STUDENTS from East Yorkshire’s most deprived areas could be robbed of the chance of university or rewarding careers by the scrapping of a Government scheme.
Aimhigher, an initiative providing financial support for students from low-income families, will cease to exist at the end of the month.
Jacob Batters, left, and Lewis Harding, from Howden School, Aimhigher Teentech event, held at the KC Stadium.
The scheme paid for overseas school trips, industry mentoring and visits to Oxbridge in an attempt to encourage pupils to aspire to university or apprenticeships.
In Hull and East Riding 37 schools received help from Aimhigher funding.
And headteachers say it had a dramatic impact on the youngsters from poorer backgrounds.
More than 1,400 students from the region applied to go to university last year, a rise of more than 66 per cent since 2003, the year before the scheme began.
The axing of Aimhigher also comes as prospective students were told they face paying £9,000 a year for tuition fees.
Head teachers fear the removal of Aimhigher will crush the aspirations of hundreds of young people.
Emma Woolfall, assistant head teacher of St Mary’s College, said: “The end of Aimhigher will have devastating implications for the young people of Hull and it breaks my heart.
“Without the funding, schools like ours are going to be hit very hard because it supports so many of our needy youngsters. The scheme allowed students to take part in cultural trips across Europe.
“Many of them had never even travelled outside of the country before, making it an invaluable experience which would not have been available to them through any other means.”
A total of 37 schools and colleges in Hull and the East Riding rely on their £600,000 share of the £1.3 million funding for the Humber to raise career aspirations.
Head teacher Angela Martinson, of Newland School For Girls, said: “It’s a tremendous loss, which I think will have a direct effect on the students.
“Many of them are brought up among the third generation of people in their family that do not work.
“Kids that would normally never dream of university come along to these events and go home inspired for the first time.
“They mix with other students and realise that they do have the ability.
“Without the means to fund these activities, many youngsters will never be able to see what’s out there.”
Mentoring and week-long residential summer schools allowed them to realise their potential.
Students who have already benefited have gone on to become learning mentors.
Nicola Beech, 24, describes herself as coming from a “very working-class background” and was the first of her family to go on to higher education. She is now studying for a PhD at the University of Hull.
Ms Beech, now living in Kingswood and an Aimhigher mentor, said: “There were so many kids I worked with that said ‘university is not for people like me.’
“But I could tell them I came from the same place and went to the same schools they did.
“Getting to know me completely changed their perceptions, and that’s something you can’t get from a university prospectus or a lecture from your school teacher.”
Unlike the current method of identifying students who receive free school meals, the scheme supports students according to their postal address, meaning
young people in East Yorkshire’s most deprived areas were helped.
Hundreds of youngsters from 30 different schools attended an Aimhigher event at the KC Stadium this week.
Teentech gave students a chance to meet engineers and scientists to understand how science and maths can given them exciting careers.
Archbishop Sentamu Academy student Jasmine Randerson, 12, said: “Not many people like us get to do things like this.
“I didn’t really like science before, but now I’ve seen all the different things you can do with it as a job, I think it’s really exciting.
“When I’m older, I’m going to get a part-time job and save up so I can go to university. I don’t know how much it costs, but I know it costs a lot.”
Although Aimhigher will cease to exist, school staff say they will attempt to carry on the work.
Tom Smith, head of science at Goole High School, said: “The funding has allowed us to exceed our targets when it comes to the grades our kids are achieving.
“The scheme funded one-to-one support within the school, focusing on English, maths and science.
“Just a little bit of time weekly has allowed many students to go up a grade in key pieces of coursework.
“Without funding, that’s going to be taken away.”
“Aimhigher gives kids an opportunity to really build their self-confidence, which creates a ripple effect among their peers.”
It’s a real shame that Aimhigher has come to an end as in reality it wasn’t a massive budget and it really helped young people.
Is this part of the governments plan to make Universities only for the rich?
