Tag Archives: widening access

How Birkbeck is widening access to education

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This term Birkbeck’s Access and Engagement team held a series of online and in-person events designed to empower prospective students and learners on their journey to university education. In this blog, Isabelle Habib, Access Manager, reflects on the inspiring events.  

Campus visit in March

Birkbeck’s Access and Engagement team have held a number of events this year for prospective students and learners who are interested in finding out more about university study. The first cross-department event was held on campus and it was fantastic to welcome learners to Birkbeck’s home in Bloomsbury; we are already looking forward to hosting further events on campus in the summer term.  

All the activities were shared with our partners who were encouraged to invite their members to register to attend. We were so pleased to be joined by individuals from community groups in Camden and Newham London Boroughs, Further Education Colleges, Trade Unions and Forced Migrant Charities. The aim of these events is to introduce attendees to what they can expect from university and from studying at Birkbeck, in order to build individuals’ knowledge and confidence around the application process. 

Is university for me? 

Our first event of this term was held in February, entitled ‘Is Uni For Me?’, and was a workshop delivered online. We were pleased to be joined by Birkbeck academic Dr Kristoffer Ahlstrom-Vij, from the Department of Philosophy, who shared a video about ‘Political Knowledge and Preference’, with the group of prospective students. Kristoffer led a lively discussion with the group following the video, giving participants the chance to ask questions about the discipline and how courses are taught at Birkbeck. 

The event also included an introduction to the benefits of university, and participants had the opportunity to hear from two current students about their own experiences of studying at Birkbeck. The workshop was attended by people at different stages in their journey to university and many of the participants went on to join us at further workshops hosted this term.  

Money workshop 

In March, attendees were invited to attend a ‘Money and Student Finance’ event, which was led by Daniel Becker, one of Birkbeck’s Student Advice advisors. Daniel spoke to the group about the process of applying for student finance and we discussed other funding opportunities, such as grants and scholarships. Attendees went away with a better understanding of how the student loan system works and what they need to bear in mind when they apply. Sharing knowledge around financing studies with prospective learners is a key area Birkbeck is improving on.

Team Birkbeck Ambassadors Aditya and Showbi talking to prospective students at the campus visit in March

Campus visit   

The final event in the series, and the most exciting for our team this year, was a ‘Campus Visit and Application Workshop’. This event was held in March on a beautiful sunny day, that really showed off Bloomsbury at its best! The first official cross-department event delivered in person since the start of the pandemic, it felt fantastic to be able to offer advice on campus again and show off our facilities to prospective students. As part of the day, we hosted an application workshop in one of the Birkbeck IT suites, and it was brilliant to speak with individuals about their educational aspirations.  

In addition to our Get Started activities this term, our Access Officers have been hosting specialized events for partners. We ran our second Taster Series of the academic year with the Department of Law, and launched the activities in the lead up to applications opening for the Compass Project Scholarship, that provides a stepping stone into higher education for people from a forced migrant background. We are now really looking forward to the Summer term and to meeting even more prospective learners at activities on campus.   

Further information 

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Newham Young People’s Careers Fair

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Hester Gartrell, Outreach and Widening Access Senior Officer at Birkbeck, discusses the recent careers fair at our Stratford campus for Newham residents aged 16-24.

On Wednesday 29 August, Birkbeck’s Stratford campus hosted Newham Young People’s Careers Fair. The fair which was delivered in partnership with Workplace, Newham’s job brokerage, provided support, advice and guidance about education, employment and training for young people aged 16-24.

The event is the result of an ongoing partnership between Birkbeck Access and Engagement and Workplace and was a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase our campus to Newham residents. A key part of our access work is to demonstrate to potential students that Birkbeck is a welcoming place which will support them throughout their studies. Opening up our doors to what can seem a daunting and gated space is essential to this.

The fair also gave us the chance to speak to local residents about Birkbeck and its flexible study options right in the heart of Newham as well as being a culmination to the work that we’ve been doing throughout the borough this summer. This has included joining Workplace on their roadshow across Newham, holding regular information and advice drop-ins at local libraries and attending community festivals.

In addition to hosting 179 Newham residents, we also had 30 organisations exhibit at the fair from sectors as varied as construction, television and further education. Not only did the event allow us to build links with these businesses, it again allowed us to show others our campus where they may want to host their own events or where they or their colleagues may want to consider studying.

We’re looking forward to hosting more Access and Engagement events and activities on campus in autumn and beyond with plans for our own events and further partnership working.

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Family Learning: promoting the benefits of lifelong learning to a wider audience

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Birkbeck alumna Yvonne Plowright and current student Liliana Torres discuss their experiences with the Family Learning events attended by the Widening Access team. 

Yvonne Plowright at a Family Learning event

The Widening Access team at Birkbeck collaborate with other London universities (including UCL, King’s and City) to attend parents’ evenings and other family events at these institutions, with the aim of promoting learning which spans the generations.  Through workshops and talks in which current students and alumni also share their experience of studying at Birkbeck, we are able to demonstrate to parents and carers what Birkbeck, and higher education, has to offer.

Often they are in attendance to support their children with making a decision about where to study, so it is a fantastic opportunity to talk with people who may not have considered studying at university.  By providing them with information, advice and guidance, we encourage parents and carers to consider embarking on their own university journey too.

One Birkbeck alumna, Yvonne Plowright, has been a regular ambassador at the family learning events we attend.  Here, she discusses how she got involved and why she enjoys doing these events:

“Among its many attributes, Birkbeck prides itself on being the university “for students who simply refuse to stop learning”.  That rubric always strikes a chord with me, perhaps because I am a mature student who has made a commitment to lifelong learning.  I am passionate about education for all, so when Birkbeck’s Widening Access Team invited me to join them at family learning events, I jumped at the chance.

“I have a BA in Philosophy from Birkbeck and these events are my opportunity to share my story and to say thank you to this magnificent university for changing my life in ways I could never have imagined.  I returned to student life after an absence of over thirty years, when I was busy with a career, working full-time and raising a family.  Once my children had grown up and left home to further their education and pursue their interests, I was able to fulfil the promise I had made to myself to continue with my own studies.

“When I attend the family learning events, I usually give a short talk about my journey to Birkbeck and the absolutely wonderful experience of being a mature university student – how this has grown my sense of self-worth, my confidence and how it has made me a much happier, more productive member of society.  The highlight of each event for me, however, is always the time I then have to meet and interact with adults who may have come to the event in support of their children, or grandchildren, or nieces and nephews, without realising that a big part of our presentation is aimed at them.   Much to their surprise, our adult guests discover that Birkbeck wants to engage with them too.  It is a joy to be told by guests that they feel really inspired and are now thinking in terms of taking that first step to either return to university or go to university for the first time.  It’s the feeling of planting seeds which will one day bear fruit that I find so rewarding about these tremendously worthwhile events.”

Liliana Torres applied to study the Foundation Degree in Management and Accounting after meeting Birkbeck representatives at an event in 2017.  She has shared her experience of being a student at Birkbeck so far:

“I first heard about Birkbeck at a Family Day event last year at King’s College in Strand. I heard two accounts from Birkbeck graduates and felt inspired. I decided to do a Foundation Degree in Management and Accounting as I am running a small business and wanted to further develop my professional skills. I decided to do the four years part-time as I have children and other commitments. I believe I have chosen the right university for me as there is a lot of support and my tutors are always happy to give me feedback and answers any queries I have. I attend the study skills workshops which offer a lot of help, this has really supported me in me learning even receiving a merit on my first essay was a big achievement for me. Most importantly, I have enjoyed my experience at Birkbeck and have recommended it to family and friends.”

For further information about our family learning activities and the organisations we work with, please visit http://www.bbk.ac.uk/about-us/outreach/family-learning

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Future Focus workshops: careers and employability

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With the new academic year well underway, the first Future Focus workshop was held at the Bloomsbury campus this month, as part of a series of five workshops that support mature learners with advice and guidance on career prospects.

It’s the start of the new academic year and our very own version of the ‘New Year, New Me’ mantra dawns on Birkbeck; a chance for us to contemplate our goals and the tangible steps we need to take in order to get there. Deciding those next steps can always be made a little clearer with the support and guidance of others and attending Future Focus, a workshop organised by Birkbeck’s Widening Access team and designed and delivered by the Careers and Employability team, is a great place to turn to for that.

The first Future Focus workshop of the academic year took place in early October. Delivered by Birkbeck’s Employability Consultant & Events Manager, Alex Jones, attendees were encouraged to use the time to reflect on their motivation, decisions and skills, and whether the next step they were about to embark on fed into these goals. In our busy lives, taking the time to consider and plan, is all too often swept under the carpet, pushed for another day.

By coming along to Future Focus, attendees gave themselves the headspace to contemplate, make informed choices and seek the motivation and confidence to take those exciting first steps.

One of last year’s Future Focus participants, Ana de Monchaux, talks about her experience of attending the workshop:

“My son was applying to university and in the process for this I had got on the Eventbrite mailing list. One of the events promoted was a Future Focus workshop at Birkbeck University. I had been toying with the idea of going to university to study history but I was unsure whether I was too old and would not fit in. I had done a couple of modules with the Open University but had found the lack of face to face time quite isolating, so I didn’t want to feel isolated in a room of younger people.

I had heard really good things about Birkbeck so the Future Focus workshop seemed the ideal opportunity to test the waters! The workshop looked at what kind of career you could get with a degree in your chosen subject. If you just wanted to study for study sake that was okay but it gave you an idea of what you could do.

Everyone was very welcoming and the demographic was varied, I did not feel the oldest one there. Some people wanted a career change, some wanted to enhance and progress in their chosen career and some just wanted to study a new subject. We were asked what we liked about our present job, if we were working, and what we didn’t like. It made me realised that it was interacting with people that I liked the most and being self-employed I liked the least. It also made me see that I could change my career if that is what I wanted to do.

What the Future Focus workshop did, was to give me the confidence that I was not too old and that I had something to offer and that I could go to University. I applied and got in!”

If you’re thinking about your future and the tools you need to get there, sign up to the next session!

If you have any questions or want to find out more, contact the team.

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