The future of Student Support at Loughborough

At Loughborough we aim to improve young people’s life chances. We provide a student experience full of opportunities that is designed to make sure any student, whatever their dream, whatever their goal, can take away the skills and experience they need to feel fulfilled and move forward in the next stage of their life.

The Student Success Academy: Building for Success

We are excited by the opportunity to reach thousands of students over the next 5 years by creating an even more open and inclusive Loughborough Family, through the Student Success Academy.
 
Through a dedicated programme of holistic and sustained support the Student Success Academy focuses on the key transitions in a student’s journey: from settling in at university or returning from a year in industry placement to readying themselves for the wider world and work as a graduate. 
 
The Student Success Academy aims to build on the successful support the generosity of Loughborough alumni has made possible, by ensuring many more students are offered opportunities to level up with their peers, access mentoring and support to tackle disadvantages around academic success and employment outcomes. 

Challenging inequality and tackling disadvantage

“Access to university remains inequitable. There is a strong correlation between social class and the likelihood of going to university in general and to the top universities in particular.”

Independent Reviewer into Social Mobility and Child Poverty

Over the next 5 years, The Student Success Academy aims to: 

Increase the number of students from disadvantaged backgrounds attending Loughborough to 1 in 4 over the next five years.
Eliminate the gap in degree attainment for students from disadvantaged backgrounds compared to those from more affluent circumstances.
Eliminate the gap in securing work placements and internships for our students from disadvantaged backgrounds when compared to their peers from more affluent backgrounds

Your gift can make the difference

With your support the Student Success Academy will be able to intervene in the lives of thousands of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, and place them on a path to success. Make your gift today.

Help us support more students like Kim

“I went into foster care at seven years old, and at 17 I moved into a hostel whilst studying for A-levels. During my exams I was focusing on my studies so couldn’t work and survived on £50 in benefits every two weeks to live on and pay all of my bills. I was learning to manage money, taking on responsibilities that many of my friends did not have to worry about whilst applying for university. The hostel also did not have Wi-Fi so I would arrive at school early every day and would go to my local library until 9pm every night to get work done and revise. When I got my place at Loughborough, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’m the first in my family to go to university. My focus was to get a degree, get a job and go. Once I came to Loughborough, I realised there are so many opportunities and so many things to get involved in. I realised that the degree was only part of the experience.
 
The University was able to support me – I received a bursary which meant I could focus on my studies without financial worries as I did not have to work as many hours at my part-time job as a bartender. I also worked flexibly as a Student Ambassador for the University, on top of extracurricular activities with the African Caribbean Society at the Students’ Union and taking a placement year in industry. I’d read that only 6% of care leavers go to university and even fewer finish their degree – but guess what? I beat that statistic!
 
I graduated from Loughborough in 2020 with a 2:1 in International Business, having also taken a placement year in industry as a bid co-ordinator at the
recruitment firm Hays. Completing a degree during a pandemic was tough, but I’m grateful for everyone who helped me along the way. I felt like people were rooting for me. I was so proud to be awarded the Hannah Community Prize at Loughborough University for contributing to positive social change and conducting good neighbourliness in the community. The Kim who came here has left more confident, more employable, and I have found my passion. It changed my life.”

What will the Student Success Academy do?

We have identified three main areas of intervention and support to ensure that we can offer the most effective, transformational impact on the life chances of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Starting with the two school years before university, the Student Success Academy will target students from disadvantaged backgrounds who are far less likely to go to university, let alone attend an elite institution like Loughborough.
 
With your support we can:
 
1. Work in deprived communities to identify those students who need our help.

2. Provide proactive and sustained mentoring of students from aged 16-18.

3. Offer targeted programmes to improve the skills needed for success at university, working with PhD students, working on graded assignments, building CV skills.

4. Provide open days and visits to Loughborough, allowing students to experience campus life and to appreciate the value of university.
At Loughborough we are committed to supporting our students to achieve their personal best - not just teaching them what they need to get a good degree, but to fulfil their potential through developing skills and networks to support them after graduation, as well as accessing everything the Loughborough experience has to offer.
 
With your support we can:
 
1. Access the resources to develop targeted and bespoke interventions to increase uptake from students from disadvantaged backgrounds in getting the help they need, tailored to their needs, right from the start of the Loughborough journey.
 
2. Recruit more academic success coaches, trained to spot early warning signs of students at risk of falling behind, helping us to close the attainment gap disadvantaged students face.
 
3. Recruit more wellbeing advisors trained to tailored support to students from disadvantaged backgrounds, safeguarding their mental health and ensuring they have access to resources that can help them in times of personal or financial crises.
 
4. Encourage the uptake and access to extracurricular activity that boosts confidence and social skills.
 
At Loughborough we are committed to supporting our students to achieve their personal best - not just teaching them what they need to get a good degree, but to fulfil their potential through developing skills and networks to support them after graduation, as well as accessing everything the Loughborough experience has to offer.
 
With your support we can:
 
1. Better identify those students facing barriers to accessing the best employment and internship opportunities and intervene early to support them.
 
2. Offer direct financial support to those who otherwise couldn’t take unpaid opportunities, or who would struggle with transport costs and the cost of living.
 
3. Enable students to acquire the skills and confidence to apply to opportunities wherever they may be, breaking down barriers to access professions traditionally felt as ‘out of reach’.
 
4. Support more student start-ups and enterprise ideas to access the resources they need to get going and thrive.

Thank you for your support

The Student Success Academy builds on the success made possible by the generosity of our alumni and supporters. Together, we have changed the lives of many of our students, and together, we will change the lives of thousands more. 

To everyone who has supported our students over the years and decades, and those joining us to support the Student Success Academy, thank you.

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