About Us

About Neaco

The Network for East Anglian Collaborative Outreach (neaco) is a collaboration of universities and colleges in our region funded by the Office for Students (OfS) as part of the Uniconnect programme.  

Together we work with students at secondary schools and sixth forms/colleges, who live in areas identified by the Government with low rates of progression to higher education and students who are from groups that are underrepresented in higher education, including adult learners.

Our partnership includes five Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and eight Further Education Colleges (FECs) in East Anglia. We provide a wide range of impartial, collaborative outreach activities to equip students from Year 7 through to adult learners, to make an informed choice about their options in relation to the full range of routes into higher education and to minimise the barriers they may face when choosing the option that will unlock their potential, including barriers relating to academic attainment. Our activities are delivered through the Take Your Place programme.

Uni Connect

The Uni Connect Programme is a national incentive funded by the Office for Students (OfS) to support their strategic goal that students’ access to higher education is not limited by their background, location or characteristics. neaco is one of the 29 Uni Connect Partnerships across England.

Aims of the Uni Connect Programme: Uni Connect - Office for Students

  1. Contribute to reducing the gap in higher education participation between the most and least represented groups.
  2. Equip young and adult learners from underrepresented groups to make an informed choice about their options in relation to the full range of routes into and through higher education and to minimise the barriers they may face when choosing the option that will unlock their potential, including barriers relating to academic attainment.
  3. Support a strategic local infrastructure of universities, colleges and other partners that can cut through competitive barriers, offer an efficient and low-burden route for schools and colleges to engage with higher education outreach, enable schools to engage with attainment raising activity, and address outreach ‘cold spots’ for underrepresented groups.
  4. Contribute to a stronger evidence base around ‘what works’ in higher education outreach and strengthen evaluation practice across the sector.

What we do

At the centre of our approach is our Take Your Place programme of activities and our offer is designed to be tailored to the individual needs of the school. Our work focuses on three core strands:

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Delivery

To deliver this work, neaco employ a team of Higher Education Champions, who are all experienced education and outreach professionals based in schools and colleges. The team facilitate sessions in schools, organise external speakers and events and coordinate trips to university campuses. They also work with parents and carers and the local community to ensure young people are fully supported. Some of our activities are co-designed or co-delivered with academics from our university partners and we often support these activities with student ambassadors as we believe they provide an inspirational role model to young people.

Some of our activities are supported by third sector organisations, this includes facilitating workshops, supporting the design of programmes and providing specialist support.