Uni Connect focuses on targeted outreach because the level of young people aged 18 and 19 entering higher education in England varies across the country.
Uni Connect uses research on areas with an unexplained gap in participation to determine where investment can be targeted to boost the numbers of young people from these areas going into higher education.
997 target areas have been identified, which have:
- low levels of young participation (POLAR3 quintile 1) and lower than expected levels of young participation, considering Key Stage 4 attainment and ethnicity (quintile 1 or quintile 2), or
- low levels of young participation (POLAR3 quintile 1) and lower than expected levels of young participation, considering Key Stage 4 attainment only (quintile 1 or quintile 2).
Read more about how we measure young participation in higher education.
Target adult learners are those adults (aged 19 and over) who study at further education colleges that the partnerships work with.