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Uni Connect

MEET THE CENTRAL UNI CONNECT TEAM

ANDREW JONES, DIRECTOR

SARAH DORRIAN, UNI CONNECT OUTREACH OFFICER

  • Sarah joined the Uni Connect team in October 2023. She graduated from Brunel University in 2002 with a BA Hons in Film and Television with Modern Drama Studies and after five years of working on various live television programmes at ITV, she moved over to higher education working on the University of Hertfordshire's Film and Digital Media Exchange, a knowledge exchange project designed to bridge the gap between education and the film industry. At the project's end, she transferred into widening participation roles at both the University of East London and more recently at Coventry University's London campuses in Dagenham and Greenwich, working on projects supporting underrepresented and disadvantaged young people to access HE.
  • With 20 years' experience of working in HE, Sarah has a passion for ensuring young people and their parents/carers have the relevant information to make informed choices about their futures and has a personal interest in removing barriers and supporting learners with SEND and young carers to access higher education and achieve their full potential.

SARAH FISHER, UNI CONNECT PROGRAMME MANAGER

  • Sarah joined the team in July 2017 and is the Programme Manager for Linking London's Uni Connect programme.
  • After graduating with a degree in Geography, Sarah spent five years working in Santiago, Chile predominantly as a sustainability consultant specialising in community relations. After returning to the UK to be closer to her family, Sarah completed a PGCE and worked for two years as a Geography teacher at a school in Lambeth which gave her first-hand experience of the barriers to higher education that young people face.

RUBY RUNNALLS PALMER, UNI CONNECT PROGRAMME OFFICER

  • In September 2020 I took on the role of Programme Officer for Linking London's Uni Connect programme. I have ten years diverse experience working in widening participation in the cultural sector and in education. I've worked in primary and secondary schools as well as two years coordinating WP projects for a very large university.
  • I have a Master's in Art Gallery and Museum Studies, specialising in Creative Education, and I wrote my dissertation on Cultural Democracy in relation to South Asian communities in Greater Manchester.
  • I am passionate about equipping young people to make informed decisions throughout their educational journeys, in order to lead fulfilling lives.

Meet our college-based staff

SUZANNE HUMPHREYS, ENGAGEMENT COORDINATOR, HAVERING SIXTH FORM COLLEGE

  • I joined Linking London in October 2018 as the Uni Connect Engagement Coordinator based at Havering Sixth Form (New City College). I am passionate about offering education and career opportunities for all regardless of age or background.
  • I achieved a BA Hons Degree in Business Management as a mature student. As a Student Coach in a large sixth form college in East London, I gained experience in supporting young people to achieve to their full potential. This included helping to remove barriers to progression such as mental health issues or financial hardship. I also supported students with applications to higher education, apprenticeships or employment, working closely with the Careers department.
  • I am keen to ensure that all young people have opportunities, guidance and support to succeed in their chosen course or career regardless of their background or personal circumstances.

TINA JONES, ENGAGEMENT COORDINATOR, COULSDON COLLEGE

  • I joined Linking London as a Uni Connect Engagement Officer in October 2018 based at Coulsdon Sixth Form College, covering an additional eight hours per week alongside my other role as a Careers Officer / UCAS Co-ordinator. I have been at Coulsdon College for nine years with my first three years working in the HR Department.
  • Within my current role I support students and co-ordinate the whole of the UCAS process and send off all the applications. As the Careers Officer I help students on one-to-one/group sessions with an open door policy with CVs, employability, part-time jobs, apprenticeships, mock interviews, HE progression and organising the HE Progression Events.
  • I am very passionate about what I do, especially as a lot of our students are from very different and deprived backgrounds who appreciate that extra support with guidance and opportunities for their future progression.

What we do

The programme, via 29 consortia, delivers outreach activity in geographical areas where the HE participation of young people is low or much lower than expected based on GCSE attainment, with the overarching aim of supporting the most disadvantaged young people in England to progress into higher education.

The OfS's investment in the remainder of phase three of the Uni Connect programme aims to:

  • contribute to reducing the gap in higher education participation between the most and least represented groups.
  • equip young people from underrepresented groups to make an informed choice about their options in relation to the full range of routes into and through higher education and to minimise the barriers they may face when choosing the option that will unlock their potential, including barriers relating to academic attainment.
  • support a strategic local infrastructure of universities, colleges and other partners that can cut through competitive barriers, offer an efficient and low-burden route for schools and colleges to engage with higher education outreach, enable schools to engage with attainment-raising activity, and address outreach 'cold spots' for underrepresented groups.
  • contribute to a stronger evidence base around 'what works' in higher education outreach and strengthen evaluation practice across the sector.

If you would like to find out more information about Uni Connect please visit the OfS website.

Linking London works alongside existing networks, Access HE and Aimhigher London, to form the London Uni Connect. Together we are working within the 13 target wards that have been identified by the OfS as areas with high levels of social deprivation and low levels of learners progressing onto higher education.

Linking London works specifically with further education and sixth-form college learners who live within these 13 wards. Together with our partners, we have developed a programme of sustained and progressive outreach activity that is tailored to local needs and offers inspiration, increases aspiration and supports students to make informed decisions about their future.

Phase one of the programme ran from January 2017 - July 2019.

Phase two of the programme ran from August 2019 - July 2021. The two main strands of activity were:

  • Targeted higher education outreach (delivered to young learners residing in target wards).
  • Outreach hubs within the 29 local partnerships with the aim of offering schools and colleges higher education outreach and providing a platform for wider collaboration.

Phase three of the programme began in August 2021 and is due to run until July 2025. This will involve three main strands of activity:

  • Targeted outreach delivered to young learners residing in target wards.
  • Strategic outreach to address information, advice and guidance (IAG) and outreach 'cold spots' for underrepresented groups in the local area.
  • Signposting to support staff to find out about outreach activity in their local area.

An additional element, attainment raising at Key Stage 3 and 4, was added to the remit of Uni Connect in 2022.

View an interactive map of Uni Connect target wards in London on the OfS website.

View our Uni Connect privacy notice.

Resources

Past events

Get in touch

To stay up to date with Linking London's Uni Connect work, you can find us below: