Case Study – IntoUniversity Newcastle East
The IntoUniversity Newcastle East centre is a collaboration between Newcastle and Northumbria Universities and national education charity IntoUniversity to provide additional educational support to those aged 7-18 and who come from backgrounds under-represented in higher education.
It is set to be a genuinely life-changing experience for thousands of young people in the area by supporting their learning and nurturing their ambitions.
Working closely with local schools, it connects young people who may never have dreamed of going on to higher education with the two universities to provide long-term support including after-school academic support, mentoring from university students, in-school aspiration-raising workshops, specially designed study activities, family learning support and employability and careers programmes.
The partnership supports both universities’ commitment to fair access – particularly in the North East which has some of the lowest rates in England for participation in higher education.
The centre – which opened in September 2021 and is the first IntoUniversity local learning centre to open in the North East – is based at the Monkchester Community Centre in Walker, Newcastle. It aims to eventually support over 1000 students from the local community each year to enable them to fulfil their potential. It is one of 31 IntoUniversity centres that operate across the UK.
Programmes commenced from November 2021 with five primary schools and three secondary schools signed up. Primary students have been developing their maths and technology skills, while the Secondary students received support with coursework, study skills and exam revision techniques.
There has been a great response from these schools with, to date, over 700 students engaging with the centre across its Primary and Secondary programme. Feedback from teachers was that the sessions were ‘absolutely invaluable for the children and has provided them with so many opportunities and memories that will last them a lifetime’.
Working with our partners at IntoUniversity as part of the Collaborative Newcastle Universities Agreement, we are supporting young people in their own community to realise their potential and achieve their ambitions.
