Young people from the North East are least likely to access higher education. To combat this, we've collaborated with IntoUniversity and Northumbria University to open the first IntoUniversity learning centre in the region.

Newcastle University has a longstanding commitment to widening participation and equality of opportunity. The UCAS End of Cycle Report (2018) highlighted that the North East has the lowest application rate to Higher Education (33.7%) and the second lowest entry rate (29.6%) in England.

IntoUniversity is a national education charity which provides local learning centres where young people are inspired to achieve. 66% of school leavers who attended IntoUniversity centres in 2021 went on to progress to university, compared with 26.6% of students from similar backgrounds nationally.

The centre is based at the Monkchester Community Centre in Walker, Newcastle and is set to empower thousands of young people aged 7-18 to achieve their academic and career ambitions. It will connect many young people, who may never have dreamed of going to university, with two leading Higher Education institutions, providing opportunities to support their learning and nurture their ambitions.

A 'genuinely life-changing experience' for young people in the North East

Working closely with local schools and the universities, the centre offers long-term support to young people. This includes after-school academic support, mentoring with university students and local professionals, in-school aspiration-raising workshops and enrichment, and work experience opportunities. Once established, the centre will support over 1000 students per year.

IntoUniversity Newcastle East is set to be a genuinely life-changing experience for up to a thousand young people every year. Through our involvement in this new Centre, we will be able to enhance our essential outreach activity by delivering aspiration-raising workshops and mentoring to children and young people in their heart of their own community.

Professor Chris Day, Vice-Chancellor and President of Newcastle University

Maximising the value of working in partnership with IntoUniversity is part of the Collaborative Newcastle Universities Agreement, which brings together the world-leading expertise and collective power at Newcastle and Northumbria Universities to support the health, wealth and wellbeing of our local communities.

This new venture was supported in-part by donations made to the Newcastle Student Fund, which have reached £370,000 in the first year.

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