Too many children grow up without the vital support and encouragement to pursue a university education, believing that university isn’t an option for them. The figures from 'State of the Nation 2017: Social Mobility in Great Britain' make stark reading and demonstrate the size of the challenge. Just 5% of children eligible for free school meals gain five A grades at GCSE. The most advantaged 18 year olds are two and a half times more likely to attend university, and six times more likely to attend a selective university. Only 6% of doctors, 12% of chief executives and 12% of journalists today are from working-class origins. As stated in that report:

There remains an entrenched and unbroken correlation between social class and educational success: the income gap is larger than either the ethnicity gap or the gender gap in schools. In short, Britain’s deep social mobility problem, for this generation of young people in particular, is getting worse not better.

Ensuring fair access for the brightest and the best

At the University of Exeter, we believe that everyone with the potential to benefit from higher education should have equal opportunity to do so. Our goals for your university are to widen participation in higher education, to raise pupil attainment, and to offer our students a level playing field so that they can enjoy the best possible outcomes both during their time at Exeter and as graduates.

That is why we've set up the Exeter Scholars programme, which aims to encourage, develop and support young people who are under-represented in higher education and often from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Exeter Scholars is a free programme aimed at students in the South West from year 9, and nationally from year 10, through to year 13, giving young people from across the country the opportunity to find out more about university, develop a passion for a chosen subject and gain first-hand experience of student life.

Working directly with young people, their teachers and schools locally, regionally and nationally, we deliver the targeted support that these young people need in order to get inspired about higher education. Getting young people involved in hands-on, discovery-based learning both in their schools and on campus can turn indifference into aspiration and then reality, helping them to feel university is for them. We also recognise where a student’s educational background may have had an impact on their attainment and take this into account when offering places at Exeter.

The other barrier many students face when trying to access higher education is financial. A number of generous alumni currently support students through the Senior Scholars Awards Programme, giving them the freedom and opportunity to focus on their studies. This means they can benefit fully from the high standard of teaching at Exeter and have the resources to buy the materials they need. However awards and scholarships mean more than just financial assistance. The recipients of this support gain the confidence and belief that they can aim higher, be ambitious and push themselves to flourish and succeed.

If you would like to know more, please contact Mark Howlett, Development Manager in Global Advancement on m.howlett@exeter.ac.uk