Coding programme for school students awarded £40K

Pathways to Coding, run by QMUL’s Outreach and Widening Participation team, has been allocated the money by The Sutton Trust, a think-tank which aims to improve social mobility through education.

The four year project will start in September 2016 and aims to support eligible* disadvantaged Year 12 and 13 students with a particular interest in coding, with priority given to students who are, or have been, looked after, accommodated or in care.

The programme will constitute a mix of sessions with both an academic and a careers focus, as well as work experience and talks from interesting industry figures and academics.  

Danielle Russo, Deputy Head of Outreach and Widening Participation at QMUL, said: “We’re delighted to receive this funding from The Sutton Trust. Pathways to Coding is an exciting new programme that will open up coding to students from disadvantaged backgrounds and hopefully it will inspire them to take it even further.”

The project will be run with two cohorts of students that will be supported throughout Year 12 and 13 via a range of activities including e-mentoring, coding clubs, campus coding days, talks and a hackathon residential summer school.  

The programme will be managed in partnership with QMUL’s School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science which will design and deliver an extensive range of academic workshops.  

Applications open on Friday 26 August and close on Friday 30 September.

For more information head here.

*Eligibility:
The programme will support students from state schools, with an interest in coding that have achieved 5 A*s or As at GCSE, and that meet three of the following widening participation criteria:
• Have been eligible or be in receipt of free school meals during secondary school and/or the Pupil Premium
• Be the first generation in their family to attend university (with university defined as UK or Eire based, pre-or post-1992, degree level course, parent graduated)  
• Attend a school or college with a low overall A level or Higher/Advanced Higher points score and/or low levels of progression to university
• Live in an area with low progression to HE (typically POLAR3 quintile 1 or 2 or equivalent) and/or live in an area with high levels of socio-economic deprivation (assessed by ACORN, MOSAIC, IDACI or equivalent)
• In addition, priority will be given to students who are (or have been) looked after, accommodated or in care.