16 May 2011

Funding for University access projects

The University of Dundee has received funding of £350,000 for two projects intended to widen access to higher education.

The Scottish Funding Council grant will be split evenly between the Reach Scotland and ACES initiatives, and will run until 2013. The aim of the projects is to encourage S4-6 pupils from schools with low progression rates into higher education to consider going to university.

ACES (Access to Creative Education in Scotland) promotes art, design and architecture, and Reach Scotland the high demand professions such as law, medicine, dentistry, child nursing and midwifery. Both are national projects, with the Tayside component run through the University of Dundee.

The Dundee team will work with 17 schools from across Tayside with below average levels of pupils moving on to higher education, and undertake a wide variety of activities to help promote higher education in these professions.

'We are delighted that the SFC has provided the funding for initiatives to help ensure that access to high demand-professions is widened,' said Dr John Blicharski, Access & Participation Manager at the University.

'The number of applicants to the professional degrees from these schools is often very small and so both ACES and Reach are especially keen to target students from non-traditional backgrounds, such as those who would be the first in their family to go to university or those from low income households.

'It can be more challenging for young people from backgrounds of adversity to get where they want to go, and our projects offer support where possible. The team here at Dundee work exceptionally hard to help young people overcome barriers to obtaining a university education.'

The two projects provide information and advice to young people in order to help them make the most of opportunities to study any of the aforementioned disciplines. Both ACES and Reach operate outreach activities and offer short information sessions, work placements and online support throughout the year.

Please also see www.dundee.ac.uk/aces and www.dundee.ac.uk/reach for more information.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277