A Fairer Future

How can we ensure fair access to quality higher education?

We believe that all students should have equal and fair access to Higher Education. Better-off pupils are still significantly more likely to go to university than their more disadvantaged peers and the gap between the two groups – 19.1 percentage points – is the widest it has been since 2005.

Depending on their financial, personal or ethnic background, students may face additional challenges not only in applying to university, but in their studies once they are here.

Researchers too often face barriers. It is expensive to undertake research degrees in the UK - government funding sources have diminished, and most students can only undertake research degrees by ‘self-funding’. This is not possible for the vast majority.

Thanks to generous donations from our alumni and supporters, we have been able to offer scholarships across the widest range of University programmes, from undergraduate through to PhDs. We are also supporting asylum seekers to undertake ‘Sanctuary Scholarships’ at Exeter

Awards such as this have immediate impact:

• They help us to attract students from diverse backgrounds (we work with hundreds of students every year through our ‘Pathways’ programmes – offered to school pupils from year 10 onward)
• They offer financial support which enables students to focus on their studies, and diminishes the fear of debt
• Support from alumni and friends gives recipients a feeling of working in partnership, which is vital to a sense of belonging

How can we help future sports stars achieve their potential?

The University of Exeter has a long and distinguished sporting heritage and we have invested over £30million in recent years to create excellent sports facilities. We are proud to offer opportunities for all students and staff to lead active and healthy lives.

At the highest levels of competition, we support the development of some of the country’s most talented sportspeople and our Sports Scholarship Scheme has an excellent track record of enabling students to fulfil their academic and sporting potentials. Exeter students and graduates compete at national and international level in a range of sports and represent their countries at Olympic and Commonwealth Games.

Sports participation at school and university has been shown to enhance future employability prospects and offers students opportunities to enhance skills in teamwork, leadership, and resilience. Sport also offers an invaluable opportunity for us to engage with our local community and we inspire huge numbers of schoolchildren across the south west to take part in regular physical activity, fostering active lifestyles from childhood to adult life.

How can we make the full student experience available for all?

Extra-curricular activities are part of what makes Exeter such a fantastic place to study. Memories are made, not just in classrooms, but on sports field and stages, in choirs and debating teams, and at social events and charity fundraisers.

Across campuses, thousands of students sign up to hundreds of different Guild and Student Union affiliated societies. Societies range from the conventional (such as Film Societies, Politics Societies, Entrepreneurial groups and Orchestras), to the more esoteric (such as the Chocolate, Harry Potter or Hide and Seek Society). Plus there’s the award-winning student media groups, which have provided a springboard for many future careers.

Our Local Community

Disadvantaged pupils in the South West are the furthest behind of any region in the country at the end of both primary and secondary school. This means bleak prospects: the region ranks third lowest of nineteen areas for upward occupational mobility.

Thanks to a generous donation from the Cobalt Trust, Professor Lee Elliot Major (Professor of Social Mobility) is leading a ground-breaking pilot to level up outcomes in the South West.

“Our current work is identifying ways, inside and outside education, that could improve the educational, job and earnings outcomes for poorer young people in the region, identifying the challenges and creating a toolkit of up to ten ‘best bets’ for addressing them.

"We will work with key regional and national actors including school, local authority and third sector leaders. In parallel we will utilise our unrivalled government networks and research knowledge to engage with national policy influencers. By demonstrating how we can address these challenges here in our region, we will be able to provide a compelling test case for a regional approach to levelling up.”

- Professor Lee Elliot Major – Professor of Social Mobility, Exeter Centre for Social Mobility