4:00pm Monday 22nd June 2009
By Lauren Oldershaw
Financal concerns and social pressures mean that fewer young people are taking an interest in going to university.
But now a new Government scheme, which has been successfully piloted in areas across the country, including Essex, could be changing attitudes to university education.
Aimhigher Essex sees students offering a helping hand to secondary school pupils.
It is part of the pilot project for a £21million initiative to encourage a wider range of young people to consider higher education.
Lucy Glover, Aimhigher Associate scheme co-ordinator, said the idea was to plant the seed of the possibility of going on to study at university as early as possible.
She said Year 9 and Year 10 pupils was a good place to start because the 13 to 15-year-olds are getting ready for GCSEs.
Ms Glover said some children had never even thought of going to university because no one in their family had ever been and they had no idea about how to go about it.
The partnership has sought to overcome these barriers – and others – by recruiting 32 students from Essex University, Colchester Institute and Writtle College as Aimhigher associates, providing long-term support and guidance to 191 shool and college pupils who might not otherwise have considered higher education.
Many of the mentors are from similar backgrounds to the pupils and can therefore offer a personal perspective on the path from school and college to university, she added.
And she said they had also helped to dispel other major concerns which could put youngsters off continuing into higher education, such as the fear of coming out burdened with debt.
Mentors also help out with preparing for exams and offer advice on revision.
She said: “If you talk to young people, we have found the biggest perceived barrier is the cost of it.
“This is a really, really major issue and it is important information is shared about financial help.”
The scheme is the first of its kind to offer a long-term link between undergraduates and pupils, and it is planned that these relationships will develop over time, with the associate on hand to support pupils in making important decisions about their education that will affect the rest of their lives.
Kirsty Campbell, an Essex University student from Frinton and a newly-recruited Aimhigher associate, said: “Being an Aimhigher associate is one of the best things I’ve done.
“If I had had a mentor at school to help me understand higher education, it would have made things so much clearer. In Year 10 and 11 I had no idea how to revise or even where to start.”
Ms Campbell added: “Associates are excellent role models who can really relate to young people and understand the barriers to higher education.
“Mentoring is a powerful experience – it’s about building self-confidence and helping young people to consider career paths that may seem out of reach.
“Some of our associates experienced Aimhigher activities at school themselves, and tell me that this helped them to get to university.”
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