Virtual events, resources and more in the April 2021 edition of the Linking London Uni Connect Outreach Hub bulletin
April Edition
Welcome to the April edition of the Linking London NCOP Outreach Hub bulletin! This month we focus on virtual events and resources and opportunities that can help you support students remotely and in person. We (Jess and Melanie) are busy working from home and welcome questions/requests for help or support - our email addresses are at the bottom of the bulletin. Have a great Easter break!
Key Outreach Hub Info
BTEC Support Package Five of our HE partners are producing videos to help BTEC Extended Diploma Year 1 students who are in the early stages of deciding what and where they'd like to study after Level 3. Video topics include: deciding on the right course and university, narrowing down options when studying broad subjects like Business, and beginning your personal statement. You can register here and the package, with links to Youtube videos and other resources, will be emailed to you in the week of April 19th. Please also encourage your students to complete the form too.
Nursing & Midwifery Event for Staff - May 18th 11am
An online event for college staff who are supporting Level 3 students decide on their next steps towards Nursing & Midwifery, as well as more general AHP subjects. We have a panel of representatives from 3 universities to discuss their subject offering in the field and how they recommend supporting students who are starting to think about life after Level 3. Each panellist will speak for about 10 minutes to introduce their institution and give some advice and then there will be 15-20 mins for Q&A. This even would be suitable for careers staff as well as tutors for Level 3 Health and Social Care, Nursing, or Midwifery courses (including Access to Nursing, BTEC Health and Social Care, etc). Sign up to receive a Teams invite here.
SOAS, UoL are holding an open day on the 5th June, sign up here
St Mary's Twickenham, London are holding an open day on the 15th May, sign up here
Queen Mary, UoL are running open days on the 25-26 June
University of the Arts London have a range of undergraduate events here starting in May on subject areas including illustration, theatre design, fine art and more
UCL - Register details for their next open day here
University of East London have an open event on April 7th
University of West London are running a virtual open day on March 27th
University of Westminster are hosting a virtual open dayon June 12th
Rose Bruford College are running virtual campus tours on the 30th March & 4th May
All virtual events are have been compiled into the Outreach Hub HEI Events Calendar which can be downloaded here
FE & Sixth Form College Virtual Events & Tours
Barking & Dagenham will are holding a foundation and SEND online open dayon April 1st
Barnet & Southgate College detail their open events here
Newham College London next open events will be shared here
Newham Sixth Form College (NewVIc) have an online open event here
Richmond Upon Thames College have an openevent on the 20th of April
South Thames College Group - All events can be found here
Southwark College has an open eventon the 12th and 13th of May
Waltham Forest College register for information on their May open day here
West London College detail all campus open days in March and throughout the summer here
Westminster Kingsway College will detail any future open events here
UCAS Discovery Day – 20-21st April
During the specific South East event, students can explore over 100 universities as well as receive information on careers and apprenticeships. Dr Alex will also be presenting to reiterate the importance of mental health on student choices and future outcomes, sign up here
UCAS have made available a resources toolkit to help staff and students get the most out of the Discovery Day, download it here
Student Competitions
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Next Generation Economics Competition
This competition asks students in years 10-13 to submit a letter to the FCDO Chief Economist addressing one of two questions - click here for the questions and to enter
The competition is aiming to tackle a lack of diversity in the economics profession by reaching students who would not otherwise consider studying economics.
The Big Bang
UK Young Scientists & Engineers STEM Competition - submissions open this week
The competition recognises and rewards young people's achievements in all areas of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), whilst providing them with the opportunity to build their skills and confidence in project-based work.
St Mary's University Twickenham have released a series of "motivation hacks" from current students who are studying virtually. Students discuss the challenges of online learning as well as tips to keep motivation levels up. View them here:
University of Greenwich are running a series of twilight lectures in April, the sessions can be viewed and booked here
University of Greenwich are also holding an Earth Day - Tackling Climate Change Action on the 21st April, to sign up click here
St Mary's University Twickenham are offering taster academic sessions on sport & exercise nutrition, politics, sport management and more . View all and sign up here
University of Roehampton are holding an applying and personal statements session on the 30th March sign up here
University of West London's Film, Media and Design School are running an experience day on April 6th, sign up here. UWL's London College of Music is holding an experience day on the 8th April, sign up here
University of Westminster are launching "Westminster Wednesdays" which has events up to a June 2021 of weekly taster sessions and masterclasses. View the schedulehere
UCL are running "Study Prep," a free online course for Year 13s who are preparing to study at university in this uncertain time
London Metropolitan University have an UG live chat on 31st March, sign up here
St George's, University of London have pulled together some useful advice for students wishing to apply to courses in Medicine, with a particular focus on making applications stand out when work experience opportunities are harder to come by during the COVID crisis, take a look here
University of London have released dates for their institution's taster courses. Birkbeck College, Goldsmiths, UCL, Royal Central School of Speech & Drama, SOAS and Royal Holloway are all participating so far, click here to book
Subject Specific & Future Options Support
Escape Studios (Pearson College London) have released a digital guide for students interested in creative careers in Visual Effects, Animation and Game Art
All recordings from National Careers Week are available here
Unifrog are running a Subject Discovery Series throughout May. Subjects include Economics, Law, Business and Hospitality and Art & Design, view them all and sign up here
Amazing Apprenticeships & Not Going to Uni have teamed up to launch a parents and carers podcast to help them in providing career advice
In2scienceUK offers year 12 students the chance to kickstart their future career in STEM pathways in their 3 week summer programme in 2021
Unifrog have also made available all recordings of their subject specific webinars here
IntoHealthcare have release the recording of their session focusing on Multi-Mini Interviews to support students
BT have free online sessions throughout April that support job seekers with CV writing, job applications and social media strategy
The RAF have made their careers webinar dedicated to international women's day available here
My HE Plus has a large collection of resources to help students explore topics within a range of subjects and give them an introduction to the fundamentals of those subjects, explore them here
Apprenticeship Resources
UCAS Discover Apprenticeships Event
Sign up here to hear from current apprentices about their experiences and get expert advice on choosing options after leaving school or college.
NHS Live Virtual Work Experience - supporting all aspiring healthcare students with work experience opportunities during the pandemic
Allen and Overy Virtual Work Experiences - Smart Start Scheme - providing year 12 students with the opportunity to learn how to identify, secure, and anaylse professional and academic experiences
Hunter Bevan have extended their marketing virtual work experience programme, download the brief on their website
Barclays Lifeskills is free for students to sign up to and offers students an opportunity to gain work experience and build essential skills needed for the workplace
The RCGP has launched Observe GP, an interactive video platform providing work experience insights into the role of a GP
Brighton and Sussex Medical School are running a course that provides students with "virtual" work experience in Medical settings. The course will help students understand the NHS and how to reflect on work experience
Workfinder helps students find remote work experience opportunities
Prospects have a dedicated page with advice on using social media to job hunt
Forage have virtual work experience programmes that students can apply for
Staff Events & CPD
The National Career Guidance Show 2021 will be offered virtually on the 28th April, offering free CPD and information to help staff best support their students, book here
Amazing Apprenticeships have shared their Teacher & Career Adviser Webinar recordings from last summer here
Amazing Apprenticeships have also launched their ASK programme on 12th April to support students in year 11 and 13 with summer transition options – staff can sign up here to request support
The CDI have new online conferences and courses open for booking, details below:
National Tech Fest - 29th & 30th March - conference to enhance your digital skills & knowledge and how it can be effectively utilised
The NHS have released their NHS Support Fund HEI toolkit to help staff promote the NHSLSF to their students
The Education & Training Foundation have produced a range of CPD and webinars that are available online for staff throughout April
EMSI have released the slides exploring the UK labour market in 2020 and what happened, view them here
The Students Loan Company relay important information in their bulletin here
The Social Mobility Barometer 2021 gives a timely snapshot of perceptions of where the coronavirus pandemic has impacted most, who has suffered and what needs to be done by government and others
The CEC have released resources that explore ideas and good practice when working with parents in these challenging times
Prospects have released the "What do Graduates Do?" Report which offers insight and analysis from the UK's largest HE survey
Careermap have made available a range of webinars that can be shared with your students:
UCAS have made their adviser guide for 2021 available here
UniTasterDays has released its teachers' guide to university in 2021 to support university guidance that is provided in colleges and schools. It's free to download here
Success at School have developed an article examining the future of work for your students - View it here
Advancing Access have a plethora of staff CPD resources available for free. These resources are especially useful for supporting students who are applying to Russell Group institutions. Register for a free account here to access these resources
Feedback
We love receiving feedback both positive and constructive. Here's a few comments we have received this month:
"We really do appreciate the resources and links you guys compile and share with us. Its very much appreciated. Keep up the good work !! "
"Very useful"
"These resources are great"
Online Staff Discussion Forum
We have launched our online discussion forum for college careers staff and HE outreach staff via LinkedIn and you can request to join here.
Purpose of the forum
A space for discussion about common challenges and solutions
An opportunity to share and access helpful resources and good practice
A chance to foster a sense of community among careers and outreach staff
The Linking London NCOP Outreach Hub Team
Jess Brown
Please contact me @
jess.brown@linkinglondon.ac.uk
Melanie Green
Please contact me @
melanie.green@linkinglondon.ac.uk
About the Outreach Hub
We will be working collaboratively with London colleges to improve the social mobility of college learners by widening participation into and through higher education. We are here to support London college staff, including teachers and advisers in a number of ways. This includes:
Acting as a point of contact and support for college careers advisers to find out more about HE outreach activities in London, as well as brokering support to existing or new provision where needed.
Developing a range of new resources for advisers and teachers as well as delivering staff development events.
Signposting to useful sources of information and support and providing information and advice about HE including higher and degree apprenticeships.
We want college and HE staff to shape our support offer to ensure we are addressing genuine needs.
A word from us...
We are here for you! Get in touch if you have any questions about higher education, including higher level apprenticeships. By way of example, to date we have received requests from college staff for mapping university entry requirements for BTEC and Access courses, LMI forecasts, help with identifying specific outreach support and higher level apprenticeship mapping.
The London National Collaborative Outreach Programme (NCOP) is part of the Uni Connect programme funded by the Office for Students. AccessHE, Aimhigher London and Linking London* work with staff in schools and colleges across London to help increase awareness among young Londoners of the opportunities available in higher education. Linking London works exclusively with staff in London sixth form colleges and further education colleges.
*Linking London, based at Birkbeck, University of London, is an established partnership of London higher education institutions, colleges and other members dedicated to improving social mobility for college learners through education.
If you want further information on why you are receiving this email please get in touch with Melanie (melanie.green@bbk.ac.uk) or Jess (jess.brown@linkinglondon.ac.uk)
