Minister launches new initiative to ensure that local talent meets university challenge

Minister of State for Education & Lifelong Learning, Margaret Hodge, will launch an innovative pairing between UCL and City & Islington College (CIC) in a Partnership for Excellence, aimed at providing vital early support and mentoring to talented A-level students.

Linked to the government's plans to widen access to higher education to under- represented groups, the Partnership for Excellence signals a commitment between UCL and CIC to develop a closer working relationship, with the objective of enhancing educational choices offered to students and giving them a valuable insight into the ways that the transition from school to university can be successfully achieved.

The launch of the Partnership for Excellence will reveal:

• further details of the programme of support aimed at improving levels of access to under-represented groups
• how the Partnership for Excellence aims to drive up standards in teaching
• student successes and experiences of the Partnership for Excellence.

Notes to editors:

City & Islington College (CIC) is one of London's largest further education colleges, with 18,000 students. According to the latest performance tables it is also one of London's two highest scoring further education colleges for A-levels. The CIC's Sixth Form Centre offers an exceptionally wide range of AS- and A- level subjects and has a long established track record of excellent A-level examination results, with above national average pass rates in several subjects. Over 300 of the centre's A-level students go on to higher education each year, as do 300 students from vocational courses. CIC is committed to individual attention and the highest quality support for students, and gained a grade 1 for student support services in its most recent government inspection.