Sussex Learning Network's work is funded through a combination of partner contributions and external project funding. Since it was set up in 2015, SLN has brought in over £9 million in funding. Our current funders include:
We are funded by the Office for Students for the Uni Connect programme in Sussex. Launched in January 2017, the Uni Connect Programme is a national initiative helping teachers and careers advisors to encourage young people to take advantage of higher education opportunities. It aims to boost HE participation rates among the least represented groups of young people.
Uni Connect consists of 29 partnerships of universities, state-funded schools, colleges, and local authorities, charities and enterprise partnerships across England.
Uni Connect supports the government’s Gatsby Benchmarks for career guidance. Through a tailored, impartial approach that includes outreach activities and advice and information on the benefits and realities of going to university or college, Uni Connect helps schools support students and their parents/carers to get a better understanding of their future options.
Uni Connect’s overall aims are to:
- reduce the gap in HE participation between the most and least represented groups​ through sustained and progressive outreach programmes
- support young people to make well-informed decisions about their future education​
- encourage effective, impactful local collaborations by providers working together with schools, colleges, employers and other partners
- develop a sustainable infrastructure for future outreach and collaboration
- contribute to a stronger evidence base around ‘what works’ in higher education outreach and strengthen evaluation practice in the sector.
Uni Connect allows us to extend our reach, developing new collaborative programmes that will help even more young people access outreach activities as well as supporting education practitioners by signposting existing opportunities.
Find out more about our previous and current projects funded through Uni Connect by visiting our projects page, case studies, resources and research page. For details on how SLN uses and collects data for Uni Connect click here.
Other funding sources
Beyond funding Uni Connect, SLN has a database that we actively scan for funding opportunities for ourselves and our partners.
