Higher education has a strategic role to play in spreading opportunity across Britain. Universities are continually working to attack the very foundations of the levelling up challenge – the fact that talent is spread evenly, but opportunity is not.
Universities are anchor institutions with direct influence on the lives and communities where disadvantage is most pronounced, and the expertise, courses and industry relationships to enable brighter prospects and positive change.
They have the reach and resources to bring opportunities to disadvantaged communities, whether defined as groups of marginalised people, or an area in danger of being left behind.
They also unite other major players in the levelling up battle, including employers, schools, infrastructural developers, investors, global partners and frontline charities.
In our work with the Purpose Coalition, we have seen time and again how diversity of ideas and
background is intrinsically linked to the successful performance of organisations.
Universities are where talented individuals with these diverse and hugely valuable ideas and perspectives may begin to flourish and learn how to contribute to organisational success.
The best performing universities are those able to continually adapt to market trends and industry needs, to better enable the supply of talent from all backgrounds into the workplace.
Achieving this, while also adapting to fundamental changes to teaching practices caused by the pandemic, is a monumental task.
To then, in addition, also get to grips with purpose and what it means as a University, seemingly adds further challenge. Yet, as is being realised by evermore universities, purpose is part of the solution towards being more successful on all fronts, rather than an extra burden.
Meeting industry needs, meeting student needs amid ever-changing factors and having the most positive impact on the world possible are all entwined; and, as a result, are increasingly being approached, not as individualised, departmental challenges, but as one allencompassing push towards purpose.
As the UK continues to respond to the long term challenges thrown up by the pandemic and a spiralling cost of living crisis, it is crucial that universities recognise the wider role they can play in society.
Cardiff Met’s influence on the Purpose Goals starts with its role as Wales’ largest provider of teacher education and is built on through its widening access and participation work to ensure that opportunities are spread evenly.
We will go on to touch on some innovative examples of how the University is developing its strategy to meet the changing needs of society and those who need the most support. These include the Open Campus Initiative which capitalises on the University’s expertise in sport to offer physical activity, outdoor play, nutrition, health and wellbeing education and participation opportunities to over 11,000 children a year.
This report shows an example of a University, Cardiff Met, which continues to assess and adapt its strategies and activities to develop its wider contribution to society.
The purpose, impact and compassion generated by our University is critical as we seek to tackle inequality and widen opportunity for a post-pandemic era.
As we renew our society and economy, the role of education will be of paramount importance. Our universities will educate and upskill the workforce and provide the research and innovation required to improve economies. They will also tackle entrenched global challenges and build the bridges and bonds of social and cultural capital that are so essential to establishing a world that is more prosperous, greener and, most importantly, fairer.
These challenges and changes require new approaches, such as compassionate leadership, which we define as a focus on relationships, the need to listen, understand and empathise whilst supporting the student body and
the workforce, ensuring all members of our community feel valued, respected and supported to reach their full potential.
This approach aligns well with the Purpose Coalition and with the Purpose Goals which we address within our learning and teaching, research and innovation, campus culture and collaborative partnerships. Through all these endeavours we seek to widen our reach and deepen our impact locally, globally and internationally.
Our curriculum and learning must be fit for a postpandemic future. The old adage of ‘what got us here won’t get us there’ rings true today as those in higher education now accept that global challenges cannot be solved by old ways of siloed disciplinary thinking and traditional networks. We need to enable our students to develop constellations of learning connected by inter-disciplinary theory and practice, an entrepreneurial outlook, and a willingness to work in partnership if we are to create our more prosperous, greener and fairer world.
The Cardiff Met EDGE at undergraduate programme, School and University level enables every student to engage with learning that provides experience, skills
and confidence-building in Ethical, Digital, Global and Entrepreneurial thinking and practice supplemented upon graduation by access to our free online Postgraduate Certificate programme in Entrepreneurial Thinking. Our partnerships with schools open both our campus and our students’ minds to collaborative working and our Open Campus programme epitomises our purpose, impact and compassion.
In research and innovation the solutions to those entrenched global challenges will be found at the interface of multiple disciplines rather than in the old centres. At Cardiff Met we have established Global Academies to deliver taught postgraduate programmes, research and innovation in three areas where the University had a strong track record of interdisciplinary work: Health and Human Performance; HumanCentred Design; and Food Science, Safety and Security.
The Global Academies are designed to be local, national and international in their reach and impact, contributing to the 14 Purpose Goals, the seven Wellbeing Goals identified in the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act and the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Covid, and its associated lockdowns and online learning, has forced us to rethink campus culture and how we develop and deliver higher education. Those bonds that bind us together as a society were missing as our campuses emptied and students were confined to their lockdown study bedrooms. The pandemic has led us to question the value of the now outmoded didactic lecture and, instead, value the questioning approach that students can better develop by engaging in education that is interactive, meaningful and memorable. Students want not just ‘value for money’ by attending University, but ‘value for time’ in coming on to campus where there is now a thirst for more provision that builds our sense of belonging and strength in community.
At Cardiff Met we are now developing a new Master Plan for a greener environment and estate working in partnership with Cardiff City Council to build Wales’ capital city’s Cycle Superhighway through the campus, together with a range of Living Labs projects that will see the University strive towards carbon neutrality as part of the new Master Plan.
Building partnerships with our communities, businesses, industry, government and international networks provides the bridges and bonds that will develop new and deeper connections between education and those that universities seek to serve.
Cardiff Met’s Open Campus initiative was created to foster civic engagement, improve public health and increase access to education. Open Campus is a collaborative partnership between the University’s academic programmes in sport and initial teacher education, 45 schools in south east Wales, the University’s sports services and Cardiff Council’s Sport Development function operated by Cardiff Met. This partnership is unique in the UK, with the initiative delivering sport, physical activity, outdoor play, nutrition, health and wellbeing education and participation opportunities at the University, with 11,000 school children from across the Cardiff Capital region engaging with the programme since September 2021, particularly from the city’s most deprived areas.
As leaders we have an opportunity to be the postpandemic progressive custodians of our universities; we must preserve the traditions on which our institutions were founded such as academic freedom and institutional autonomy, while advancing knowledge, challenging the status quo and championing change that will build those bridges and bonds to a more prosperous, greener and fairer world for our future generations.
Some information taken from IAU Horizons, Vol 27, No.1, May 2022, p48 Compassionate leadership for a post-pandemic planet: the role of University leaders in a more prosperous, greener and fairer world’.
“Building partnerships with our communities, businesses, industry, government and international networks provides the bridges and bonds that will develop new and deeper connections between education and those that universities seek to serve.”
The cost of living is the biggest issue facing the United Kingdom today, and will require action from all sections of our society - whether politics, business, or all of us as individuals helping out our friends, neighbours and local communities where we can. Whilst the cost of living crisis will affect the poorest in society the most, with those households facing a higher level of inflation, one of the biggest challenges for the government is that the rising cost of living will affect almost everyone.
The Purpose Coalitions measures organisations against what they are doing for their customers, colleagues and communities through the Purpose Goals with tools such as the Cost of Living Taskforce.
In 2015, as Secretary of State for International Development, Rt Hon Justine Greening led the UK delegation to the United Nations (UN). Along with 184 international partners, she helped to establish the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2017, the SDGs were made more ‘actionable’ by a UN resolution adopted by the General Assembly which identified specific targets for each goal, along with indicators used to measure progress towards each target.
These 17 interlinked, global goals were designed to be ‘a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all’. The SDGs emphasised the interdependent environment, social and economic aspects of development by centralising the role of sustainability. As Secretary of State, Justine recognised how useful a common set of accessible but ambitious objectives could be in galvanising action to effect change.
Since then the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost of living crisis has only exacerbated many of the problems relating to social inequality in the UK.
The pathway towards recovery is a chance for the United Kingdom to address these issues and level up but that requires updated and specific goals in order to outline, inspire and measure progress. The most committed signatories of the Social Mobility Pledge, the Purpose Coalition, and the Cost of Living Taskforce aim to improve social mobility in the UK and have responded to this challenge with the launch of the Purpose Goals in February 2021 and the Cost of Living Taskforce in August 2022.
The Purpose Goals build on the foundations laid by the UN’s SDGs by outlining 14 clear goals, and draw on expertise provided by academia and businesses which has been applied to the unique challenges facing the UK currently in what has potential to be a profound levelling down moment for the country.
Cardiff Met University and the Purpose Coalition are working together to tackle the UK’s biggest challenges facing students, colleagues and communities. From helping people with the cost of living crisis in the short term, to levelling up across the country.
The Purpose Goals focus on key life stages and highlight the main issues that need to be resolved in order to create a level playing field for all in this country. The Goals are intended to guide how the urgent ambition to level up the UK can actually be achieved. The impact of the work carried out to do this can, and should, be measurable.
Sub-goals with quantifiable targets and measurements against which progress can be charted within the 14 goals are being developed by the Purpose Coalition. This will create a more transparent and mensurable framework with which to monitor and subsequently address problems of social mobility and inequality. The Purpose Goals are designed to look at the outcomes of corporate social responsibility strategies and measures that organisations operate. Many organisations are doing outstanding work and making important contributions to society but are still measuring this via inputs.
Crucially, these Goals are a shared framework. Justine and the wider Purpose Coalition, of which Cardiff Met University is a key member, believe that with a common understanding and objectives, there can be action that drives change on the ground. Distinct entities, including universities, businesses, policy-makers, and public sector bodies can work together, with the shared Goals being a uniting and motivating foundation for progress. As the problems which cause social inequality in the UK are interlinked, it seems that the response to these problems must also be collaborative.
The Purpose Coalition has encouraged businesses and universities to share their own best practice with other organisations so they are not only demonstrating their own commitment, but creating a shift towards purpose-led organisations. The Goals can encourage an extension of this co-operative exchange of information which can be used to address the cost of living crisis, and later level up the UK.
“The Goals are intended to guide how the urgent ambition to level up the UK can actually be achieved.”
The Purpose Goals provide an ambitious and strategic approach to address that challenge, setting out for the first time the gaps that need to be removed to successfully facilitate levelling up across the country.
They offer a common framework within which organisations can collate information on what they are doing and how that is making a difference across all key life stages, using a common language.
Many higher education institutions already serve as anchor institutions in their region and have a principle focus on widening access and participation.
Reaching into communities that are often furthest away from a level playing field, they can be the gateway to opportunity – the chance for an individual to make something of their life, no matter where they were born or what their background. If that option is not available, it is likely that much of the talent pool that undoubtedly exists in those communities would be wasted, making poor social and economic sense.
However, a focus on the widening access and participation agenda offers just one perspective of higher education as a driver of levelling up, when the influence of universities actually extends to many other areas.
It is often accompanied by innovative thinking on how they might have a wider impact on communities, for example on employability and connections to employers and industry or, with £11billion spent by the sector annually, improved procurement practices to deliver better social value.
It should also be recognised that the task of some higher education institutions to provide opportunities for graduates to access higher paid jobs is harder than for others, though it is often those institutions that have been the most innovative and developed the best practice.
There needs to be a new approach to higher education and levelling up which strategically assesses how universities are delivering across each of the 14 Purpose Goals, the best practice that already exists and the expectations they need to meet.
The Goals’ framework will make it much easier to evaluate that and, as a result, compare it in a consistent way across organisations. This will also help meet society’s expectations, particularly following the pandemic, that they should be working towards the public good. Students reflect that sentiment and expect their institutions to pursue policies of procurement and sustainability, for example, that deliver positive social value.
Cardiff Metropolitan University has firmly established itself as a progressive, values driven institution with a strong desire to benefit the communities where it operates and spread opportunity to those that need it most.
The University was founded in 1865 and today offers over 250 taught programmes, with a particularly strong focus on employability and teaching excellence.
It has over 12,000 students across two campuses in Cardiff, where student numbers have grown steadily in recent years.
It has a further 10,500 transnational students studying Cardiff Met degrees at 13 partner institutions across the world.
Its last University strategic plan, launched in 2017, established a values-driven University which championed creativity, diversity, freedom and innovation to “generate educational transformation, research with impact, sustainable economic growth, social cohesion and health and wellbeing”.
The plan was supported by three pillars: Places where staff, students and stakeholders come together to devise and deliver transformational education, research and innovation in partnership.
People who create the high quality and high impact education, research and innovation that will establish Cardiff Met as a top 50 UK University. Performance that the University expects of its people, which is underpinned by its shared values and evidenced by its behaviours.
Developing the momentum established over the last five years, Cardiff Met published its new strategic plan in October 2022; Strategy 2030: From Excellent to Outstanding. Strategy 2030 builds on the sense of
purpose, professionalism and aspiration developed by the successful strategy launched in 2017 and will further the University’s focus on values, outstanding learning experiences that equip students for life, and research and innovation with purposeful impact and global reach.
Central to this focus is a responsiveness to student demand and employer need to address major local, national and global challenges as we address both the cost of living crisis and the need for sustainable growth as we rebuild our economy and society following the Covid-19 pandemic and war in Europe.
The new strategy focuses on the importance of compassionate leadership developed by living both the values of creativity, innovation, inclusivity and trust and behaviours of leadership, courage, accountability and agility. Recognising the intersectionality of factors that exclude people from education itself and the benefits and impacts of education more broadly, Cardiff Met will continue to tackle discrimination.
The University will continue to break down social and cultural barriers to education to make its community more inclusive and representative of those it seeks to serve. Trusted partnerships with community and industry form a ‘golden thread’ running through Cardiff Met’s strategic ambitions and these partnerships are key to opening the doors to lifelong success for students and graduates.
As part of its commitment to this purpose, Cardiff Met has chosen to benchmark itself against the 14 Purpose Goals to measure and, ultimately, improve its contribution to levelling up.
“The new strategy focuses on the importance of compassionate leadership developed by living both the values of creativity, innovation, inclusivity and trust and behaviours of leadership, courage, accountability and agility.”
Cardiff Met’s Open Campus initiative was created to foster civic engagement, improve public health and increase access to education. Open Campus is a collaborative partnership comprising Cardiff Met School of Sport and Health Sciences, Cardiff Education Partnership (Cardiff Met’s initial teacher education and research partnership with Cardiff University, Oxford University and 45 schools in the Cardiff Capital region), Cardiff Met Sport (the University’s sports services) and Sport Cardiff (Cardiff Council’s Sport Development function operated by Cardiff Met).
Open Campus delivers sport, physical activity, outdoor play, nutrition, health and wellbeing education and participation opportunities on Cardiff Met’s Cyncoed Campus and the project has welcomed over 11,000 children since September 2021 from across the Cardiff Capital region and particularly from the City’s most deprived areas.
The project aims to: create and sustain new partnerships that promote collective decision making and action amongst education, sport and health providers to increase the quality and quantity of sport, physical activity and health provision on campus and within the local community;
improve the student experience by enhancing the ‘Cardiff Met EDGE’ (a core offering that enables students to develop Ethical, Digital, Global and Entrepreneurial skills, experience, knowledge, confidence and resilience) designed to enhance graduates’ employment and wider life chances; and
use the University’s human, financial, physical and intellectual capital to make Cardiff a world-leading city for sport, physical activity and health, improving the social cohesion and wellbeing of communities in Cardiff and across Wales.
The Open Campus initiative is integrated with the Cardiff Met curriculum and provides opportunities for students in sport and education to gain work experience including undertaking collaborative applied research in partnership with key stakeholders.
The project is being evaluated to inform continuous improvement and it is already clear that the initiative has contributed to improved graduate outcomes and greater engagement in education by both children and their parents.
Cardiff Met is committed to ensuring that everyone with the desire, determination and skills to access higher education should be able to do so. One way the University does this is to provide opportunities for adult learners in their own communities, targeting those who have not previously had the opportunity to study in HE. Cardiff Met understands how important it is to work closely with local communities to help raise aspirations and encourage people who think University is ‘not for them’ to start thinking about the opportunities available.
Cardiff Met has an excellent track record of recruiting students from the lower quintiles in the deprivation scale, and has consistently recruited over 40% of students from the lower two quintiles in the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation.
Ruth, a 31-year-old mother of five, had very low expectations of herself until she was introduced to an Adult Community Learning Hub in Ely in Cardiff which transformed her life.
“I only ever believed that I could ever be a mother and a housewife… The learning hub has enabled me to see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. It has equipped me with
life skills, built my confidence and integrated me into a community that I now feel more part of.
“Doing courses at the Hub has been beneficial… the flexible environment that the staff provide has been a lifeline to a parent like myself. By doing free courses at the Hub, I have been able to confidently progress further, with the aim to attend University. This would never have been possible without these courses.
“I have been able to show my children that anything is possible with the right support and structure. I feel it has given a better opportunity in life as a stepping-stone towards University. I believe that community courses break down barriers in the community, enable people to have hope and a better life and help to educate our children who are our future. I believe that I could not have learnt what I have learned today, had this been in a college, structured environment.
“I have undertaken a number of courses including Accredited Psychology: Cardiff Met Widening Access, Mentoring Programme, Safeguarding in Health and Social Care, Food and Hygiene, Child Psychology, Welsh, Designing a Game, Counselling Skills, English and Maths.
“I am continuing my journey and hope to enrol on the BA/BSc Social Science degree at Cardiff Met once I have completed my foundation year.”
This section of this report will benchmark several of Cardiff Met’s specific initiatives against the Purpose Goals, to track where progress is being made and where efforts could be redirected or better targeted.
It is important to note that it would be difficult for any one organisation to work effectively toward every single one of the Purpose Goals. As more organisations adopt the goals, it could be more efficient for individual organisations to focus on particular areas where they can make a real impact, rather than making a superficial impact across many goals.
Cardiff Met’s contribution to this goal is wide ranging, spanning primary schools – for example using robotics to encourage STEM subjects – and secondary education, where activities include hackathons that promote data science.
As the largest provider of teacher education in Wales, and overseeing a primary education programme involving around 300 schools, it has significant influence on ensuring successful school years in the communities it reaches.
At secondary school level, its influence grows as young people near pivotal, and often-difficult, choices about their future.
Information, advice and guidance sessions are delivered by the University’s student recruitment team over a two-year research and application window.
Cardiff Met student ambassadors are also employed to speak in groups, or one-to-one, with students to guide them and offer firsthand experience of applications,student life and workshops in their own subject areas.
Furthermore, the University’s ‘Creative Challenge’ encourages students to develop their creative practice over the summer. This can also help applicants when building their portfolio to apply for higher education courses.
This is a project through which the University regularly delivers packs of resources to thousands of school children themed around topical subjects, including the environment.
These were particularly valuable during the pandemic when outreach teams were unable to visit schools.
The University delivered a series of guest lectures to showcase female academics and students from across all STEM subjects at the University, with the aim of inspiring future female students into STEM courses and careers.
Many organisations have strong commitments to traditional Corporate Social Responsibility and the ESG (environment and social good) agenda.
In partnership with Educater, a not-for-profit company, and Fitzalan High School, Cardiff Met offers three workshop days a year, working with students from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds to inspire them into STEM courses and careers.
NHS Healthcare Heroes
Delivered in partnership with Cardiff University, the University runs an initiative which promotes NHS bursaryfunded programmes and career progression, via sessions and interactive resources giving insight into recent graduates in those professions.
Hackathon
Delivered in partnership with the EC-Council, which runs ethical hacker-based programmes, and the ONS, these sessions create an interactive, hands-on experience for students interested in degrees and careers in cyber security.
Students are able to work remotely on a web-browserbased iLab and gain skills and experience in cyber security hacking. Other hackathons are held by the University in secondary schools to encourage computer security and data science subjects, and also to promote STEM subjects to more young women.
The University runs an interactive session to support schools with their Welsh Baccalaureate teaching.
These sessions cover enterprise, employability and helping schools develop their individual projects.
Cardiff Met University runs a series of academic lectures and practical experiences for students.
Cardiff Met has numerous partnerships with, and sponsorships of, primary and secondary schools that enable exposure to the many benefits of University life. It runs an extensive programme of outreach work into schools, and extracurricular activities designed to enhance children and young people’s education and development. These projects support a range of educational challenges, including numeracy, literacy and STEM studies.
The University also runs Cardiff School Games, a legacy from the 2012 London Olympics which runs across the school term, involving 50+ competitions for school children.
Positive destinations Post 16+ 3
Cardiff Met has performed exceptionally well in the Graduate Outcomes survey. This commitment to ensuring that students who are able to benefit from a University experience are supported to do so begins with Cardiff Met’s engagement with schools and colleges, extends to developing an enquiringly and entrepreneurial mindset and results in Cardiff Met consistently being one of Wales’ top performing University for graduate start ups.
The University’s enterprise taster days give further education students an opportunity to sample higher education as a potential route towards enterprise and entrepreneurship.
Through the Wales Enterprise Champions Network, Cardiff Met has also led on ‘Explore-Archwilio’ - a series of webinars exploring entrepreneurial competencies.
The University also contributed to Summer Start-Up Week, a virtual festival to support the start-up ambitions of further and higher education learners in Wales.
Further developments in recent years to the courses offered by the University include the introduction of a data science degree, while the University is also currently validating courses in computer security and software development.
These are forward looking changes, modernising the course offering from the University towards more employable opportunities.
Widening access and inclusion
Cardiff Met works in partnership with the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) on its ‘Reaching Wider’ programme, which aims to:
Widen access to Level 4 higher education provision in all modes, locations and with a range of providers.
Reduce barriers to entry and raise educational aspirations and success at level 4 higher education provision for priority groups.
Prioritise people of all ages living in the bottom two quintiles of the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD). Within the WIMD bottom two quintiles, partnerships and institutions will prioritise hard to reach groups of different ages within their region.
Prioritise looked-after children, care leavers and carers. Partnerships will work regionally to support these groups, while institutions will work Wales-wide.
Among its resultant programme of courses is ‘Community to Campus’, which supports adult learners without level 4 qualifications in the bottom two quintiles of the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD40) and hard to reach learners.
It has been aligned with Cardiff Met’s work to support groups under-represented in higher education in South East Wales.
One of the University’s high-level measures of success, as monitored by HEFCW, is exceeding Welsh average for recruiting students in WIMD40 areas.
Other widening access and inclusion schemes run by the University include:
The Employ Autism scheme, which supports 10 students with autism in preparing for and completing fully funded internships.
With external funding, Dr Fiona Carroll, from the Cardiff School of Technologies, has developed an event to promote computer science-based careers to young women in secondary and further educationWomen in Tech.
The GO Wales scheme which provides support for students with specific barriers to employment. Interventions include mentoring and one-toone support, and a tailored programme of work experience that covers work shadowing, tasters and placements.
GO Wales Plus is an initiative providing support for students who graduated the previous year and currently find themselves unemployed or underemployed.
First Campus is the HEFCW-funded Reaching Wider Partnership for South East Wales; a collaboration between Cardiff Met, Cardiff University and the University of South Wales.
It works with children and young people from a range of circumstances who need extra support. Among them are young people aged 10 – 16, and adults aged 21 and over with no higher education qualifications, from the bottom two quintiles of the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation, plus care experienced young people and young carers.
The partnership aims to raise aspirations, reduce barriers and provide a pathway to higher education, helping learners access new experiences and understand that University can be for them.
Its programmes focus on three main areas – aspiration raising, IAG (information, advice and guidance) and mentoring; with a tailored programme available for learners to access through schools, youth organisations, community groups and independently.
During the pandemic the partnership was able to adapt existing programmes, and create new ones, to meet the needs of learners and support schools and community organisations to continue delivering educational opportunities.
All programmes link back to higher education, with Cardiff Met working in collaboration with academic staff and students to provide innovative, experiential and fun learning opportunities for participants.
Example of the programmes run in Cardiff Met recently include:
Stage 2)
During the pandemic, reduced access to in-person education and activities meant children lacked stimulation, development opportunities, structure and positive engagement. To address this, Cardiff Met worked in collaboration with staff from schools across the University to develop four editions of the Boxes of Potential: art and design, sport, health and wellbeing, sustainability and STEM+. It sent over 6,000 boxes to 16 schools in Cardiff and Newport, an estimated 76 per cent of which were received by young people from areas of multiple deprivation.
Ninian Park Primary School headteacher Jenny Scott said: “The Boxes of Potential have allowed us to further enhance our wellbeing curriculum at a time when this is foremost in our minds. It has supported our children through lockdown and distance learning, to the transition back into school and beyond.
“Each themed box has allowed us to help our pupils to express themselves in a variety of inventive ways, focus on their physical and mental wellbeing and understand how the two are connected. The opportunity to share the activities with project organisers at First Campus in Cardiff Met has given tasks and activities even greater purpose and importance.”
Between May and July 2021, Cardiff Met collaborated with Dr Fiona Carroll, programme director for computing for interaction and computing with creative design at the University. The result was an impactful research project encouraging more young people, especially girls, into computing through creative coding.
The project was delivered to 400 pupils in years four to six, across 10 primary schools in Cardiff, Newport and Bridgend. The feedback was excellent from the schools involved, with many requesting additional sessions in the future. When asked for feedback about the programme, pupils responded:
“I liked that we could discover a lot of new colours! I also liked that we could be creative and have fun at the same time! I really enjoyed the programming a lot!”
“It was a bit tricky at the start but in the end, it was very easy and I got all of it! I will definitely try this at home.”
“I would explain by saying that it is computer art but you don’t need a pen or a paint brush you can use code.”
In July 2021, First Campus delivered art and design sessions to KS3 pupils in Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf, as part of the Food and Fun SHEP programme coordinated by Cardiff Council. Pupils had an opportunity to experiment creatively, making their own painting tools, working together to make patterns and using their new skills to design their own tote bag. The sessions were well received, as well as creating a valuable link with a Welsh language school.
In May 2021, St Illtyd’s Catholic High School in Cardiff delivered a series of First Campus Art and Design sessions developed by Cardiff Met staff. The aim of these sessions was building artistic skills by experimenting with different media and encouraging pupils to raise their aspirations of higher education through art.
Young people from care-experienced backgrounds and young carers are underrepresented in higher education and often face additional barriers to entry.
To address this, Cardiff Met has piloted a mentoring programme which provides specific support, advice and guidance for these learners, to raise their confidence, break down barriers and support them through the practicalities of applying for University.
Around 250 hours of mentoring support was provided from October 2020 to June 2021, with 34 learners supported. Care experienced young people were able to access a total of 175 hours of mentoring, with 19 young people supported. Among them, eight Year 13 students moved onto undergraduate courses in 2021, spanning youth and community, business and marketing, social work, nursing, aerospace engineering and physiotherapy
One Newport Council staff member noted:
“I believe this mentoring project will have a big impact on the number of our care leavers attending University due to the crucial additional support through transition. Through mentoring, these young people will start University with everything they need in place to support them, both emotionally and financially. First Campus have been an amazing support to our young people, and we are delighted”.
A mentee provided the following feedback:
“They have given me confidence and hope for the future. Mentoring has helped me achieve the best in me and has encouraged me to become more confident. If you are looking for support with any educational queries. I would definitely recommend the First Campus Mentoring Scheme as they have helped me achieve my dreams and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without their support. My favourite aspect of mentoring was when I told my mentor I got accepted into different universities and they were proud of me and that shows to me that they care.”
A young carers mentoring programme, delivered in partnership with Caerphilly County Council Young Carers Provision, was formed in May 2021 to support KS3 young people with carer responsibilities.
Similarly, a mentoring programme dedicated to adult learners in widening access categories was launched in 2021. At the time of writing it has provided 63 hours of mentoring, supporting 11 adults, with nine applying for foundation programmes at Cardiff Met.
Through its widening access function, the University delivered 50 online courses in the 2020/2021 academic year, compared to 42 the previous year.
The total number of learners enrolled during the period was 592, while 78 percent of learners attending accredited modules were the first in their family to study at University.
The University also offers careers support for graduates for up to three years following graduation, graduates can access support from the University’s online careers service. This support includes CV writing, interview tips and career planning provided by employability advisors.
“ My favourite aspect of mentoring was when I told my mentor I got accepted into different universities and they were proud of me and that shows to me that they care.”
Cardiff Met’s Centre for Entrepreneurship through their EntAct programme runs events and activities designed to inspire and empower students to develop entrepreneurial competence relevant to both employability and start-up. Activities include:
Enterprise/Entrepreneurship-related networking and guest talks.
Programmes and workshops to develop enterprise skills.
Competitions and funding to test ideas.
Test trading and simulated entrepreneurial opportunities. Interactive activity with a social purpose such as the Hack of Change and the Enactus Team.
Support for collaborative working with the University’s careers team to provide relevant insight into the world of work.
Collaborative work with academic colleagues to ensure the curriculum includes enterprise education.
Further advice and guidance that supports spreading opportunity is evident across the School of Technologies’ undergraduate programmes, which all offer a sandwich placement. Also, student coaches at the school offer peer support, while careers advice is also included in programmes.
Work experiences are coordinated at the University by a central placements administration team, which manages the administration of most credit-bearing work placements.
Cardiff Met recently received a QAA commendation for this work for the “consistent and effective organisation of placement activity”.
The University maintains an established partnership with Santander. Cardiff Met and Santander offer paid work experience where interns complete a work project offered by a participating employer.
Other innovative approaches which provide valuable experiences for students include a project linking them up with ex-offenders. Sports course students and ex-offenders using sports clubs as part of their rehabilitation process are brought together by the University, helping both parties to benefit from the experience.
This scheme will provide students with an extra-curricular framework of activities to engage in alongside their studies. The framework will enable them to develop and reflect on the employability skills that graduate employers value.
Cardiff Met also has a suite of online and in-person careers support and resources, including webinars and skills sessions. Students can access an annual calendar of employer-led events, including careers fairs, industry panel forums and skills workshops.
The University’s Open Campus also offers placements to students across a range of activities with national governing bodies such as Welsh Triathlon and Hockey Wales.
Cardiff Met has been successful in being awarded Turing and Taith funding allowing life-changing opportunities for Cardiff Met students to complete international study, work or volunteering mobilities.
Cardiff Met is committed to promoting and implementing best practice in Equality and Diversity in order to provide an environment enabling all students opportunities to reach their full potential.
The study, work or volunteering mobility programmes available to participants range from 2 weeks to 12 months duration, to provide a variety of opportunities to suit the needs of the Cardiff Met student population.
Cardiff Met is mandated to support students’ need for a quality teaching and learning experience that enables them to graduate as active global citizens, fit for the competitive global labour market.
Through delivery of the ‘Cardiff Met EDGE’, enabling all students to develop Ethical, Digital, Global and Entrepreneurial skills, Cardiff Met ensures that students gain experience, knowledge, confidence and resilience to prepare them for their working life.
Students’ need is not limited to academic achievement alone. Equally important is the need for enhancement of the all-important soft skills to increase employability.
Through Global Opportunities projects including Erasmus+, Turing, Taith, Santander and Go Global Bursary, participants will gain a quality learning experience through studying, working/training or volunteering in a global context. In doing so, participants will gain soft skills that will enhance their employability.
The University strives to open up its employment opportunities to all, regardless of background or circumstance.
Its Open Campus team runs a number of programmes across Cardiff which seek to engage with marginalised groups, including asylum seekers, the homeless and ex-offenders.
In 2018, Cardiff Met became the first University in Wales to be recognised as a University of Sanctuary. This is as a result of the University’s commitment to ensuring it is a welcoming, safe and friendly environment for people who have an irregular migration status and for providing opportunities and support to allow forced migrants, equal access to higher education.
The University has proudly offered Sanctuary Award scholarships since 2017. These include a full fee waiver for each year of the course, plus financial support with essential living costs.
Cardiff Met also utilises techniques designed to remove unconscious bias from recruitment procedures, including blind shortlisting.
Cardiff Met believes in the concept of compassionate leadership, which it utilises to improve its performance as an employer.
At the outset of the pandemic it committed to paying 100 per cent salaries of all staff, including contracted staff who had no legal obligation to receive this if their services were not required, for example if facilities were shut.
The University recognises that good people want to work for good employers – and the importance of treating employees fairly. It also strives to develop the skills needed to empower staff to progress.
The University runs in-house training programmes for leadership development, which includes the option to either complete a Level 5 or Level 7 leadership qualification.
Its mentoring network, supported by organisational development and HR departments with mentor training supports career development and progression across the organisation.
Performance and development review (P&DR) training is designed to empower line managers with career development skills. Within this process, reviewers and reviewees are invited to discuss career development, capture agreed actions and add personal development plans to support their development.
Staff can also access external development programmes including Aurora, Academi Wales Summer School and the South West Institutions’ Middle Managers Programme.
Student and Graduate Progression Real-world work experiences and the University’s student coach agenda offered at Cardiff Met play an important role in ensuring all participants benefit from fair career progression. In-curriculum employability sessions are also delivered by careers consultants.
Careers support is available for graduates for up to three years following graduation. Graduates can access a suite of online and in-person careers support and resources, including webinars and skills sessions.
Also aiding career progression at Cardiff Met, is its programme of degree apprentices; which combine the work-based element of an apprenticeship with the academic framework of a higher education qualification.
Financial challenges can be a major barrier to Universitydriven social mobility. Cardiff Met works hard to identify and nullify this threat.
Student Union membership gives students access to advice and guidance on savings and credit.
Cardiff Met’s Vice-Chancellor and senior leadership team have been working with the student body to respond to the cost of living crisis - with the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Student Engagement convening a Cost of Living Work Group in August 2022 to agree measures to support the alleviation of financial hardship. The Group – which includes the Students’ Union - has now identified a series of measures, better communication of existing resources, and is also considering additional initiatives.
New measures include: the removal of all library fines; the removal of fees for graduation gown hire; access to 24hour Learning Centre heated space for study use; commitments to maintaining start-of-year catering prices regardless of ongoing inflationary pressure and to providing a hot meal line at an acceptable price point for both lunch and breakfast; increasing the number of vending machines on campus to allow hot drinks and food for students studying ‘after hours’; and developing a ‘Student repair shop’ by extending the University’s current Community Day provision. The total value of the measures agreed to date is in the region of £500,000.
The Group has also developed an extensive communication plan that will inform students of existing services and facilities that can assist them with reducing their cost of living, including: the breadth of digital resources which reduce/remove the need to purchase books; reductions in the need to print work for assessment submission; laptop recycling scheme; bike repair opportunities and subsidised cycle hire scheme; availability of free sport facilities, free shower facilities and free period
products across campuses, and the option to purchase end-of-life food at the close of catering facilities to reduce food waste and provide cheaper food/ingredients.
Supporting students through the pandemic Cardiff Met moved quickly to respond to Covid-19 by protecting both its student body and workforce. A series of proactive interventions played an important role in ensuring career and academic progression remained on track despite unprecedented circumstances and this approach was cited as a factor in Cardiff Met being awarded the prestigious title of ‘UK and Ireland University of the Year 2021’ by the Times Higher Education.
Specific measures employed by the University included: The distribution of around £3.5m in financial hardship grants, digital poverty support and health and wellbeing support.
Digital student ambassadors were trained up to work with those students struggling to adapt to the changes in learning demands in the pandemic. Tuition was also provided to help students get set up independently in their own homes to continue their learning.
Plans for a ‘future of work’ framework to better align with hybrid learning models for students. Campuses are being remodelled for a net zero future, and also with digital learning in mind.
While the University recognises that students may not need to attend on site as often as they perhaps did previously, it aims to ensure that when they do, they find a highly engaging and meaningful experience.
The University also hopes to build on those relationships with local stakeholders that were strengthened during the pandemic, for example with the NHS and local councils and community groups.
Good health and well-being 8
Cardiff Met is a key partner in the recently launched Mental Health University Liaison Service which is a ground-breaking initiative designed to provide a joinedup approach to student mental health by key providers in education, health and policing.
Cardiff Met offers free gym membership to all students to promote health and wellbeing.
Through its Met Active initiative, the University runs a busy programme of activities and clubs for students including the ‘Met Mile’.
The Girls Together programme, meanwhile, operates across Cardiff targeting hard-to-reach women and girlsencouraging them into sport. It is built on the four pillars of play, competition, coaching and volunteering.
Further health and wellbeing-based outreach comes in the form of the Step into Sport programme, a partnership with the Police and Crime Commission that places young offenders into sporting environments to complete their reparation hours.
Other programmes include Move More, a partnership with Public Health Wales that looks to improve movement through exercise referral in hard-to-reach populations.
In terms of supporting the health and wellbeing of staff, all line managers must complete relevant training modules including ‘wellbeing of teams’.
The Employee Assistance Programme, provided by Health Assured, also includes support for mental health for all core staff and their families.
Additional health and wellbeing measures include staff training sessions on mindfulness, resilience, managing stress and working smarter. Wellbeing resources are also available on the staff Intranet.
Cardiff Met has been one of the top UK universities for Graduate start-ups each year for the last six years and the University’s staff works extensively to encourage students and graduates to start and grow new organisations through:
Provision of incubation space.
Funding for start-up activity targeted at widening participation students.
One-to-one coaching and mentoring support provided to those seriously considering starting a business or freelancing.
Bootcamps and training programmes such as the ‘Social Enterprise Academy’ and ‘CF5 Bootcamp’.
Collaborative working with entrepreneurial ecosystem stakeholders, including NatWest and Business Wales, to ensure students and alumni can make the right connections.
An entrepreneurship dissertation offered within the University’s business information systems (BIS) programme.
Hackathons arranged with local companies.
Closing the digital divide 10
Cardiff Met is committed to ensuring that every student has the opportunity to fulfil their potential to “make outstanding graduate-level contributions to their own and future generations”.
Diversity and inclusion are at the heart of this approach, with an understanding that welcoming all backgrounds and experiences generates a better learning and student experience for all.
Networking forms an important part of its work in this goal area, with disability, LGBTQ+, Black asian and minority ethnic and women-dedicated networks all serving as a conduit for discussion, support and action.
Cardiff Met also has a Welsh network, and another support group dedicated to international staff.
While diversity and inclusion underpin all aspects of student and employee life at Cardiff Met, the University has taken a number of specific strategic measures:
Supporting guidance for interviewees from underrepresented groups.
Access to external development programmes for disadvantaged groups, including Aurora, a women’s programme run by Advance HE.
Recruitment-based bitesize training for managers on diversity and inclusion issues.
Training modules for all new starters on equality in the workplace and unconscious bias.
A pay-gap action planning group.
Working in partnership with trade unions to develop policies reviewing and monitoring equality and diversity.
Being an accredited Living Wage Employer, offering the Real Living Wage to all.
Ensuring that all recruitment panels are gender balanced.
Diversity data collated and returned to the resources committee for oversight by governors.
Being a Disability Confident Employer.
Improving staff diversity is also a key measure within Cardiff Met’s equality and diversity strategy; and its
current attraction/recruitment initiative which is redeveloping the University’s website, recruitment policy and procedures with equality and diversity in mind.
Cardiff Met Univerisity’s Global Opportunities campaign, as explained above in Goal 4, has also been honed to support particular students from underrepresented groups or those likely to have barriers to their development.
Short-term mobilities: These will target the needs of students who have had little to no exposure to a global environment, particularly those students from specific demographic and or under-represented groups.
Participants for whom longer mobilities are simply not practical due to personal circumstances or perceived barriers are more likely to engage initially with a short-term, fully supported mobility experience.
Participants receive an enhanced support package throughout the placement in order to address any concerns and overcome obstacles. Mobilities will enable participants to actively engage with the culture of the destination and work closely with peers in a study, training or volunteering environment, thus expanding their network and increasing confidence levels and personal development.
Where there are genuine barriers to participating in physical overseas placements, Cardiff Met offers the option of virtual exchanges. These programmes broaden opportunities for international exposure and capture the attention of students who may feel that an overseas mobility is unachievable. Offering virtual exchanges conveniently facilitates global collaborations without the need to travel.
Long term mobilities: These mobilities of at least one semester will enable participants to further embed in the culture of the host country and organisation.
Participants will obtain different learning perspectives in a different HE system or working environment. They will forge new relationships with peers in their new environment that will expand their network and support them in future career prospects. The level of international competencies gained will be deep-routed, manifesting a change in perspective, in outlook, and strengthening their global mind-set. Cardiff Met is committed to supporting sustainable travel, in order to reduce impact on the environment, improve the health and well-being of students and staff, playing a part as a responsible member of the local community and so the Global Opportunities Team pledges to work with sustainability champions to create a Global Garden on campus or around the surrounding area, where trees will be planted across campus to off-set the carbon footprint of mobility participants.
Achieve equality, through diversity & inclusion
This marks a period in which the University has firmly established itself as a progressive, values driven institution with strong student experience, staff culture and impactful research and innovation.
At the heart of its success is an ability to link purpose, impact and compassion to drive performance, but also to be empathetic to students, communities, industry partners and staff.
These traits are evident in both its rising national University ranking, and its hugely impactful work in Cardiff, for example, through its efforts to tackle holiday hunger among school children in the cityparticularly vital as the cost of living continues to rise, hitting the poorest families even harder.
Cardiff Met’s outstanding performance, which is characterised by significant recent diversification, improvement and growth, is supported by sustainable finances with the University recently labelled ‘the most financially sustainable University in Wales’, according to the Wales Governance Centre. This ensures Cardiff Met is in a stable position for possible further oncoming crises - continually looking forwards towards more sustainable growth for students, staff and the wider Cardiff community.
The University also looks to advance and share its agenda far beyond local like-minded institutions. In 2020, the University launched three Global Academies to develop interdisciplinary, international and impactful research and postgraduate education to address some of the most entrenched challenges globally and nationally: Health and Human Performance; Food Science, Safety and Security; and Human Centred Design.
Cardiff Met is a University with a coherent culture where students and staff belong to one community. It is no surprise that our staff have placed Cardiff Met as the top employer of choice in UK universities’ external surveys (Capita 2020 and People Insight 2022).
The University’s Global Opportunities scheme is an example of the coherent, inclusive and well-rounded academic culture Cardiff Met has developed. The scheme focuses not only on academic excellence but prioritises the full spectrum of life experiences needed for students to excel upon leaving University.
The initiative also offers specific tailored support mechanisms to ensure students with traditional barriers to opportunity can take advantage of the scheme. Going one step further than similar institutions, Cardiff Met has ensured beyond the pandemic that its Global Opportunity scheme has a definitive virtual substitute - with this option becoming increasingly popular since its creation.
Importantly, Cardiff Met is aware that more can be done, especially with the dual pressures of war in Europe and the cost of living crisis, and is committed to spreading opportunities for future generations.
Cardiff Metropolitan University has shown that it is an institution driven by purpose and compassion at the heart of its operation with a passion and commitment to level up the communities it serves.
