Our Offer
As part of our commitment to widening participation, UEL offers a range of pre-entry activities to local schools and colleges and wider outreach programmes.
We aim to:
- support students to make informed choices about university
- encourage students to continue to build on their aspirations
- provide students with the skills to progress with confidence.
We work with:
- students
- school and college staff
- parents/carers.
We deliver our activities across four work strands.
Information
We support students to make informed decisions about their academic future by providing them with information about our university. Below is a list of activities we provide.
Campus tours
Our tours give an insight into university life and an opportunity to meet existing students or members of academic staff to discuss studying at UEL. Visitors can explore our Stratford and Docklands campuses.
Higher education (HE) fairs
We are available to attend HE fairs, where we can provide more information about the University. We can also offer talks on various subjects including UCAS applications, personal statements, fees and funding, university life and subject-specific introductions.
Finance activity
These sessions enable students to make more informed decisions regarding budgeting and personal finance as well as providing up-to-date information on fees.
Staff briefing sessions
These events are aimed at providing school and college staff with accurate information about UEL. This will enable them to help students make decisions about applying to university.
Parent/carer events
We run basic introduction sessions regarding university life, specifically for the parents and carers of prospective students. These sessions can be tailored to group requirements and can be provided either on campus or in schools.
Skills Workshop
We provide students with an experience of higher-level study and the opportunity to build on study and organisation skills. We link their current subject areas to clearly defined learning outcomes.
Our skills sessions include:
Personal development skills
Our sessions will help develop personal and transferable skills such as communication, team working, organisation and listening skills. These are essential for students'; development in further and higher education as well as in the employment market.
Application to HE skills
We can give students an overview of the UCAS applications system. This can assist students in making accurate, effective and timely applications. We can also advise on best practice for writing personal statements for UCAS submissions.
Academic skills
These sessions give students the practical skills to undertake research using our library and ICT suites. We will explain how to reference findings correctly to meet higher education standards.
Curriculum workshops
These sessions are linked to students’ current study. They can help with making career decisions and provide information on clear pathways to achieve career goals. This will include discussing
Raising Aspirations
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Schools and College Visits
School and college visits can take place with students visiting either the university campuses or with UEL liaison officers and ambassadors visiting the school or college.
The emphasis is less on the curriculum (See Curriculum related work if you are interested in specific subject tasters or curriculum based visits) and more on raising aspirations and motivating students to continue on with their study. Through our programmes we aim to offer students:
- Familiarisation with the higher education environment
- A taste of a curriculum area delivered through the teaching methods used in higher education
- The opportunity to meet with current undergraduates
- The opportunity to raise their educational aspirations and ambitions
- The opportunity to start to find out about some of the key areas that are important in higher education decision making.
Supported by UEL undergraduates from the student ambassador scheme the focus is on the more general issues of what to consider when choosing an institution, personal budgeting and course choice.
When visiting the campus students have the opportunity to tour our facilities, engage in an interactive exercise and experience a taster session.
Progression Pathways
We develop sustainable relationships with our school and college partners through a formal ongoing relationship, such as our National Scholarship Programme partners. Benefits include invitations to UEL guest lectures, UEL staff joining school/college governing body and tailored activities for staff and students. We also have core subject-specific progression pathways in:
