Dear Parent/Carer

When students arrive at Varndean College we ask them to complete a Widening Participation Survey as part of their
enrolment. This enables the college to identify students who are eligible to join. Your son/daughter or ward, from the
responses they gave in the survey, is eligible to participate in the 2023/24 WP Programme.

Students in the past who have signed up to join our Widening Participation programme have had the chance to
attend events and activities that will help them decide if applying to university after Varndean is the right choice for
them.

We work with the University of Brighton, the University of Sussex, University of Chichester and Into University to
provide valuable first hand experiences through visits to local university campuses, degree subject taster days held at
the universities, HE student mentoring plus many other activities to help students explore degree level study and
university life. The aim of the programme is to make the decision about whether to go to university or not less
daunting and based on knowledge rather than hearsay and guesswork.

Our local universities run WP programmes to help students. There is no obligation on the students part to attend
one of these universities at the end of their time at Varndean. In fact, if they decide as a result of their involvement
with the WP programme they do not want to apply to university at all, this is fine too. The purpose of the
programme is to help them make the best choice whatever route they choose to finally take.

If you have a son or daughter who:

• is wondering what it would be like to study at university
• wondering if they would be able to cope with the study
• is not sure if they would 'fit in'
• is worried about whether the debt would be worth it... the Widening Participation programme would help them answer these questions

Below are the links to each of our partner organisations WP sites to provide more information:
Brighton University WP Info
Sussex University WP Info
Into University Info

If you would like to hear more about what Varndean Widening Participation can offer your son or daughter, please email me at lea@varndean.ac.uk

Regards

Lee Abbott, Widening Participation & Employer Spotlight Co-ordinator

(Mon - Thurs 9.00-2.00)

Tel: 01273 508011 Ext:126