Community Exe Programme

Community Exe is a group of individuals and organisations who have a shared interest in supporting young people to fulfil their potential and ensure equality of opportunity regardless of background. You will work closely through a range of practical workshops with Community Partners including the following: 

• The Exeter Chiefs Community
• Exeter City Football Club and the Exeter City Community Trust
• Exeter Northcott Theatre
• Sound Communities
• Somerset Cricket Foundation and Somerset County Cricket Club
• XRacing – Formula Student Team
• Devon Music Education Hub
• Yellow Mouse Studios
• Mahara Jiujitsu

You will be inspired and motivated by our Volunteer Community Champions - they will share their lived experiences and advice throughout the programme and its events. See the Community Champions profiles here.

If your application is successful, you will choose one of four Awards to complete during your time on Community Exe:

• Sport
• Young Leaders
• Music & Communication
• AI & Technology

A summary of the broad areas covered by the Awards can be found in the table below:

If successful, you will be invited to attend 5 Award Days through Years 9 & 10 where you will work with the University, Community Partners and Community Champions to gain news skills and knowledge, find out more about different job sectors and careers, meet new people and develop a better understanding of their own strengths and interests.  

All Award Days will take place on the University Streatham Campus in Exeter, will be highly interactive and examples of activity will include:

• taking part in sport tasters with professional coaches.
• meeting music industry professionals and spending time making music in the studio.
• find out what goes into building and racing a formula student racing car.
• getting behind the scenes in the world of theatre and theatre production - both on and off stage.
• learning how to start a business and the psychology behind being your own boss.
• discovering how artificial intelligence is shaping the world around us and develop practical skills in the University labs.
• getting hands on with experimentation and innovation tech play.
• meeting leading experts in the fields of sports and health sciences, medicine, drama, languages, computer science, robotics and more.  

At the final Awards Day you will work in groups, led by current University of Exeter students, to contribute to the Community Exe Voice Project.  Through this project you will be invited to help break down stereotypes by contributing your ideas to help co-create a collective picture of what boys feel is expected of them from society and what you need to be successful.    

• Use your interests to push yourself and create a sense of personal achievement.​
• Gain new life experiences and meet new people.​
• Develop specialist skills and/or knowledge linked to your Award Pathway, learning in a modern and inspirational setting.​
• Learn about possible careers through working with experts in their field.​
• Play a more active role in your own educational success and get support to build your dreams – not chase them.  ​
• Find out more about the University of Exeter and unlock a progression route onto the Exeter Scholars programme.
• Have fun!

If you identify as male, are in Year 9, at a state school in Devon or Somerset and you meet one of the following eligibility criteria, then we'd welcome an application from you – 

• In receipt of free school meals
• Young carers
• Care experienced
• Declared disability
• Living in areas of low income or low participation in higher education - this will be checked for you once you have submitted an application but you can also use our postcode eligibility checker if you want to check yourself.
• Refugee or asylum seeker status
• First generation students  

Approximately 100 places will be available in the first cohort of the programme and participation will be fully funded, to include travel costs to attend Award Days.

Your parent/carers will also be invited to attend Award Days so that we can help them to support you on your journey through to GCSEs and beyond. 

It's very simple and we will send you full details about where to be and when, as you work through the programme. All activities will be delivered through 5 Exeter based Awards Days, held at the University on - 

• 14th June 2025​
• 6th September 2025
• 8th November 2025​
• February 2026​
• June 2026 

Lunch and refreshments will be provided on Awards Days and travel expenses paid for programme members.​ Parents and carers will also be invited to attend and complete their own activities on the Awards Days. 

For details about how we ensure our Award Days are inclusive and accessible to all participants please read our Accessibility & Support mini guides and get in touch if you have any specific questions.