London Metropolitan University’s new online toolkit a hit with college students.
Date: 3 July 2017
Students from NewVic College were given the chance to test Kickstart, an online transition to Higher Education tool created by London Metropolitan University.
Kickstart aims to raise aspirations and motivate young people to delve into university education, as well as preparing them for Higher Education.
Developed by Cecile Tschirhart, Head of Student Experience and Student Outcomes at London Met, Trushar Adatia, Head of the School of Human Sciences, and the Outreach team, a consultation for the tool was held in February 2016. On 22 June 2017, students were able to test Kickstart for the first time, following their consultation.
The toolkit is made up of videos, games, quizzes and other interactive activities with the aim of preparing all students for Higher Education.
The session was held at NewVic College and was attended by Shakira Martin, President of NUS. “I am really pleased that London Met is working closely with colleges and sixth forms,” Shakira said.
“I am even happier to see that London Met is giving a session on the barriers preventing young people from going to university.
Of the students who attended the tester session, over 80% said Kickstart helped them make a decision about whether they were going to attend university.
“Kickstart has been a real collaborative effort,” said Cecile Tschirhart.
“We consulted with students from NewVic College and we took their thoughts and ideas to help develop the toolkit into what it is today. There is still work and fine tuning to be done but we are confident this will be a useful tool for young people.”
Students who tested the tool gave positive feedback, with one adding: “The tool is relevant because it talks about how young people, like myself, can get into university.”
The feedback from the testing session will be taken into consideration as the toolkit progresses towards a final version which will be available online shortly.
