Dr Amanda Naylor and Dr Sally Hancock begin funded widening participation project

Posted on 21 November 2018

Dr Amanda Naylor (Senior Lecturer, English in Education) and Dr Sally Hancock (Lecturer in Education) have been awarded £5,732 from the Widening Participation fund to develop a new departmental widening participation initiative, Education Champions in Schools.

This programme will fund 17 undergraduate students in the department to return to their former school or college and mentor Year 13 pupils through their applications to university. Mentoring sessions will be complemented by online webinars, and aim to demystify the process of applying to university, support pupils’ decision-making, and build confidence and knowledge for the transition to higher education.

The project is being evaluated by Centre for Research on Education and Social Justice (CRESJ) PhD student Katie Smith, who will be conducting surveys and focus groups to understand its impact on pupils and their student mentors.