No poverty 2022
The University of Huddersfield is proud of its record in widening participation in higher education, enabling students, their families and communities to transform their lives. Further, the work of colleagues in developing sustainable communities and economies addresses the challenge of poverty regionally, nationally and internationally.
The University provides a £1,000 scholarship to approximately 1,000 of the least financially privileged of its new undergraduate students each year, potentially amounting to £1m of support. The scholarship is targeted at those with less than £25,000 pa household income. (According the UK’s Office for National Statistics, median household disposable income in the UK was £31,400 in financial year ending 2021.)
As part of the Access and Participation process overseen by the Office for Students, the University sets and monitors targets for applicants and students in lower quintile of income (and more specifically of IMD), including on completion of their qualifications.
In addition to the financial support represented by the Huddersfield grant mentioned above, the University also offers support to address the deficit in the form of specific computing and IT resources for low income students. September 2021 saw the second implementation of an additional digital bursary, to enable students with fewer resources to purchase hardware and /or software and address issues with connectivity.
The University is also proud of its long-standing record in working with students from low and low-middle income countries. At present, the University is offering fee-reduction scholarships to many applicants to support participation from these countries resulting in high levels of participation relative to the UK HE sector as a whole, as indicated by the University’s market share, examples including:
- Niger 33%
- Vietnam 4%
- Paraguay 2%
- Senegal 1%
- Pakistan 1%
- Egypt 1%
- Ethiopia 1%
- Angola 1%
- Dominica 1%
- Libya 1%
- Nepal 1%
- India 1%
- Algeria 1%
- Nigeria 1%
The University’s 3M Buckley Innovation Centre is a centre for enterprise and innovation for businesses across the region, with a strong focus on SMEs. We help businesses to innovate, connect and grow through access to knowledge, support and technology, all contributing to regional economic growth and productivity. The Centre works with pioneering businesses to help develop ideas and solve issues; design and prototype new or improved products; facilitate high quality, high impact R&D; and support growth and success. The Centre promotes collaboration between the University and industry to create value, business growth and R&D opportunities.
Meanwhile the University through its Enterprise Team helps student start-ups which support a low-carbon economy. Many (perhaps most) of those involved in University Enterprise programmes are considering the environment and sustainability as part of their idea, or approach. For example:
A previous Enterprise Placement Year student - now taking a Masters in technical textiles and on our Young Innovators programme - who is exploring bio-materials for products - principally seaweed. She has just won £50,000 from Innovate UK to develop the manufacturing of her seaweed leather product.
A Postgraduate Researcher who is working as part of her PhD on running natural dye workshops as well selling a fully sustainable, naturally-dyed organic product range.
A graduate has set up a circular economy business where they take waste clothes from second-hand warehouses and sell them through various outlets.
The Enterprise Team contributes to curriculum development, for example, teaching about sustainability on programmes such as Masters Level 'Launch a Venture', and promoting enterprise and sustainability through the University's Global Professional Award. The team has secured funding from Enterprise Educators UK to run a project where it will facilitate wider briefing and dialogue about the climate and ecological context with sustainability and business stakeholders in and around the university. This model will be replicated in academic schools as part of the student led SDGs Teach Out campaign in March.
Support for SMEs through the Huddersfield Business School was assessed as part of the Small Business Charter process in 2022. As a result, the University was the first to be awarded the Charter for five years and with compliance against all 31 of the Charter’s criteria.
The University’s research and knowledge transfer activity contributes to the Goal of No Poverty. A notable example is the work of the Centre for Wetlands, Environment and Livelihoods, connecting communities with sustainable economies, notably in sustainable coffee production.