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Year 12 Widening Participation departmental funding

30 October 2014

The UCL Widening Participation and UK Undergraduate Recruitment office is pleased to announce this year's funding opportunities for departments.

Quad in autumn The Widening Participation team is now inviting bids from departments to run local versions of UCL's most successful outreach programmes, Year 12 Summer Schools and Summer Challenge.

Summer Challenge - up to £1,300 per course

Summer Challenge courses run for six taught sessions of two hours on weekday evenings. At the end of the course, every student will hand in a 1,500 essay and deliver a presentation on a related research topic of their choice. Tutors will support students with their projects throughout the programme, and students have access to UCL libraries during Summer Challenge.

Summer Challenge courses use an interactive, discussion-based approach to learning and use a variety of materials and activities. There should be an engaging theme that would appeal to Year 12 students. The content should be challenging but not too difficult or inaccessible (the level of a first-year undergraduate module is appropriate). The course should offer an integrated programme with clear aims and learning outcomes, rather than a series of unrelated one-off sessions.

In 2013/14, 63% of Summer Challenge students went on to make an application to undergraduate study at UCL.

Year 12 Summer Schools - up to £6,000 per summer school

Summer Schools aim to give students a deeper understanding of a subject area and how it is taught at UCL. Students typically spend five days at UCL, working and socialising in a group of 30 students. Successful Summer Schools use a variety of sessions, including lectures, seminars, practical sessions and visits where appropriate. There should be an engaging theme that would appeal to Year 12 students. The content should be challenging but not too difficult or inaccessible.

UCL has funding available for both residential and non-residential summer schools. Evidence suggests that residential summer schools are more successful at encouraging participants to go on to make an application to UCL.

In 2013/14, 56% of residential summer school participants made an application to UCL against 35% of non-residential participants. Residential summer schools are co-organised by the Widening Participation and UK UG Recruitment Office. The department is responsible for creating and delivering the academic programme, while the WP team develops and delivers the residential and non-academic side of the programme.

UCL's Widening Participation target groups

The Widening Participation and UK Undergraduate Recruitment Office will advertise departmental summer schools and recruit and select a cohort of academically able students from target backgrounds. UCL's target groups are students who:

  • Would be the first generation in their family to go to university
  • Are from lower socio-economic groups (NS-SEC 4-8)
  • Are from neighbourhoods with low progression to higher education
  • Are entitled to free school meals
  • Are from an ethnic background underrepresented at UCL
  • Have a disability
  • Are in local authority care

The Office will meet with departments to discuss any local priorities for widening participation, specific to a particular department (eg, increasing the number of women applying for engineering programmes).

For further information, contact: Gianpaolo Manalastas g.manalastas@ucl.ac.uk 020 3108 4106 (int: 54106).

Application forms and guidance notes can be found here: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/widening-participation/staff/dept-funding

Gianpaolo Manalastas, Senior Access Officer (Communication & Liaison), UCL Widening Participation & UK Undergraduate Recruitment