Uni Connect exceeds activity targets

Go Higher West Yorkshire (GHWY) is delighted to report that our Uni Connect programme exceeded its activity targets between August 2021-July 2022.  

As detailed in our recently submitted monitoring return to the Office for Students (OfS), during this period we engaged with 11,237 Uni Connect learners (against a target of 6,000) and 7,617 non-Uni Connect learners (against a target of 250). 

This achievement was made possible by the strength of our staffing model, which has proven effective in reaching learners across all partner schools/colleges. This includes collaborative working between Outreach Officers, who are based in our HE members, and Progression Officers, who are based in our partner schools and colleges. This means we can respond flexibly to meet the needs of our learners. 

The monitoring return also highlights our continued approach to building on strong relationships with a variety of HE providers, including FE colleges, and other key stakeholders, including the LEP, which results in impartiality for our learners and provides a platform to strategically work together to identify areas of need. This mutual collaboration avoids duplication of activities, and adds value to ensure the sustainability of our work. 

Our programme of activity, which is fully evidence based, ensures that all HE options – including the complete range of routes into and through HE – are represented equally. We will continue to prioritise the evaluation of all strands of work to ensure that it is having a positive impact. 

GHWY’s Uni Connect works with target schools and colleges across West Yorkshire to ensure that every student, regardless of background, has access to impartial careers information, support and guidance on the non-traditional and traditional further and higher education or training pathways available to them. 

Set up in 2017, it is one of 29 partnerships of universities, colleges and other local partners that support OfS’s strategic goal that students’ access to HE is not limited by their background, location or characteristics.