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Supporting opportunity, place, and social mobility
We can do more to improve opportunity and social mobility across the UK. Universities play a vital role alongside the government to achieve this.
To help us have even greater impact, we call on political parties to commit to:
- Incentivising stronger place-based networks that promote access to tertiary education – whether that’s higher education, further education, or apprenticeships.
- Establishing a new ‘tertiary education opportunity fund’ that will harness collaboration between colleges and universities to widen participation in tertiary education.
- Providing enough resources and support to universities to guarantee the future success of degree apprenticeships.
- Increasing support for universities to work with businesses through place-based innovation funding and supporting start-ups and spinouts that create local opportunities and growth.
- Working with universities to deliver NHS England’s Long Term Workforce Plan by investing in a recruitment campaign, increasing placement capacity and committing to new facilities and infrastructure, including new technologies.
- Encouraging more universities back into teacher training to help address the shortage of high-quality teachers.
Position paper
Powering the NHS
With 112,000 vacancies across the health workforce, our five-point plan for healthcare education and training asks the government, universities and the NHS to work together to turn ambitions into reality.
It proposes boosting numbers of students and educators, investing in new facilities and infrastructure, including new technologies, increasing the capacity of student placements and improving learner experience.
I am learning how to handle difficult situations that most people could never imagine facing in the workplace. However, this is being made easier by my university’s state of the art simulation centre, where we can practice both clinical and patient-facing skills.
Rachel Arthurs
Midwifery student, University of Surrey
