London Uni Connect aims to support young people to make informed decisions about what to do after they finish school or sixth form college. We provide impartial advice and guidance to help young people choose the option which is best for them, whether that is studying for a degree, a diploma, doing an apprenticeship or something else.
London Uni Connect works with young people, their parents and carers and teachers and advisors across Greater London.
We are part of the national Uni Connect programme, funded by the Office for Students (OfS) which is the independent regulator for universities in England. We work with specific target groups of young people who may face particular challenges getting into higher education or succeeding once they get onto a course. Find out more here
The London Uni Connect partnership is made up of three networks working in collaboration to serve different parts of London and different target groups. London South Bank University is the lead Higher Education Institution, and the networks we work with and the regions they cover are shown on the map below, including Linking London (all London), Aimhigher London (shaded blue) and AccessHE (shaded yellow) –
We want all young people to reach their full potential and to gain the qualifications they need to succeed, regardless of their circumstances. So, for this reason we prioritise certain target audiences who we know are less likely to go into higher education (HE) and who are less likely to do well once they are there because of the additional barriers and challenges they may face.
These target audiences include:
- Students who come from households with a low income, or whose parents work in non-graduate level jobs
- Students who come from areas where low numbers of people go into higher education
- Some Black, Asian and minority ethnic students
- Disabled students
- Care experienced students
- Students who are carers
- Those who are estranged from their families
- Students from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities
- Refugees and asylum seekers
- Children from military families
These audiences have been identified by our funder, the Office for Students, as the key “underrepresented” groups in HE, meaning that there are fewer people from the above backgrounds studying in HE than one would expect given the size of these groups in the population as a whole.