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Engaging with schools and young people
UCL has been partnering with schools in east London since the early 2000s to improve access to the university, to enhance learning in schools and to equip students with skills they'll need for work and apprenticeships as they grow older.
Every year, we work with several thousand young people, in schools and through local projects.
We support schools in Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, and Waltham Forest, with a wide range of subject-related and extra-curricular activities. Find out how you can get involved below. You can also reach us through our enquiry form or by email at east.schools@ucl.ac.uk. We are part of East Bank and offer activities for teachers through East Ed.
Who we work with
Secondary schools and colleges
From creative writing to bio-robotics, printmaking to poetry - our workshops offer a wide range of subjects to inspire students. We are taking bookings for the current and upcoming academic year. If your school is in Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest we'd like to hear from you.
Partner schools
Experience across the university access sector has shown that young people benefit most from sustained engagement with a university. UCL has partnered with 5 schools in east London with the aim of making a positive change to the experience of their students over a minimum of 3-5 years' engagement.
About us
Our core team is made up of professional services staff who offer support across UCL in engaging with schools.
Celine West
UCL East Schools Engagement Manager
With a background in museum education, Celine has worked at UCL for nearly 20 years. Celine is leading the team and is the first point of contact for schools new to working with us, and for colleagues in UCL departments looking to engage with schools.
Salma Mohamed
Schools Engagement Assistant (STEP Trainee 2022 - 2023)
Salma recently completed a BA in Ancient History and credits her access to museums during her time at university, as positively shaping her studies. She supports the school’s engagement team in connecting schools with museums through various workshops and enrichment activities.
Mohamed Osman
UCL East Schools Engagement Officer
Mo comes to the UCL East school engagement team with many years’ experience of working with young people in secondary schools, community outreach and outdoor learning. Mo supports on a range of projects that serve the needs of schools in our neighbouring east London boroughs with their rich and diverse cultural tapestry.
Emma Bryant
UCL East Senior Schools Engagement Officer: Museums
After many years at the Wallace Collection Emma has created a wonderful programme of activities at UCL. She brings school students together with museum collections and experts in everything from Computer Science to English Language & Literature.
Ella Rule
UCL East Senior Schools Engagement Officer
Ella has experience across the university and charity sectors and has been working with east London schools for several years. She builds partnerships with east London schools, creating a variety of programmes and projects to support schools’ needs.
Roberta Livingston-McDonald
Schools Engagement Assistant (STEP Trainee 2023 - 2024)
Roberta has built her experience through theatre facilitation in schools and arts organisations across London. She supports the school’s engagement team in the various exciting programmes from career talks to museum projects. She also helps run the Ask The Expert website and the GeoBox Programme. Roberta is passionate about enriching the educational experience for students in east London.
Emma Bull
UCL East Senior Schools Engagement Officer
Emma has worked in education, culture and the arts since 2003 with experience including teaching, project management and programme development. She connects with east London schools creating engaging and diverse projects and partnerships to support learners and teachers.
Syeshia Sweeney
UCL East Schools Engagement Officer
Syeshia has worked in Higher Education for many years. She supports with the delivery of East school partnerships, events and workshops and is passionate about facilitating outreach initiatives designed to enrich and empower young people from local and underrepresented communities.
Explore our work
We develop relationships with experts across the university to deliver programmes for schools and learners. From building partnerships, running workshops and masterclasses to offering campus tours and Teacher CPD sessions, we are opening up UCL to schools and colleges.
Find out more about two of our exciting ongoing projects which have been running for several years: the Museums and Schools programme and our Printmaking project
Grant Museum Takeover
This virtual tour of the museum celebrated a year of collaboration between UCL students on the Museums and Galleries in Education MA, with George Mitchell Primary School in Leyton, East London.
Make an Impression
Discover a gallery of prints produced by students from six east London schools and colleges during a printmaking engagement programme. This ongoing project is delivered in partnership with UCL Art Museum and The Slade School of Fine Art.
Discovering Ancient Sudan
The Petrie Museum of Egyptology's ancient Sudanese objects come to life in this fascinating video with the museum's curator. This is one of several resources developed by UCL students to support school children learning from home last year.
“The students loved that the workshop [Animal Movement in the Grant Museum] was delivered entirely by other students. They said that they could imagine themselves doing something similar in a few years.
Teacher - Bio-robotics and Animal Movement Project
“Coming here, [to the Bloomsbury Campus] there was a protest about the gender pay gap. It shows that at UCL, they’re aware of current problems, like the students are aware of current problems that affect everyone and they want to make a change.
School student - Hackney meets Indonesia: UCL Eco-Engineering Schools Project
Working with museums and collections
Home to elephant hearts, ancient sandals, prints and portraits and dangerous scientific tools from the Victorian era, UCL has four public museums and many more hidden collections of objects used for teaching and research over the past 200 years.
Our unique series of projects combine the university's collections, academic expertise and UCL students' enthusiasm into curriculum-enhancing activities.
To arrange a class trip to our museums, please contact the visitor services team.
Online resources
Creative Careers
Are you interested in working in the creative industries? Explore the brand new interdisciplinary courses running at UCL East.
Ask the Expert
Whether you’re deciding what to study for your GCSEs, thinking about applying for university, or just curious about a subject, we are here to answer your questions. For KS2-5 pupils.
Careers Pack
We've created a free downloadable careers pack. It's full of bitesize bits of info about jobs and careers, aimed at young people as they start thinking about how their talents and interests might translate to future work.
Other activities at UCL
We work closely with UCL’s Access & Widening Participation team, who offer a wide range of activities for young people and teachers across the country.
Latest news
East Bank activities
UCL East is one of the first institutions to open at East Bank, a new cultural and educational quarter based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
We are already joining up with other east London organisations and our new neighbours including the London College of Fashion and V&A East, to increase our capacity to benefit local schools.
East Bank partners are also developing some CPD for teachers. We’ll post opportunities to our news section as they are announced.
East Summer school
East Summer School includes a range of activities from UCL including skateboarding, filmmaking, insights into sport medicine, exploring special collections and more. There are also sessions from Eastbank organisations including sound engineering by BBC music, tech and dance with Sadler’s Wells, and many others.
East Careers Week
East Careers Week offers school students insights into higher education and routes into industry, with workshops and talks showcasing how to develop transferable skills for the world of work. This annual event is part of National Careers Week held in March.
Discover more about UCL
UCL East brings together nine faculties, delivering around 50 degree programmes at all study levels, that look beyond the traditional divide between subjects, many of which are the first of their kind.
With the ethos of ‘learning by doing’ we will equip students with sought-after critical skills so that they can become thought leaders in their field.
We are always looking for ways to work with local schools to start these conversations early. If you have an idea for a project you'd like to work with us on, please get in touch.
