Aspiration raising and early engagement

This initiative raises the aspirations of young people from local schools in the most deprived areas of Edinburgh. Pupils learn about university, meet current students, visit our campus and attend taster academic lectures.

• There are 13 local primary schools and four feeder high schools involved.
• Every year 600 pupils in P6 to S2 participate.
• Current students act as Curriculum Ambassadors in the classroom.

ACES is a national project which aims to support eligible S4–S6 pupils who are considering pursuing degrees or careers in art, design or architecture.

• Our ACES team support 73 schools in South East Scotland.
• There has been an overall 8% increase in SIMD40 entrants to art and design courses at ACES partner universities.
• The number of SIMD20 students in art and design courses at ACES partner universities have doubled since the programme began.

IntoUniversity (IU) centres offer a welcoming home-away-from-home for young people: a safe space to learn, explore and succeed. Each local centre offers an innovative programme that supports young people to realise their ambitions, achieve their academic potential, develop vital skills and gain experience of the world of work.

• This is a partnership between IU and Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow.
• In 2021 three new IU education centres were launched in Edinburgh and Glasgow.
• Since the funding partnership began 1,441 Primary and 1,182 Secondary young people have been involved.
• The programme works with young people aged seven and up.

The Edinburgh Maths Circle is a free, in-person drop-in session where children aged 5 to 16 and their families can join in with exciting mathematical activities, games and puzzles. Students and members of staff from the School of Mathematics are on hand to help out.

• An online version of the sessions has been developed to reach more young people.
• The circle hosts ‘Learn how to run a maths circle’ sessions for teachers and educators.

This six-day residential programme supports high-achieving young people from disadvantaged backgrounds from across the UK. The wider programme includes ongoing activities to support the learner journey.

• The programme has 120 UK-based learners (aged 17–18).
• The Colleges of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences and Science & Engineering offer 13 academic pathways.
• In 2019/2020 participants were twice as likely as unsuccessful applicants to attend a Russell Group University.
• There have been high application rates to the University, with a four-year average of 51 per cent applying.

Launched in 2022, this partnership between the University of Edinburgh, Queen Margaret University, Napier University, Heriot-Watt University, SRUC and LEAPS is a pilot project to raise aspiration of S3 students from widening participation backgrounds in local schools. Academics from each institution delivered interactive workshops on a range of subjects to get pupils to think about what the world will look like in the near future. Students also participated in our final showcase event to celebrate their work and offer them a chance to be on a university campus. Given its success among pupils and teachers, this partnership continues to engage new cohorts of S3 students every year.

• 135 S3 pupils have benefitted from the project so far.
• Within the University we have delivered this collaboratively with Student Recruitment and Admissions, the School of Chemistry and the Alwaleed Centre.