Fair access to university

What is Fair Access to university?

The gender pay gap has narrowed, but the top professional jobs still go to men. The professions seem to have become more socially exclusive, not less:

3 in 4 judges and 1 in 2 senior civil servants are still privately educated
Today's doctors and lawyers grew up in families with incomes two-thirds higher than the average family
Those from other diversity groups are often under-represented in the professions

Access to the country’s leading research universities is still dominated by a few highly socially and academically selective schools.

How can you improve your chances of getting into university? This section provides general information and information on initiatives by professional bodies to widen access for those from under-represented groups and disadvantaged backgrounds. It also points you some specific initiatives to help widen access to higher education.

Here you will find information on Access to university, Access to specific careers and Additional help.

Access to university

General information

General information on widening participation

Direct Gov

Direct Gov provides some generic information on what your options are and what higher education is really like.

UCAS

Universities and colleges set their own entry requirements, so they vary from course to course. You can check out the requirements for each course on the UCAS website.

The Times

The Times has an interesting overview of how to get into the university you want and an explanation of the process.

IntoUniversity

IntoUniversity is a centre-based service offered free of charge at specialist facilities located in London.

The vision of Into University is to provide a national network of high quality, local learning centres where young people are inspired to achieve. Each local centre Into University will offer an innovative programme that supports young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to attain either a university place or another chosen aspiration.

Into University works with children and young people with talent and potential who are at risk of underachieving and are seeking, with our help, to improve their life chances. The majority are from ethnic minority backgrounds and other social groups currently underrepresented in higher education.

Internships are available for the summer and also at graduate level.

For further information email internships@intouniversity.org.

The Office for Fair Access (OFFA)

The Office for Fair Access helps safeguard and promote fair access to higher education.

Many universities run access schemes for applicants who have faced challenges - social, personal or educational - which may have affected their performance in education. To give you flavour of what is on offer we highlight some schemes but check out your chosen university to see what they offer.

The University of York Access Scheme

Cambridge Special Access Scheme (CSAS)

University of Cambridge - Cambridge Special Access Scheme

The Open University - Young Applicants in Schools and Colleges Scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (YASS)

The Open University's Young Applicants in Schools and Colleges Scheme enables academically gifted students in Years 12 and 13 to study a wide range of undergraduate modules at first-year level alongside their AS and A levels.

Reach

Reach is an online community designed for University of London students who feel they face barriers to reaching their potential. These may include social background, disability, age, gender and sexual orientation – it all depends on the individual and the career they are aiming.

Access to specific careers

Law Society's Diversity Access Scheme

The Law Society's Diversity Access Scheme offers support to promising entrants to the solicitors' profession who also face exceptional social, educational, financial or personal obstacles to qualification.

Access to Medicine and Dentistry

The College of West Anglia's Access to Medicine and Dentistry course

Also see the Sector Summaries for information on specific sector initiatives. We provide information on some of these below.

VETNET

The VETNET Lifelong Learning Network was established to increase opportunities for vocational learners to progress into veterinary and animal related higher education.

VETNET LLN aims to produce a comprehensive qualification map to clarify existing animal and veterinary related courses available across the country, develop a curriculum that will allow vocational learners to progress smoothly into veterinary and animal science related degree courses and compile a catalogue of career and professional development opportunities for those working in the animal and veterinary sectors.

Contact them here.

The Network also includes representation from the professional bodies related to this sector, including:

Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS)
British Veterinary Nursing Association (BVNA)
Lantra (the Sector Skills Council for the land based industries)

Architecture for Everyone

Architecture for Everyone helps Britain’s best young designers to turn their talent into a career. It is a partnership between the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust and architectural firm RMJM - a nationwide project which encourages young people from Britain's inner cities to consider a career in architecture and urban planning.

The Waste of Space competition encourages young designers to give their ideas about how they would improve a wasted space near their home with the potential of winning a fantastic prize which will help further their design careers. Architecture for Everyone also runs workshops for aspiring designers.

Email info@architectureforeveryone.org.uk

Become a Teacher

Become a Teacher has all the information you need to know if you wish to apply for teacher training. There is information on routes into teaching, pay, choosing which subject to teach, information about Education degrees, all you need to know about CRB checks, FAQs as well as an invaluable list of teaching resources compiled by TSR members. There is also top advice on the application and interview process for PGCEs and a discussion thread for getting teaching course interview tips plus information from current teachers about what teaching is really like, what routes they took and the things they find most enjoyable.

Visit TDA site for more information.

Additional help

Check out the Resources section for information on organisations offering additional help to prospective university students or graduates. We highlight a few here.

Aimhigher Programme

The Aimhigher Programme closed in July 2011. See details of what support the Government have replaced it with here.

Brightside Trust

The Brightside Trust is a charity which aims to provide educational opportunities to pupils from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. The organisation aims to deliver an online suite of tools and training programmes to help undergrads and professional to mentor pupils from under-represented backgrounds.

The Brightside Trust have a number of initiatives, such as Bright Links, where e-mentors talk to pupils/students about a variety of subjects, and Bright Journals, where medicine undergraduates mentor underrepresented pupils who are interested in medical careers.

Contact details are available here or email info@thebrightsidetrust.org

Fastlaners

Fastlaners is a two week course for graduates in East London looking to improve their employment prospects.

It focuses on improving the graduate’s confidence, their self-awareness and their ability to work in a team. It also aims to improve interview technique, increase awareness of the job market and educate participants about the available routes into professional networks as well as how best to take advantage of them.

After completing a Fastlaners course, graduates were able approach graduate job opportunities with renewed confidence, market their experience, skills and understanding in order to secure graduate employment, and able to advance their careers by taking advantage of networking opportunities.

Ambition for Fastlaners is that they will enjoy healthy and happy graduate careers and demonstrate to their employers the multiple benefits of recruiting from a diverse graduate talent pool.

Contact jack.graham@youngfoundation.org or Fastlaners here for further information or with any queries.