About
The Higher Education Outreach Network (HEON) is a partnership of local organisations including universities and colleges working in Surrey and North East Hampshire. Through both a programme of targeted and strategic outreach, we aim to increase the rates of young people from local areas accessing higher education. Funded and supported by the Office for Students (OfS) as part of the Uni Connect Programme.
HEON is 1 of the 29 partnerships that make up the Uni Connect Programme across the country and work towards the government’s aim of supporting a rapid increase in the number of young people from under-represented groups who go into higher education. Uni Connect is now in phase three of the project.
HEON deliver targeted higher education outreach in 11 specific wards across Surrey and North East Hampshire. The Office for Students has identified these wards as areas where the proportion of young people progressing to higher education is low overall, and lower than expected given their GCSE attainment levels.
HEON’s 11 target wards:
Aldershot Park, Ashford North & Stanwell South, Cherrywood, Chertsey St Ann’s, Hoe Valley, North Town, Old Dean, Preston, Stanwell North, Stoke and Wellington.
Working with our partner organisations HEON delivers outreach to local young people in Years 9 – 13. We offer impartial advice and information on higher education and progression routes, campus tours, subject tasters, mentoring and residential summer schools to name a few initiatives.
Phase three of the Uni Connect Programme will launch in the 21/22 academic year. This will introduce three aims to the partnership, namely, targeted outreach, signposting and strategic outreach. The strategic outreach branch of work enables HEON to identify and close any gaps in outreach provision to the local area of Surrey and North East Hampshire.
Uni Connect is funded by the Office for Students. It is a national network of hubs across England which offer impartial advice, guidance and activities on the benefits and realities of higher education in college and university.
6227
INTERACTIONS WITH LEARNERS Last Year
104
Activities Delivered
13
Partner organisations working together
We believe everyone should be able to make informed and inspired choices about their future, whoever they are, wherever they’re from. Across England, the local hubs help 1,613 schools and colleges, offering impartial advice, guidance and activities to over 180,000 young people and their parents or carers.
The OfS Uni Connect Programme – impartial advice and guidance on college and university.
The Uni Connect funding will support the development of previous collaborative outreach work delivered by HEON, we now have thirteen partners and click below to find out more information about each of them.
