse Gazeley
Lecturer in Education at the University of Sussex