Uni’s vow to support vulnerable students
UWS aims to remove barriers to higher education
Paisley’s uni has renewed its commitment to helping its most vulnerable students.
The University of the West of Scotland says it has a proud t rack record of removing barriers to higher education, and is strengthening its drive to be a model of good practice in this area.
It has now formally committed to the Stand Alone Pledge, which supports “estranged” students.
The Stand Alone charity aims to aid people of all ages who become disowned by their family or a key family member.
It says young people who are estranged from their families are likely to be under- represented within the student population, and those who get involved in the application process are more vulnerable to withdraw from higher education than other groups of students. And UWS is just the third university in Scotland to formally commit to the Stand Alone Pledge.
UWS, which currently has the largest number of care leavers in Scottish Higher Education, says its focus is on helping all its students to succeed and to thrive during their time at the university.
It aims to engage closely with all applicants from vulnerable groups, and make sure that it is able to support them all the way through their time at UWS.
This includes everything from student mentoring and formal student support services to informal peer support networks to senior staff training and awareness.
The university, which works in close partnership with local authorities, schools, colleges and other higher education institutions to increase the number of vulnerable groups progressing to university, is currently in the process of developing a detailed action plan to formalise the support it offers to estranged students, bosses said. Professor Craig Mahoney, Principal and ViceChancellor of UWS, said: “At UWS we are committed to providing higher education opportunities for everyone, and we are delighted to be working with charities and other organisations to help remove barriers to higher education and academic success.
“All activities delivered by UWS are inclusive and our aim is to raise awareness of the opportunities available and the benefits of higher education.
“We realise that pupils from families that have no history of further or higher education face many additional barriers to learning and this includes estranged students who have no family contacts.
“At UWS we work very hard to ensure that we provide a range of information, advice and guidance before, during and after a student’s time at UWS to support them on their learning journey and beyond.”