Students compete to make the Big Deal
The University of York is celebrating five years of a pioneering programme connecting leading professionals with teams of school pupils aged 13-15 from disadvantaged backgrounds. The University of York Big Deal programme works to promote social mobility in higher education and fairer access to the professions.
The annual programme, which takes students through a three month intensive programme, was established by the University in partnership with a range of leading businesses, including Google, Shell, HSBC and Goldman Sachs. The programme is also supported by Aimhigher, and teams compete for a business trip to New York during the ten week enterprise challenge, with support from business mentors.
By working in partnership with businesses and schools, the University promotes dynamic relationships between pupils and professionals to bridge the gap between education and industry. The programme raises pupils’ expectations and awareness of competitive career routes by demonstrating educational pathways in an engaging way.
Alongside their mentor, the pupils complete a series of business planning tasks, including ideas generation, budgeting, marketing and risk analysis. The Big Deal has engaged over 700 young people, with many teams developing functioning businesses which continue to this day. In evaluation from previous years, over 95% of the student participants recognised the significant impact of the programme on their school studies, and 100% of teachers noted that engagement with the programme had raised their students’ aspirations and motivation.
Rahila Hussain, who teaches at Queensbury School in Bradford, comments: “The University provides our pupils with access to exciting professionals, which helps them to see beyond their immediate horizons. It’s not just the winning, but the whole process - this is an opportunity they don’t normally have access to and it’s exciting to see pupils exploring new opportunities.”
The programme makes it easy for us to support young people’s understanding of business and to make a real difference to their ambitions
Veronica Wastell, HSBC
Business teams meet their professional mentor at a launch event in March and are coached online by their mentor using a website specially designed in partnership with the national charity Brightside UniAid. Teams also benefit from face-to-face meetings with their mentor and the competition culminates in a Dragons’ Den event at the Ron Cooke Hub, the centrepiece of the first phase of the University’s campus expansion at Heslington East. Pupils pitch their business plans to compete for a trip to New York, where the winning team explore their business ideas in an international context.
Lewis Knights, based at HM Treasury, is an alumnus of York and has been involved in the programme since its inception: “Over the last five years I have seen my teams develop and mature in amazing ways. The positive impact of the programme on the young people and on the mentors is remarkable.”
Veronica Wastell added: “HSBC is proud to be involved in the Big Deal, and the programme makes it easy for us to support young people’s understanding of business and to make a real difference to their ambitions.”
As a result of the programme’s success, the University has accepted invitations to advise the Cabinet Office and the Department for Education on social mobility, and a number of companies have sought advice on their Corporate Social Responsibility policies. The Big Deal has received national press attention and was shortlisted for the Times Higher Education Widening Participation Initiative of the Year 2010.
Nik Miller, who is based in the University’s Development Office and established the programme, added: “We are committed to promoting wider access to university and to the professions. Effective partnership working has enabled us to establish this innovative approach to engaging with our regional community,and the school students rise to the challenge with energy and style.”
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