Shaping Futures
Helping to reduce inequalities in access to HE and the future of collaborative outreach.
Shaping Futures is the UniConnect partnership for the Liverpool City Region. As a partnership of 12 Higher Education Institutions, including Edge Hill University, it aims to inform and inspire learners and their key stakeholders, supporting them to make informed choices about their future. Working collaboratively to reduce the attainment and progression gaps between the most and least disadvantaged within the Liverpool City Region. The first half of the presentation will detail why this work is particularly important in a region that faces significant disadvantage. It will then show how it has sought to reduce inequality since its inception in 2017. Describing what this looks like in practice and the theory of change that underpins its work. It will then demonstrate the impact it has had on the local region using data it has compiled via its own monitoring and tracking as well as qualitative examples from schools and students it has worked with from across the region.
The current iteration of the Uni Connect programme is funded up to the end of next academic year. The second part of this presentation will focus on the future of collaborative outreach. It will discuss previous iterations of national collaborative outreach, the current plans for the next phase of a national programme and offer an example of what this could look like at a local level. It will also outline what practical next steps needs to happen to turn this into a reality.