Uni4Me is an online platform for outreach activity for learners, teachers, lecturers and widening access professionals to access online learning materials produced by HEIs and UniConnect partnerships. It is a partnership of over 50 higher education organisations, led by the National Education Opportunities Network (NEON). The University of Southampton is one of the founder members of the partnership.
Uni4Me’s aim is to ensure that all learners, whatever their backgrounds, have equal access to higher education and support for them to achieve their potential. The platform provides access to a range of over 250 activities suitable for learners from primary school age right the way through to mature learners. The activities support many of the Gatsby Benchmarks. This includes free virtual courses in a range of subjects led by university academics; online tuition and support in core GCSE/A Level academic subjects; live events involving leading academics, students and specialist HE advisors; information sessions for parents/carers and virtual campus tours.
Going to university transformed my life from a kid off a corporation estate to a knight of the realm. In recent years many universities and charities have provided great programmes to overcome disadvantage but the Covid-19 lockdown threatens these efforts. Uni4Me is a great opportunity to showcase the many online programmes now available which will be so important to providing fairer opportunities for all.
Led by the National Education Opportunities Network (NEON), Uni4Me supports HE providers and Uni Connect partnerships in their work to widen access to higher education for those from under-represented groups. Over £600 million in 2020-21 has being invested by HE providers and the government to close gaps in HE participation between those from different backgrounds.
This has been an incredibly challenging time for pupils and it has never been more important for the sector to give every pupil the information and support they need to choose the right pathways for them. That is why I am delighted to launch Uni4Me, a platform to help students with the talent and ability to access and succeed within our world-leading universities, regardless of their background.
The Uni4Me website signposts learners to appropriate activities dependent on the stage they are at in their educational journey; enables teachers and lecturers to access activities; and helps practitioners to share the activities they are developing across the sector via one central point.
The landing page signposts users to content and allows them to search routes applicable to their needs. Users can search for activities by themes, year groups and by the organisation who developed the activity.
When searching by partner, learners are taken to that organisation’s own page which contains brief information about the organisation and list all the activities that are offered by that organisation. It also offers links to the partner’s corporate webpage. Learners are also able to register on the site; allowing them to see personalised content according to both their locality and/or subject interests. Teachers, lecturers and widening access professionals can search by both content description and member institution. The hub also contains generic information on HE and entry to HE.
The University of Southampton page itself offers support to prospective students through our “5 in Five” series, in addition to subject specific resources for all ages such as Discover Oceanography, the Southampton Digital Sound Festival and the Winchester School of Art (Virtual) Arcade.