University uses youth work to attract disadvantaged students

The year-long project will see 100 local young people take part in youth activities run jointly by the university and South Bristol Youth.

Bristol University hopes the Going Places scheme will attract young people who attend schools where few pupils go onto higher education, because the activities it offers will give them valuable skills and experiences for applying to university. 

Students applying to the university from schools that are below the national average for higher education admissions and that then receive an offer to study will be asked to achieve lower grades - a so-called "contextual" offer.

To complete the project, young people will be expected to attend at least nine out of ten activities over the year, which include learning-style sessions, visits to the university and meeting for parents and carers about student finance.

University of Bristol widening participation and undergraduate recruitment manager Doug Jennings said working with a youth organisation would enable the university to target young people with serious aspirations for further study.

“All of the other work we do is channelled through schools because they’re a really easy way to work with students,” said Jennings.

“When we do things through schools students think of university being like school only bigger, but the reality is very different. When we work with students outside the school setting they understand that a bit more.

“The fact that the young people will be doing the activities outside of school hours in a youth setting means it’s something they’re really interested in. That means we have access to students who are keen.”

South Bristol Youth manager Camilla Chandler-Mant said using youth workers and holding activities in youth centres would change young people’s perceptions of going to university.

“One of the issues about universities, particularly Bristol, is that it looks like an elitist institution. For a lot of kids in South Bristol it’s a no-go,” said Chandler-Mant.

She said the young people who begin the project in September had been selected by their teachers based on either Key Stage 3 results or professional opinion.

“If they think there are children that should go to university but probably won’t because of their background, they can put them on the course,” said Chandler-Mant.

Bristol University expects to continue the project after the first year and has provided £15,000 a year of funding for the next three years.

Chandler-Mant has also appointed a member of the university’s graduate school of education to write a detailed evaluation of the project’s first year.

South Bristol Youth is a consortium of six secondary academy schools, the Park community centre and Bristol City Football Club.

Past research from Bristol University has shown that students who enter further education on a contextual offer do as well or better than peers who had a standard admission.