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Egglescliffe Case Study – Raising Aspirations Teesside Uni Trip

On 17th June 2022 we took a small number of year 9 and year 10 students, who were part of a mentor programme, to Teesside University. We used funding from TVCA to pay for the transport to and from the university. The idea of the trip was to allow the students to see what university has to offer and to raise the aspirations of those young people who were attending on the day. The itinerary for the day was as follows:

10:00 Arrival on Campus
10:05 Welcome and Introduction
10:10 Orienteering Trail
11:00 Life’s a Pitch
12:00 Personal branding / Interview skills
12:45 Break
13:15 Intro to HE and Student Panel – Q & A
14:00 Close & Depart

The intended outcomes for the trip were as follows:

  1. All pupils should understand a range of learning opportunities that are available to them, which includes academic routes and learning in universities.
  2. By the age of 16, every student should have a meaningful encounter with at least one university, which should include the opportunity to meet both staff and students.
  3. Students should understand that university is a viable option for them.

Gatsby Benchmarks:

This trip was mainly aimed around GB3 and was focused on aspiration raising but was also strongly linked to GB7, as it involved a higher Education visit which allowed for meaningful experiences with both university staff and students.

GB3 – Aspiration raising

GB3 – Addressing stereotypes

GB3 – SEND and vulnerable students

GB7 – Higher Education events and visits

GB8 – Group careers guidance (personal branding and interview skills workshop)

Impact:

  • Following the event, all pupils felt they had a better understanding of what university life would be like and could see themselves attending university in the future.
  • Following the event, 100% of the students said that they thought that university would be a viable option for them in the future.
  • We had a representative from Catalyst attend on the morning, with the students and they quoted “The pupils from Egglescliffe that I was with this morning were delightful!” “They chatted with me very openly and appeared to enjoy the morning of the visit.”
  • Staff said “The students seemed really engaged and were asking lots of questions. I think some were surprised at the courses which could be studied at university. After speaking with the students, they seemed more confident that university is an option for them – even if they had not previously considered this before.”