York

Contents

• Understanding the University of Opportunity
• Why are we taking action now?
• Who we're supporting
• How we're delivering
• We can't do this alone
• A lifelong commitment
• The Place and IntoUniversity
• Case studies
• Generation Research
• Find out more

Understanding the University of Opportunity

Establishing ourselves as the University of Opportunity in the UK is an achievable ambition and a key element of the next five years of our strategy. We believe in the power of education to transform lives. But belief alone is not enough - we are taking action.

We’re working together across our University community with partners and the support of our alumni to deliver this ambition. Everyone can be involved and share awareness of what we want to achieve.

The University of Opportunity is not a web page or a one-off project. It's not about token gestures or standalone scholarships.

It’s an embodiment of our position as a University for Public Good.

It's central to our strategic aim of providing an education that empowers, and it's relevant to all our students and staff.

It is a lifelong commitment to dismantling the barriers that prevent students from accessing, thriving in, and benefiting fully from university education.

Closing the gaps for life

This ambition applies to every student, with targeted action to remove the most entrenched barriers.

It's there in everything we do - from financial support to student wellbeing, career preparation and enabling every student to engage with their university community.

We are:

• Innovating education - using technology for accessible learning, expanding virtual tools, and introducing flexible programmes
• Investing in financial support - bursaries for low-income students, scholarships for refugees and care-leavers, and targeted funding for UK Black and South Asian students
• Enhancing the student experience - funding employability opportunities through York Futures Scholarships and ensuring a student's financial circumstances do not limit their career prospects
• Supporting wellbeing - expanding mental health services through York’s Mental Health Charter, recognising that thriving and making progress is not just about academic success
• Preparing students beyond graduation - embedding career development into all courses and offering lifelong mentorship and careers support through York for Life

With collective effort, we are countering structural inequalities and ensuring that every student at York - regardless of their background - can access education, succeed and progress.

We can't do this alone

We're committed to supporting these most vulnerable groups and to making the improvements - for example, in our wellbeing support - that matter to all our students.

But at a time of financial challenges for higher education, this isn't going to be easy and we will need support from our wider community.

Funding and fundraising

Our University of Opportunity fund is central to our ambitions, supporting Access and Participation (APP) initiatives, and other projects which support and extend the APP offer.

Colleagues in OPPA (Office for Philanthropy, Partnerships and Alumni) are sharing our ambitious plans with partners and donors to gain their support.

To find out whether funding is available to support specific initiatives, please begin by asking within your department.

The Place and IntoUniversity

The journey to university begins early. With The Place and our IntoUniversity centres, we’re signposting the way.

The Place

Communities like Westfield in York, which don’t fit the remit for national charities and government initiatives, have become 'cold spots' of service provision for children, young people and their families. As a result, many families are caught in a 'double disadvantage' in neighbourhoods where for decades, poverty and educational underachievement have unfairly gone hand in hand.

The Place is our practical response to the educational inequalities of many of the children and young people growing up in the Westfield area of York. It is an inspirational learning and support community centre in the heart of the Chapelfields estate, supporting up to 800 children and young people - and their families - each year.

IntoUniversity

In the most deprived areas of Hull, Bridlington and Grimsby, we’ve worked with IntoUniversity to establish centres which will support children to stay on track at school and realise futures they may never have dreamed possible.

IntoUniversity has a proven track record of improving progression rates to university in other underserved coastal communities:

• Clacton-on-Sea - 1,510 young people supported, leading to an HE progression rate of 55% vs the local average of 17%
• Weston-Super-Mare - 1,262 young people supported, leading to an HE progression rate of 54% vs the local average of 15%

Our IntoUniversity centres, located in areas where typically over 50% of children grow up in poverty but as few as 10% go to university, will support low-income students to defy the odds stacked against them.