Further information and guidance on how SUN will approach Outreach Hub work will follow in 2019 / 20 academic year . Due to the limited timeframe given for operating plans to be returned to OfS we are unable to provide a comprehensive overview of Outreach Hub activity at this time .
Focused activity
Across the data collected schools and colleges fed back that in Phase 2 SUN should refine the activity offer to focus on specific local barriers to higher education . Attainment at level 2 was suggested as the main priority area and this is supported by recent research and data analysis of progression to higher education 3 .
In addition to this young people across Portsmouth and Southampton who took part in the SUN Young Researchers survey commented that workshops which focused on education choices post-16 and post-18 and subject specific workshops would be of most relevance . This is supported by our baseline survey responses across two academic years where a third of NCOP learners responded they know nothing about alternative routes to HE ( e . g . apprenticeships , HNCs etc .).
Supporting Gatsby Benchmarks 4
SPoCs were asked how SUN can best support schools achieving Gatsby benchmarks in line with the National Careers Strategy 5 . Schools included in interviews were a mixture of those who had already achieved this standard , those on their way to achieving and some who had only just started out on their journey to achieve Gatsby benchmarks .
Responses from our SPoC survey outlined that schools would find SUN supporting achieving benchmarks 7 ( encounters with further and higher education providers ); 2 ( learning from career and labour market information ) and 5 ( encounters with employers and employees ).
The feedback on this theme directly links with the following aspect of expanding and strengthening partnerships across SUN .
Expanding and strengthening partnerships
Our SLT and SPoC survey asked who else SUN should be working with to support young people progressing to HE . The top three responses were :
1 . Local charities who work with young people in NCOP areas 2 . Private sector companies in the local area 3 . Youth Groups and local sports clubs or groups
Strengthening pre-existing partnerships was a key consideration for Phase 2 within the SPoC and FEC interviews . Several interviewees commented that they would appreciate more sharing of information and knowledge across
3 https :// www . ucas . com / corporate / news-and-key-documents / news / early-success-gcse-key-university-applicants-achieving-their
4 https :// www . gatsby . org . uk / education / focus-areas / good-career-guidance
5 https :// www . gov . uk / government / publications / careers-strategy-making-the-most-of-everyones-skills-and-talents
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