Just three words
Different every time
One of the many great things about this academic year has been the number, and the sheer variety, of universities we’ve been working in for the first time. We’ve been in the Faculty of Science and Engineering at the University of Wolverhampton, and with Black student leaders and student mentors at the University of Northampton.
In Wales we’ve worked with Foundation Year and First Year students, and with staff at Aberystwyth University, and with students at Wrexham University. And at the University of Wales Trinity St David we’ve been at the Lampeter campus and, as pictured below, at the London campus working on employability.
It’s different every time: no two institutions are the same, each has its unique challenges. But we love learning and adapting our programmes to make sure we get the best possible results.
Grit in session
We’ve been out spreading the word about Grit again this last month. We were alongside colleagues from UCAS (the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) and 30 or so schools and colleges at the Outreach North East CPD event. Outreach North East is a regional partnership of universities and colleges. We really enjoyed being with such engaged and participatory teachers and advisors as we talked about how coaching can support students with transition and progression from pre-16 to post-16, or post-16 to HE.
And then, with Kirsten Farrell of the University of Portsmouth, we delivered a session at the JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) Change Agents Network Conference. We discussed mind-sets, attitudes and beliefs, empowering students – regardless of their background, ethnicity, gender, educational history – to move past historic limiting patterns and become change agents in their own lives.
“Grit enabled me to believe in myself.”
Ashi took part in a Grit programme at Nottingham Trent University for students having to repeat a year.
“I felt helpless. I felt stuck. I had always assumed that I would scrape through my exams, but I had failed them. There was no-one I could turn to who would understand what I was going through, no-one else in my position. I couldn’t be completely honest with my friends about what had happened - it was embarrassing, shameful. I was on my own.”
Read more of Ashi’s story here
What happened next
We recently went back to university students who had taken part in a Grit programme at some stage between September 2023 and February 2024.
We had a whopping 36% of students responding to our survey with 91% of them telling us that they still set themselves goals. 81% of students have an increased sense of belonging, and 84% of those who said they had been considering leaving are still at university.
And we asked students to give us three words that best described their Grit experience. This is what they told us:
