Students and staff at the Hugh Baird 14-16 College and the Hugh Baird University Centre today launched a new initiative aimed at helping young people realise their full potential.
The ‘Hugh Baird University Centre Young Scholars’ initiative will see students aged 14-16 benefit from mentoring and support from undergraduates studying at the College’s University Centre.
The aim of the scheme is to help raise aspirations within the College’s youngest cohort of learners as well as providing development and coaching opportunities to undergraduates studying at the Hugh Baird University Centre.
Hugh Baird College are one of only a few colleges in the UK who offer 14-year-old students the chance to leave school and attend College full time.
Learners at the Hugh Baird 14-16 College, which was rated ‘Good’ at their last Ofsted inspection, study core GCSEs in subjects such as Maths, English and Science, alongside a career related vocational pathway. Additionally, learners can choose to study on the Prince’s Trust Achieve Programme or complete The Duke of Edinburgh Award.
Since the Hugh Baird 14-16 College opened, close to 550 students have moved onto higher level study programmes within the College.
Andy Howard, Director of Curriculum at the Hugh Baird 14-16 College said:
“We are delighted to launch the Young Scholars scheme today. I believe it will help provide our students with clearer direction and focus and will raise their awareness of the educational opportunities they have on their doorstep at the Hugh Baird University Centre. I would like to thank the undergraduate mentors for taking part in this initiative and I hope they benefit from the scheme as much as I envisage our 14-16 College students will.”
Earlier this month, a group of Hugh Baird 14-16 College students got the honour of being invited along to attend the Hugh Baird University Centre’s 2019 Graduation Ceremony.
Dan Morgan said:
“I am really happy to have been chosen to be part of the Young Scholars initiative and attending the Graduation Ceremony was really interesting too. I hope to one day become a Design Engineer in the Agricultural industry and this will mean I need a degree. Having a University Centre near where I live is really useful and will help me save on the cost of going to uni.”
Colette Mawdsley, Dean of the Hugh Baird University Centre, said:
“The Hugh Baird University Centre Young Scholars initiative is a project we have been planning for some time, so it is fantastic to be able to launch the scheme today. It’s a perfect opportunity for the Scholars to benefit from the experience and knowledge of our undergraduate mentors and also become familiar with our state-of-the-art University Centre building.”
“The College’s vision and ethos is one of raising aspirations and supporting people of all ages from our local community to believe in themselves and achieve. One of the main drivers behind launching the 14-16 College was that students had the opportunity to continue their education to degree level and I hope the introduction of the Young Scholars initiative will make more students reach their full potential with us.”