Newham Sixth Form College has announced a new partnership to address the underrepresentation of ethnic minority students in the country’s top universities.

NewVIc is the first college in Newham to partner with ‘The Elephant Group’, which will provide quality education and support to students from minority ethnic backgrounds within an area that is ranked as one of the more deprived boroughs in London.

“This is an exciting opportunity for students from NewVIc and schools in Newham,” said Magdalena Johnson, Vice Principal at NewVic.

“We are delighted to be working with The Elephant Group to help and continue to enable more young people to progress on to top universities.”

Laura Compton, Managing Director of The Elephant Group, welcomed the new partnership stating that “by collaborating to support young people from all backgrounds we can ensure all students reach their full potential”.

The Elephant Group was formed in 2018 by a group of headteachers committed to increasing access to the country’s most competitive universities for students from non-selective state schools.

The partnership will create regional connections with school leaders, universities, corporates and third sector partners to do this, and co-deliver their Year 12 – 13 Elephant Access Programme to support students to achieve their potential.

In the UK, access to the most selective ‘top third’ universities, and onwards into top professions, is significantly determined by the school or college you attend.

According to figures, 61% of private school pupils access ‘top third’ universities compared to only 19% of non-selective state school pupils, and only 5% of ‘disadvantaged’ pupils access ‘top third’ universities.

The new partnership will give NewVic students the skills, knowledge, resources, and interactions with university students from similar backgrounds to increase the number of successful applications to competitive universities.

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