Head of Office For Fair Access (OFFA) visits

Professor Les Ebdon helped 26 Year Five pupils graduate from their day at the University

The director of the public body charged with widening access to higher education has visited the University of Liverpool and taken in a physics lecture for primary school children.

Professor Les Ebdon, the Director of the Office for Fair Access (OFFA), met with Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Howard Newby and attended a physics lecture for pupils from Merton Bank Primary School, St Helens as part of a visit to demonstrate the breadth of the University’s widening participation activities.

Understanding benefits

In some areas of the UK, fewer than one in ten school pupils goes on to higher education. The University of Liverpool works with children from primary school, right up to the end of their A levels to help them understand the benefits of taking a degree.

Pupils spend time on campus and with students to demystify university life and take part in a range of activities including talks, practical lessons and workshops to explore higher education.

As part of his visit, Professor Ebdon witnessed 26 Year Five pupils graduating from their day at the University, during which they received a full tour of the libraries and other buildings and a highly interactive physics lecture from students.

Professor Ebdon said: “I’m very pleased to be visiting the University of Liverpool to see the important work that’s carried out here to promote fair access. I really enjoyed seeing the University’s links with primary school pupils as this is a very important outreach group.”

The University also works with other groups such as care leavers, immigrants and adults who would like to start a degree later on in life. Under the Superstars project, children in care regularly visit the campus to receive student mentoring for GCSEs and learn a variety of life skills such as communication, leadership and healthy cooking, helping them to build confidence to pursue opportunities once they leave school.

Inspiring students

Dr Paul Redmond, Director of Employability and Educational Opportunities at the University said: “There is a lot of talk at the moment about social mobility, but here at Liverpool we’ve been working for many years to give people from backgrounds where universities seem remote the chance to study and open up new opportunities for themselves and their communities.

“We were very pleased to show Professor Ebdon a small sample of this work and we hope demonstrated how passionate the University is about inspiring students to choose higher education university study.”

Find out more on the University’s Educational Opportunities website.