Prestigious award secured by ARU Peterborough for enhancing social mobility

The work of Peterborough's university to further social mobility has secured a prestigious national award.

Since opening for the start of courses a year ago, the £30 million ARU Peterborough, in Bishop’s Road, has attracted a diverse student population from non-traditional backgrounds.

It was specifically designed to meet the needs of a city which has been regarded as a long-term Higher Education ‘cold spot’ with only 32 per cent of the population having degree level qualifications, compared to a national average of 43 per cent.

The first student intake at ARU Peterborough saw 47 per cent of all applications come from people living in local postcodes.

And more than 1,600 local school children have visited ARU Peterborough and more than 30 community groups and events have been welcomed on campus.

And the Peterborough IntoUniversity Centre has also been launched, providing long-term educational support to young people who are typically underrepresented in Higher Education.

Its achievements helped secure its parent institution, Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), the University of the Year title at the UK Social Mobility Awards.

Known as the SOMOs, the awards are organised by the charity Making the Leap, and were created to raise awareness of and celebrate organisations that are committed to bringing about change and advancing the cause of social mobility in this country.

Professor Ross Renton, Principal of ARU Peterborough, said: “The university is already having a transformative and lasting positive impact on the lives of people within the city and wider region.

"Having a high-quality new university at the heart of our community, offering an innovative employment-focused curriculum that includes on-campus education, distance learning, in-work training and apprenticeships, makes university more affordable and accessible to local residents.

“We are proud of what has already been achieved, however we are only at the beginning of our long-term mission to increase higher skills, create knowledge and promote inward investment.

“This accolade would not have been possible without ARU’s ability to take ambitious and courageous strategic decisions, and the vision, hard work and determination of all our colleagues and our partners.”

Professor Roderick Watkins, Vice Chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University, said: “This award is fantastic national recognition.

“Across ARU some 87 per cent of our students belong to one or more groups that are under-represented in Higher Education.

"We are hugely proud of our students’ diversity, ambition and hard work, and we never forget that a significant number of them have had to overcome barriers, whether social, physical or economic, to study with us.”

Councillor Lucy Nethsingha, Chair of the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority Skills Committee, said: "This is a great achievement and recognition of one of the key reasons why the Combined Authority invested in a new university for Peterborough – to tackle a real cold spot for Higher Education which was holding back opportunity for local people.

“We want ARU Peterborough to be transformative for the city and its region, and that mission is already being recognised, including through this fantastic success.”

Councillor Lynne Ayres, Peterborough City Council’s Cabinet Member for Skills, Further and Higher Education including the University, said: “This award is testament to the dedicated work of their staff and shows that the university is on track to meet its original ambitions.”