Three students from Queen’s University Belfast have recently received awards from Choice Housing, one of the largest independent housing associations in Northern Ireland.
Now in its third year, Choice launched the five-year scheme to support and motivate students from Widening Participation (WP) backgrounds to achieve academic excellence and to complete their studies. Each year a prize is awarded to one student in each of the three faculties at Queen’s.
Erin McLaughlin, Engineering & Physical Sciences, Aimee McElvogue Medicine, Health & Life Sciences and Cameron Bell, Arts Humanities and Social Sciences were each awarded prizes of £1,000 in recognition of their academic attainments.
The Choice Prizes provide financial support to students who have participated in either the Pathway Opportunity Programme or Senior Academy Programme, key Queen's initiatives delivered by the University’s Widening Participation Unit (WPU).
Speaking about the Choice Prizes, Michael McDonnell, CEO at Choice Housing:
“We are delighted to be continuing this important partnership with Queen’s.
“Everyone, regardless of their background or circumstances, should have the same opportunities to go on to third level education and, through this initiative, we aim to support and motivate students from Widening Participation backgrounds to achieve academic excellence and to complete their studies.
“We hope that through these prizes, Choice can help the individual recipients to succeed and contribute to creating stronger inclusive communities.”
Established in 2013, the WPU comprises the Junior Academy, the Senior Academy and more recently the Pathway Opportunity Programme. WP students may include young people who are in secondary education and colleges, students who have disabilities, care leavers or adult learners.
The Senior Academy and Pathway Opportunity programmes target young people who have the ability to attend university, but who are least likely to progress to higher education and provides support to enable them to fulfil their potential.
The Choice Prizes are awarded to the Pathway Opportunity Programme or Senior Academy students, who achieve the highest overall mark in Level 1, and who will be continuing to Level 2.
Commenting on the latest Prizes, Outreach Officer for the Queen’s Widening Participation Unit Grace Heatley said:
”We are extremely grateful to Choice for their continued support of this impactful award.
Prestigious prizes such as these enable us to recognise students for their academic achievements, celebrate their success and support them through their studies. Financial support is particularly impactful for students from Widening Participation backgrounds, and we are continually seeking to increase the support available to these students.
I wish to congratulate the three recipients and thank Choice for their generous support.”
The Pathway Opportunity Programme aims to increase the number of students from under-represented groups who will go on to study at Queen’s. The Programme is for talented young people from Northern Ireland who have the academic ability to study at Queen’s but who may require additional support and encouragement to reach their full potential.
The Senior Academy Programme raises awareness of higher education in post-primary pupils by developing their academic skills and supporting attainment. Working specifically with pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, these programmes are open to all and provide insights into university life.
For further information about Widening Access programmes at Queen’s, please visit www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/sgc/wpu/ or to find out more about supporting students at Queen’s, please contact Sorcha Mac Laimhin (s.maclaimhin@qub.ac.uk)
