Future Focus 2024/25: Finding the service pupil voice through co-design
Study Higher’s co-design project foregrounds the service pupil voice. The project aims to prioritise their perspectives of their own experiences over adult interpretations, therefore building stronger connections and informing more tailored, holistic outreach to meet their needs.
What is Study Higher and why do we work with service pupils?
Study Higher is part of a national widening access to higher education (HE) programme called Uni Connect. Working within the region of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Swindon, we give impartial advice and guidance to young people who are underrepresented in HE. Study Higher is led by Oxford Brookes University and also collaborates with the University of Oxford, the University of Reading, and Buckinghamshire New University. Service pupils (or service children; or young people from Armed Forces families) are one of these underrepresented groups. The Service Children’s Progression (SCiP) Alliance defines a service child as “a person whose parent or carer serves in the Regular Armed Forces, or as a Reservist, or has done at any point during the first 25 years of that person’s life”. Service pupil education and HE progression can be adversely affected by aspects of military life, such as mobility and deployment. The Office for Students deems service pupils to be an at-risk group when it comes to equality of opportunity. Study Higher facilitates outreach activities specifically for service pupils through its Future Focus programme.
Project structure
There is a lack of research into the voice and experiences of service pupils, which has an impact on building meaningful outreach work with this group. Study Higher wanted to engage the voices of service pupils within our region through a new, pilot project. We wanted to:
- Gather the voices and experiences of secondary service pupils within the Study Higher region.
- Find out how pupils relate to their own identities, lives and education.
- Create HE outreach content in conjunction with service pupils and basedon their own experiences, wants and needs.
Study Higher’s co-design project foregrounds the service pupil voice. The project aims to prioritise their perspectives of their own experiences over adult interpretations, therefore building stronger connections and informing more tailored, holistic outreach to meet their needs.
Please access the full report below.
