Read the testimonials below to hear, first hand, how the IntoUniversity programme has impacted on the lives of these children and young people.
Rebecca
Rebecca is in Year 9 and attends a secondary school in the borough of Haringey. Nobody from her family has ever attended university.
“I have been coming to Academic Support at IntoUniversity Haringey North since the centre opened. I was told about it by my school and I decided to come to get help with my homework. It is a quieter environment than at home and there are more books and resources.
As a reward for coming to Academic Support I was matched with a mentor last year. My mentor, Clare, studied Medicine. She was very friendly and we did activities such as cooking together and chatting about my future. We also made a board game about the steps that you can take to go to university. It was great because she let me know a lot more information about university - it opened my eyes to all the opportunities open to me.
In the summer term I took part in the Careers in FOCUS programme and I learnt about different jobs that I could do. I went to some amazing workshops run by professionals including a lawyer, sports manager and graphic designer. I am very sporty so I also got help to research careers in sport and through this I decided that I would like to become a physiotherapist.
During the summer I took part in a Sports Science FOCUS Week at IntoUniversity. We did sports activities such as football and archery, and visited Brunel University to see the campus and to have a graduation. It was fun to see what you can do and it was good because one of the student ambassadors was studying physiotherapy so I found out about the different things within the course. I want to go to university now, possibly even Brunel University!
I love meeting new people at IntoUniversity and I have got much better at working with others as well as working independently. If I didn’t come to IntoUniversity I would just do nothing after I finish my homework, but here I get extra work to keep me occupied. I am looking forward to meeting my new mentor next week and am excited about what the future holds.”
Bartek
Bartek was born in Poland and moved to the UK as a teenager. He had limited command of English and as a result he struggled to settle in to his new school both socially and academically. From an early age he was keen to make it to university, but his school offered no careers advice. He first came to his local IU centre whilst he was studying for his GCSEs. His English improved dramatically and he was able to discuss university options and career choices with the IntoUniversity Education Workers. He is now in his first year at Kingston University, studying Law (LLB).
“When I first arrived at IntoUniversity I was 14 years old, which is a tough enough age for any teenager, let alone one like me, with little command of the English language and unsure about how to fit into the many different groups of people I had come across since arriving in England. The Sports FOCUS Week I attended was exactly what I needed; the activities were designed to make all of us think about our futures and since then, I’ve never looked back.
Ever since then I have engaged in many IntoUniversity programmes and events, including national and international trips, a mentoring scheme, and more FOCUS weeks. All of those helped me in meeting different people and becoming much more open with them but most importantly, it allowed me to experience a life outside of school and the options that were available for people my age. Immediately, IntoUniversity became the primary source of help with regard to my academic life.
Going to university was always a hope but never a realistic one. I was unsure of what was required to attend higher education institutions but thanks to IntoUniversity, who have steered me in the right direction and stuck by me for the last five years, I was able to go to university and study the course of my choice- I am now studying Law (LLB) at Kingston University. I would not be the person that I am now if it were not for IntoUniversity.”
Nejmi
Nejmi attended our centre in North Kensington. Following his time with IntoUniversity he read Business Studies at Aston University and now works for Accenture UK Consulting.
“Whilst being able at school, attending university was always a cause for concern for me - how was I going to support myself financially? Was I prepared for entering higher education and would I thrive? IntoUniversity had unwavering confidence in my ability and put me forward for an Academic Scholarship, with both the financial support to focus on my studies and the emotional support lending me the confidence to achieve, IntoUniversity contributed to raising the levels of my aspirations.
Since graduating, I now return to IU to volunteer time aside from my work since I want to offer the kind of support and encouragement to foster aspirations in the next generation; it is a fantastic cause and one that I can attribute to having given me the necessary confidence to achieve.”
Download our Testimonials
For more testimonials from our students about IntoUniversity's impact, click here to download the PDF.
.jpg)