Almost £13 million in government funding has been awarded to a major partnership, which Hallam is part of, to help increase the number of young people from a wider range of backgrounds across South Yorkshire going to university.
The funding has been awarded under the National Collaborative Outreach Programme (NCOP), following a successful joint bid by the Higher Education Progression Partnership (HEPP), Sheffield Hallam University and the University of Sheffield.
The programme is part of the government’s commitment to double the participation of students in higher education from disadvantaged backgrounds by 2020 and increase the number of black and minority ethnic (BME) students by 20 per cent over the same time period.
This programme is only available in specific regions, including South Yorkshire, in schools where participation in university courses or degree level apprenticeships is lower than would be expected based on GCSE results.
The South Yorkshire bid includes a number of other partners including regional further education colleges, all four local authorities, Business in the Community and the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership.
The funding of £12.9 million will be provided over four years, with the activities in partner schools and colleges starting in January 2017.
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