Engaging with Higher Education
Nick Cave & Charlotte Brooks
Engaging with Higher Education
• Activity - How do you currently engage with HE at your
school/college?
• UCAS timeline and key engagement opportunities
• Pre-16 engagement and the WP agenda
• Other types of engagement
• The university perspective & top tips
• Activity – What engagement would you like to see in the future?
Activity - How do you currently engage with
HE at your school/college?
• In groups, discussion around the ways in which your school/college
currently engage with Higher Education.
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At school or at HE institutions?
Student and/or parents? Staff development?
Engagement you have instigated?
Engagement HEIs have instigated?
• Please use the post-it notes provided to list the different activities you
engage in with Higher Education
• We will write this up and include it in notes circulated after the
conference
The UCAS timeline
Year 12
2016/17
October
2017
January
2018
April /May
2018
August
2018
October
2018
Step 1:
Step 2:
Step 3:
Step 4:
Step 5:
Step 6:
Choosing
Courses
Apply
Offers
Decisions
Results
Start
University
Websites
Prospectuses
Open Days
15th Oct
Oxbridge
Dentistry
Medicine
Vet Science
Conditional
Firm Accept
Confirm place
Unconditional
Insurance
Accept
Adjustment?
15th Jan
Everyone else
Reject
Interview?
Decline
Clearing?
Year 12 engagement
Talks / Workshops in school
HEI based events
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Why University?
Choosing a course / university
Subject specific e.g. “Applying to
Medicine”
Personal statements
Preparing for Open Days / UCAS Exhib.
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University Open Days
Taster lectures / taster days
Summer schools
Public lectures and events e.g. BBC
Stargazing Live
Bespoke campus visits
School based events
Virtual engagement
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HE / Careers fairs – invite employers as
well as universities?
Parents’ evenings
University guest lecturers – subject
specific showcases
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Webchats / skype chats for potential
students
Social media
Virtual open days
MOOCs (massive open online courses)
The UCAS timeline
Year 12
2016/17
October
2017
January
2018
April /May
2018
August
2018
October
2018
Step 1:
Step 2:
Step 3:
Step 4:
Step 5:
Step 6:
Choosing
Courses
Apply
Offers
Decisions
Results
Start
University
Websites
Prospectuses
Open Days
15th Oct
Oxbridge
Dentistry
Medicine
Vet Science
Conditional
Firm Accept
Confirm place
Unconditional
Insurance
Accept
Adjustment?
15th Jan
Everyone else
Reject
Interview?
Decline
Clearing?
Year 13 engagement
Talks / Workshops in school
HEI based events
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UCAS Process
Personal Statements (Autumn)
Student Finance
Clearing & Adjustment
Study Skills
Preparing for University
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University Applicant Visit Days (might also
include interview)
Public lectures and events e.g. BBC
Stargazing Live
Clearing Open Days
School based events
HEI Assistance for applicants
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Mock interview days
Personal statement clinics
UCAS application progress
Accommodation application and processes
Personal requirements / student support
(accessibility, disabilities, specific learning
requirements etc)
Widening Participation Post-16
• Post-16 engagement- Working in
schools with Year 12 & 13 students
across the East Midlands
• Campus visits for Year 12 students
• Progression Programmes- 18 month
programmes for Year 12 students
- LEAP
- Realising opportunities
- Pathways to Law
- Med Reach
Widening Participation Pre-16
• Working in Leicester &
Leicestershire
• Talks in schools from Primary to
Year 11
• Sessions on Study Skills, Why
University? Revision tips,
GCSE/A-Level options, student
led sessions and more!
• Campus Visits- University
Experience Days for Year 8 & 9
• Employability sessions
• Summer schools Year 8,9 &10
Non-WP pre-16 engagement?
• Some universities might be able to offer similar engagement
opportunities to pre-16 students
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6th form open evenings
Talks workshops for KS3 e.g. “Choosing Level 3 Qualifications”
Visits to campus
Open days are not just for year 12 students
• Could you invite year 11 students to events organised primarily for
year 12?
• Have you tried approaching the WP teams at your local universities
for pre-16 engagement?
Other types of engagement
• Parents
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Shift existing events to the evening to include parents?
Arrange additional sessions just for them?
Consider combining existing events with parents evenings?
Dedicated / general HEI produced materials, resources, websites that
can be circulated to parents?
• Staff development
– Talks/training in school e.g. UCAS reference writing, advising students
through clearing/adjustment
– University Schools of Education? Contact about potential CPD?
– University run Teacher and Adviser Conferences! (thanks for coming )
– Accompanying school groups to open days
The University Perspective
• Why we engage with schools
– Student Recruitment
• Direct recruitment (HE fairs etc)
• Indirect recruitment
• Local and community responsibility
– Widening Participation
– CSR
• Our limitations
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Often quite small teams for Student Recruitment / Outreach work
At busy times of year, more requests than we can fulfil
Budget restrictions
Travel / distance vs type of engagement
Top tips for engaging with HEIs
• Give plenty of advance notice, particularly for events in March, June
and July
• Please try to provide exact dates and timings where possible, but a
save the date is better than waiting months for concrete timings
• Be creative with sessions / events to make them fit
– Talks run as carousels?
– Students attend fairs in groups to ensure steady flow / build in talks
• Be careful with HE fair timings
– Is this near to or clashing with a UCAS Exhibition? www.ucas.com for
full listings
– Other local 6th forms arranging similar things? Combine events to
increase participation of students and HEIs?
• Rough rule of thumb - The more local the HEI, the better the chance
of engagement
Activity - What engagement would you like
to see in the future?
• In groups, discussion around the ways in which your school/college
would like to engage with Higher Education in the future
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Budget constraints? What if you had unlimited funds!?
Current activities you request that cannot be fulfilled?
Activities you want to attend but cannot?
Dream / ideal activities
• Please use the post-it notes provided to list the different activities you
engage in with Higher Education
• We will write this up and include it in notes circulated after the
conference
Thank you for listening – any questions?