Working with Schools

Many universities, colleges and third-sector organisations work meaningfully with schools in Scotland to widen access and participation to tertiary education.

A number consider SIMD (Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation) as students living in SIMD20 areas or areas of low progression to higher education may be eligible for access courses according to their region. This can also provide contextualised admissions when applying to university and result in an adjusted offer being made.

National Schools Programme

The National Schools Programme aims to encourage pupils to apply to and access Higher Education through a mix of activities informed by our four foundational pillars: Impartial information, advice, guidance, and support, and a visit to a campus or a residential experience.

The National Schools Programme encompasses SHEP (Schools for Higher Education Programmes), ACES (Access to Creative Education Scotland), AHDP (Access to High Demand Professions) and Transitions with Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

The National Schools Programme is currently under review in 2024.

You can read more on the Scottish Funding Council Website.

Contacts and Resources

National Schools Programme (Scottish Funding Council)

SHEP (Schools for Higher Education Programme) contacts:

ASPIRENorth  – Aberdeenshire, Highlands, Moray, Orkney and Shetland

FOCUS West covers  Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, the West

LEAPS –  covers Borders, Edinburgh, Forth Valley, the Lothians, Stirling & Clackmannanshire

LIFT OFF – covers Dundee and Angus, Fife, Perthshire

Background to SIMD

SIMD (Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation) is the Scottish Government’s official measurement for identifying areas of deprivation through various indicators (income, employment, education, housing, health, crime and geographical areas)

SIMD is a relative measure which shows whether one area is more deprived than another, but it does not say how much more deprived.

Data zones are ranked from 1 being most deprived to 6,505 being least deprived. Each of the seven domain ranks are then combined to form the overall SIMD. This provides a measure of relative deprivation at data zone level, so it tells you that one data zone is relatively more deprived than another but not how much more deprived.  People from the most deprived backgrounds are defined as those from SIMD20 areas.

SIMD identifies deprived areas, not people. A weakness of using SIMD is that it does not describe individual characteristics so that there will be less disadvantaged individuals who live in deprived areas, and conversely, disadvantaged individuals wo live in less deprived areas.

SIMD…
… shows where Scotland’s most deprived areas are, so organisations know where their work can have the biggest impact.
… is a relative measure of deprivation across small areas in Scotland.
… looks at multiple deprivation. ‘Deprived’ does not just mean ‘poor’ or ‘low income’. It can also mean people have fewer resources and opportunities, for example in health and education. So communities can use SIMD to identify the things that matter to them. See  Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation  for further information

SIMD can be used to target policies in specific areas and local authorities

Students living in SIMD20 areas or areas of low progression to higher education may be eligible for access courses according to their region. This can also provide contextualised admissions when applying to university and result in an adjusted offer being made