Uni Connect: Guidance on priorities

Strategic outreach

Uni Connect partnerships work with local organisations to understand where there is a lack or oversupply of information, advice and guidance and outreach provision.

They can then collaboratively agree where activity and funding for strategic outreach can have the most impact on underrepresented learners in the area.

Who is eligible?

Partnerships can undertake strategic outreach with any underrepresented groups at Key Stage 3 and above where a local information, advice and guidance or outreach ‘cold spot’ exists.

This includes groups that, based on their small size, may be more appropriately tackled across the whole local partnership area than at school or college level.

Strategic outreach can include activity with adults, but this is not a requirement.

Strategic outreach funding should not be used to support strategic outreach with learners in primary school.

What are our expectations of partnerships?

We expect the Uni Connect partnerships to:

• work with partners to assess local information, advice and guidance and outreach gaps for underrepresented groups, consider where activity can add most value, and then determine which interventions and activities to prioritise
• strategically facilitate and coordinate the most effective distribution of outreach delivery in the local area to best support underrepresented groups
• undertake activity that is collaborative, innovative, avoids duplication with existing activity and takes account of local context and available resources
• ensure there is a clear link between any activity funded by the programme and the closing of gaps in local information, advice and guidance and outreach for underrepresented groups
• diversify their membership, drawing on wider internal staff (e.g. subject and pedagogical specialists) as well as external partners to ensure the expertise and capacity is in place to respond to emerging priorities
• secure match funding for strategic outreach activity from local partners, where possible
• collaborate with other Uni Connect partnerships and other networks to share approaches, resources and good practice relating to engagement with different underrepresented groups.

Partnerships can use their strategic outreach allocation to deliver new activity or support activity that aligns with existing outreach and strengthens or extends its impact.

What do we hope to achieve?

Strategic outreach aims to:

• align and support activity and engagement to address local information, advice and guidance and outreach gaps for underrepresented groups
• complement, enhance and leverage the commitments providers themselves make and the outcomes they agree with the OfS through their access and participation plans
• help recipients make well-informed decisions about their future education and to reduce gaps in higher education participation for the least represented groups.
• help mitigate against Risk 2 on the Equality of Opportunity Risk Register: 'Students may not have equal opportunity to receive the information and guidance that will enable them to develop ambition and expectations, or to make informed choice about their higher education options'.
• Help mitigate against Risk 3 on the Equality of Opportunity Risk Register: 'Students may not feel able to apply to higher education, or certain types of providers within higher education, despite being qualified'.