Falmouth University’s Raising Aspirations programme
Our Raising Aspirations programme is designed to support high quality creative provision in schools and colleges across the UK.
The programme offers a wide range of activities and opportunities to raise aspirations and educational achievement among students from under-represented groups, supporting and informing progression into both higher education and creative careers.
We aim to build unique relationships with our partner schools and will work with you to understand the individual priorities and challenges facing your institution and students.
ACADEMIC SUBJECT ENRICHMENT SESSIONS
Sessions to support academic curriculums, delivered by university staff in your settings or on the Falmouth campuses.
CAMPUS ACTIVITIES
We can offer bespoke activities that include academic and practical taster sessions, campus tours and/or residential programmes.
SCHOOL ACTIVITIES
A range of activity that explores and builds Aspiration, Access, Achievement, Affordability and Awareness of higher education, offered across Y7 to Y13.
SCHOOL STAFF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
We offer sessions focusing on career development, higher education pathways, scholarships and enrolment to suit your needs.
SUPPORT FOR PARENTS AND CARERS
Information sessions about higher education are offered for parents, carers and the wider school community.
AMBASSADOR SESSIONS
Our Raising Aspirations Ambassadors act as role models to provide students with inspiration and information about university life.
HIGHER EDUCATION ADVICE AND GUIDANCE
Information, advice and guidance available for staff, students, parents and carers to improve understanding of higher education opportunities and pathways.
SUPPORTING CREATIVE AND ARTS-BASED EDUCATION
Challenging the stereotypical thinking around creative careers; providing portfolio guidance and interview information, advice and support.
TRAVEL BURSARIES AND REGIONAL INTERVIEWS
Supporting students to visit us for Open Days or attend interviews at a regional venue. Financially supporting schools and colleges to visit us at our Falmouth Campuses.
Welcome from the Vice-Chancellor
Falmouth University’s Raising Aspirations programme seeks to widen participation and improve opportunities for individuals from both underrepresented and disadvantaged backgrounds. We aim to ensure that anyone with talent and potential should be able to study with us through promoting inclusion and advancing equality of opportunity by valuing individual differences and working to continuously diversify local communities.
Our flagship programme has been developed with input from teachers and careers advisors to offer high quality opportunities for schools and colleges that can be embedded within your careers programme. We are committed to ensuring that students from all backgrounds can consider creative pathways with personal guidance and varied encounters with higher education, in line with the Gatsby Benchmarks.
We hope that this programme of opportunity can help improve awareness of higher education opportunities amongst your pupils, whilst contributing to increasing achievement and improving access and affordability. The aim of this document is to inspire a bespoke careers and higher education programme that can complement your curriculum and individual needs to raise aspirations within your schools.
Professor Anne Carlisle OBE Vice-Chancellor & Chief Executive Falmouth University
Who is our Raising Aspirations Programme aimed at?
Our activity is focused upon under-represented groups and is aimed at those who:
• Identify as an ethnic minority
• Are from low income backgrounds and low socioeconomic groups
• Are from postcodes where participation in higher education in low
• Are the first in their family to consider higher education
• Are care experienced
• Have a disability
• Are young carers
• Are part of a military family
• Are attending schools and colleges where performance is below the national average
We want to inform learners of all ages about the range of opportunities and pathways open to them when considering higher education. We also want to identify and attract the most talented students to Falmouth, regardless of their educational background – and we need your help to do so.
Our activities
From workshops about creative careers to campus visits and presentations on student finance, we offer a range of activities to inspire your students and support them along their journey into higher education. We can offer a planned portfolio of activity or collaborate with education providers and charities to create a tailored plan based on individual needs.
Many of our activities can enhance curriculums by helping you to meet your wider priorities in relation to raising aspiration and achievement. They can also contribute to the achievement of the Gatsby benchmarks that form part of the Government’s Careers Strategy.
How will we be delivering our Raising Aspirations programme in response to Covid-19?
The delivery of our activity will largely be influenced by government guidance and the practices within our target schools and colleges. We have found that in-person delivery is very valuable, particularly for individuals from areas of high deprivation. However, we also have a well-developed infrastructure to offer online delivery across a range of platforms.
We can host webinars or sessions that are designed specifically for our partners’ needs and can be booked in for sessions across the academic year. We have also developed a series of online creative challenges inspired by a range of themes relating to current affairs and student development. Schools will be able to share these challenges with their students to offer engagements with a higher education establishment and the chance to develop experiences to discuss in future interviews, personal statements, or portfolios.
Gatsby Benchmarks
Falmouth’s Raising Aspirations programme can be planned to reflect any number of the Gatsby Benchmarks to support careers initiatives and student development. We can shape our sessions to complement the current activity taking place within your school, as well as supplying a comprehensive plan of activities related to creative careers and higher education opportunities.
The “5As”
Our activities are grounded in what we call the “5As”, where we look to support and develop Aspiration, Awareness, Access, Attainment and Affordability to careers, further education and higher education.
ASPIRATION
AWARENESS
Aspiration activities foster self-confidence and self-efficacy so that students feel positive, informed and empowered about their futures. Activities encourage students to reflect upon their own personal, educational and career aspirations, and explore realistic ways to achieve their goals.
Awareness activities provide a snapshot of university life and introduce students to key university terminology and concepts. Students explore the key elements of university life and learning, and older students begin to apply this knowledge to their own preferences and interests.
ACHIEVEMENT
ACCESS
AFFORDABILITY
Achievement activities promote a culture of high expectations and aim to enrich the learning of students in school to inspire higher achievement. These activities support students to succeed in their studies by identifying and developing their learning and study skills, and by doing so enable students to thrive both at school and at university in the future. Achievement activities may enrich the school curriculum with universitylevel learning, study and subject knowledge.
Access activities have the principal purpose of supporting students through the decision-making process, so that they can access the right courses and universities for them, when the time comes. Students apply knowledge of educational pathways to reflect upon their personal situation with the support of Student Ambassador higher education role models.
One of the major concerns many students have about higher education is the cost of study and of funding student life. Affordability activities provide students with information, advice, and guidance about university finances, including scholarships, loans, bursaries, and graduate salaries after study. Activities enable students to interpret this information and make informed decisions about the value of university for themselves.
The table on the following page shows our available workshops, activities and presentations, as organised by the 5As and by year level or knowledge level (novice to advanced).
Workshops, activities and presentations
All programme activities can be designed and adapted based on the needs of your setting, including the development of completely tailored sessions. Many of our sessions can be delivered both on and off campus.
5A Session Content / Title Type of activity/ event
Career Pilot: Plan your future work and study Workshop
Campus Visit* with an aspiration focus Full day or Multi-day visit
2 3 4 7
Raising Aspirations programme Workshop or Presentation
Short description of the activity/ event
Students use Careerpilot to promote an understanding of job sectors, pathways, and transferable skills. Older students research jobs and apply this knowledge to start their own skills map. There are three workshops available for novice, intermediate and advanced levels (Years 9-12).
Your students will visit our campuses and engage with exciting experiences to inform their educational and career aspirations.
This programme includes tailored sessions run by our Raising Aspirations Ambassadors who’ll share their personal journey into higher education and reflect on the barriers they overcame. Ambassadors can be matched to schools based on the needs of your students.
Introduction to higher education Workshop
Student life Workshop
This workshop provides students with an increased understanding of higher education by explaining specific language and terminology and sharing the benefits of studying at university.
This session increases higher education knowledge by outlining the support available at university and the benefits of future study. Students are encouraged to reflect upon their personal circumstances and interests to consider potential university choices. This session can include aspects of student finance and budgeting for older year groups if asked.
About Falmouth University Presentation
Creative careers and progression Presentation
Choosing a higher education course Workshop or Assembly
Campus Visit* with an awareness focus Full day or Multi-day visit
This presentation covers university life at Falmouth, the courses we offer and what it’s like at a creative institution.
This session looks to challenge some of the stereotypical thinking around creative careers and the aspirations of students studying visual arts, business, technology and performing arts.
We introduce students to the higher education decision-making process. Students will be encouraged to consider their own decision-making criteria and begin planning their steps to achieve this.
An assembly version, which provides students with an overview of the different routes into higher education, is also available..
During a visit to our campuses your students will be given the opportunity to experience life as a university student – gaining insight into learning, living, and studying.
5A
Session Content / Title Type of activity/ event
Campus Visit with an achievement focus* Workshop using Falmouth facilities
Short description of the activity/ event
As part of an on-campus visit, students can take part in a wide range of workshops covering subject areas across arts, business, technology and performing arts – delivered by our academic tutors and student Ambassadors.
Academic and curriculumlinked masterclasses Presentations or Subject Workshops
Choosing Level 3 options Workshop or Assembly
Applying to university Presentation
Portfolio advice and guidance Presentation
Personal statements Workshop
Our academic team can visit your school or college to deliver masterclass lectures and workshops across a wide range of subject areas. For older students, these sessions can include advice on studying or applying to these subjects in both further education and higher education.
Students will explore Level 3 qualification options through interactive activities before considering their own pathways. An overview of Level 3 pathways can also be delivered in assemblies.
Advice and guidance on writing your personal statement and approaching the UCAS application.
Students are given guidance on what to include in their portfolios and how to present it during interview.
Students identify the role of a personal statement, learn strategies for writing them and identify skills and qualities to strengthen their application. Students are encouraged to map out the content of their own statement.
Introduction to student finance Presentation An introduction to student finance and how it works.
Student finance and budgeting Workshop
An interactive workshop to help students understand how student finance works and how to apply. Students are encouraged to consider their financial choices and develop the skills required to budget effectively at university.
*Campus visits
Schools and colleges can visit our campuses at Penryn or Falmouth for an introduction to university life. Visits can include tours and a variety of workshops with the aim of engaging students with new and aspirational experiences. Visits cover subject areas across visual arts, business, technology and performing arts. All workshops are delivered by Falmouth staff and student Ambassadors. Creative workshops give students the opportunity to enhance their portfolio, develop creative thinking and skills and explore disciplines in greater depth.
Overnight accommodation
Schools and colleges travelling from further afield may wish to take advantage of overnight accommodation as part of their campus trip. Your regional partnerships representative can discuss financial support for travel and accommodation with you.
Recommended plans
Although many of our sessions can be delivered as one-off events, our activities and workshops are designed as a progressive framework to promote knowledge and understanding and raise aspirations. Supplying a comprehensive programme allows us to tailor workshops to suit your students’ individual needs.
We’ve put together three recommended plans, which focus on different stages of learner journeys.
Years 7-9 (KS3)
Uni and You
A plan to raise awareness of higher education and university. This set of workshops encourages students to reflect upon their own interests and skills to consider how university might help them in the future.
Students are encouraged to map their own skills and consider the pathways to enable university progression.
A campus visit can be offered, with the option of specially selected subject masterclasses.
Recommended workshops (on or off campus):
1. Introduction to higher education
2. Student life
3. Campus visit
4. Mapping career options with CareerPilot
5. Making informed Level 3 choices
Years 10-12
Considering Creative
A workshop programme focused on discovering higher education for specific subject cohorts. Sessions are focused on visual arts, business, technology and performing arts.
Students will explore the benefits of studying creative subjects by experiencing curriculum-linked masterclasses and gain practical knowledge about the process of applying to university.
Recommended workshops (on or off campus):
1. Creative careers
2. Choosing Higher Education courses
3. Student finance and budgeting
4. Advanced CareerPilot
5. Personal statements and UCAS.
Years 12-13
Get Ready for Higher Education
A plan of practical workshops designed to provide students with the skills, knowledge and the confidence to successfully apply to university.
Practical advice from academics and university staff for applications to Falmouth.
These sessions are particularly suitable for students who would like to apply for creative subjects.
Recommended workshops (on or off campus):
1. Choosing higher education courses
2. Campus visits to experience student life and subject masterclasses
3. Creating the perfect portfolio
4. Personal statement workshop
5. Student finance and budgeting
HE Fairs and options events 2 3 7
Our Regional Partnerships team are all experienced educators and advisors who will support your careers and progression events with an information stand. Falmouth staff and Ambassadors can be on hand to answer questions about higher education, life as a student and creative pathways.
Travel bursaries and regional interviews 7
We recognise that there can be challenges or barriers for students visiting Falmouth for an Open Day or for their interview. Financial support can be arranged in these circumstances; please discuss this with your regional representative. Students may also be invited to attend an interview or audition at a regional venue or your setting to support them during this process.
Opportunities for teachers and advisors
We offer several opportunities for staff to find out more about Falmouth University, creative higher education and what it can offer your students. We will be in touch throughout the year to discuss these. You can also contact your regional representative to hear about our conferences and events for teachers.
Cornwall, South West and Wales
Andy Wallis
Andrew.wallis@falmouth.ac.uk
07392 280626
London and the South East
Anna Hawes
Anna.hawes@falmouth.ac.uk
07825 283869
Midlands and North
Adriane Marriott-Mills
Adriane.marriottmills@falmouth.ac.uk
07557 758850
Outreach Officer
Anna Richardson
To Truro
Penryn
