This year we are delighted to be welcoming 152 students who have participated in our Pathways to Birmingham Widening Participation schemes, Access to Birmingham (A2B), Routes to the Professions and Realising Opportunities, to our undergraduate degree programmes in the College of Medical and Sciences (CMDS). Last year we welcomed 84 A2B students and therefore the bumper recruitment this year represents a 75% increase. We are pleased that our outreach and widening participation activities have been successful in diversifying our undergraduate cohort and ensuring that it is more representative of society in general.
All CMDS undergraduate programmes have seen a substantial increase in the numbers of students from widening participation backgrounds and a fantastic 18.4% of our UG home MBChB programme participated in Pathways to Birmingham.
The College of MDS has a long-standing commitment to outreach and widening participation and more than 60 members of CMDS staff were involved in directly supporting these 152 students to achieve their ambition of studying at a research intensive university.
While participating in Pathways to Birmingham all 152 students were registered as students of the University with full access to online resources (Canvas, Pebblepad, FindIt), the campus and support from members of staff and students. As these students register for their undergraduate degrees and look forward to Welcome Week and their courses starting, they will continue receive support as participants in our new MDS Pathways programme which has been generously supported by the Alumni Impact Fund. MDS Pathways will provide all participants with a peer mentor and a programme of professional development and networking opportunities to support their success and progression through their undergraduate education and into their future careers.
We are looking forward to another full programme of outreach and widening participation activities in 2019/20 and you will be able to read more about them by following this blog.
