Member Article

Newcastle University recruits more students from education 'blackspots'

Newcastle University is attracting more young people from ‘low participation neighbourhoods’ - where the fewest young people go to university - official figures reveal today. Teenagers from low participation neighbourhoods may be the first in their family to be able to go university and therefore may lack confidence and miss out on encouragement and advice of family and friends. The North East has the lowest number of young people going to university of any English region.10.3% of students gaining places at Newcastle in 2004/05 were from low participation neighbourhoods - one of the highest figures for a university of its type, according to Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) figures released today. The figure was 9.7% the previous year. Newcastle University’s Partners Programme is designed to identify and support students who have academic potential but who may be discouraged from applying to Higher Education, and concentrates mainly on North East England. Lesley Braiden. Director of Marketing and Student Recruitment at Newcastle University, said: “We are continuing to make good progress in terms of broadening our appeal to students from all backgrounds, especially in the North East, where our success in attracting students from under-represented groups is even more encouraging. In 2004, more than 25 per cent of our North East students were from areas which are designated as low participation neighbourhoods.“The HESA figures also show that seven out of ten students starting their courses at Newcastle University were from state schools. This figure has risen steadily over the past few years. Earlier this month, Newcastle graduates were revealed as having one of the best track records in the country for getting good jobs, with 95% of the graduates in work or further study within the first six months of graduating.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .