Postgraduate Certificate in Access, Outreach and Social Mobility
Causeway partnered with Aspire to HE and the University of Wolverhampton Institute of Education to develop the first ever Postgraduate Certificate in Access, Outreach and Social Mobility. This new Level 7 qualification addresses an urgent need in the Widening Participation sector to provide advanced training for practitioners across universities, colleges, schools, charities and corporates. Participants draw on the latest research in WP to take a fresh and critical perspective on their own practice. The first cohort launched in January 2022, with guest lectures included from experts across the sector.
Sutton Trust Teacher Champions
Causeway works in partnership with the Sutton Trust to deliver Teacher Champions, a programme of support which aims to improve progression to competitive higher education institutions and courses from state schools across the UK. This includes: regular webinars providing evidence-led approaches to current issues in progression; half-termly emails with opportunities and an accessible resource to help you implement strategies covered in webinars; access to Causeway’s OSCAR platform and its online personal statement builder. In 2020-21, 560 teachers engaged in the programme, with an estimated combined reach of 70,000 students. 74% of attendees rated sessions “very useful” with a further 21% rating them “useful”.
Smart Start work experience programme
Causeway is proud to partner with international legal practice Allen & Overy in the delivery of their Smart Start programme. Through interactive workshops and challenges, year 12 participants gain interview experience, network with employees from the firm and develop the skills needed to succeed in a professional career. Over the last two years Smart Start has been delivered online with over 100 students taking part. For 2022 both an in-person and entirely virtual scheme will be available, to ensure that students who benefit from an online opportunity do not miss out. In 2020-21 97% of participants rated the Smart Start experience “outstanding” or” good”, and all participants showed a minimum of 18 percentage point growth in their confidence in applying essential skills.
UCL Application Mentoring
Since 2019, we have worked with 285 students from UCL Summer Schools on Application Mentoring. Offering 1-1 guidance from a subject-specialist mentor on our secure OSCAR platform, the programme supports students to develop an outstanding application and make a successful transition to university. The most recent UCAS data shows that Causeway mentees were more likely to apply, gain offers and progress to university, particularly to higher-tariff institutions, than a similar group of applicants. 99% of 2020-21 mentees told us they better understand how to develop a high-quality application and some have shared how it helped them during the turbulent period of the pandemic.
Access Ashurst work experience programme
Causeway initially partnered with Ashurst during the summer of 2019, in support of the delivery of Access Ashurst. We delivered in-person workshops, covering personal statement guidance and preparation for the Law National Aptitude Test (LNAT). When the pandemic forced delivery online, alongside pivoting to webinars, we were pleased to collaborate to develop a commercial awareness activity that could be facilitated remotely and completed by students semi-independently (whilst ensuring that the content was largely future proof). More recently, Causeway delivered a successful “Inspiration Day” for Access Ashurst alumni, with 94% of respondents saying that they found the workshop “very useful”.
Reach Potential programme
Causeway began working with Reach in Spring 2022 and we have co-designed a series of innovative online workshops. Reach were keen to showcase both the exciting range of roles within the media and the diverse backgrounds of their team members, in order to break down misconceptions about the industry, We took the approach of developing "challenge" workshops, whereby young people tackle a work-based problem, meeting and learning from industry professionals as they come up with their own solutions. Workshop topics have included designing targeted marketing campaigns as well as brainstorming new digital products. 90% of participants rated the first session as "good" or "outstanding", with one teacher commenting: "It was engaging and balanced well with time on screen and time off screen for the students to actually do the task. It was really good to do a ‘real’ campaign and see the results after! "
