UniTracks Programme

The UniTracks programme aims to:

• Break down any perceived barriers students may have about accessing Higher Education (HE) and about subjects in Arts/Humanities disciplines
• Encourage students to apply for, and be successful in gaining, a place at a leading research-intensive university
• Inspire students to access different learning opportunities at leading research-intensive universities

Over the course of the two years, the students come to the University to engage in different group projects where they get to use different skills; by working with Skills Builder, we have made it more explicit as to which skills and how they are progressing in them. For UniTracks, we focussed on Planning, Teamwork and Problem Solving.

At the start of each session, participants are given a reminder of the skills that were to be focussed on, and each session ends with a reflection opportunity. The essential skill icons are included on all resources, such as presentations, reflective log books, and as posters around the room.

Participants completed a pre-survey at the start of the programme, which included a self-assessment on skills.  

At the end of the programme, they completed the same survey again & across both year groups, 95% of the participants reported that they had improved in a skill.

'Year 8: Explore': This year's theme enables participants to explore what a university is, and in collaboration with The Library, the participants take part in their own research project. They work in teams to plan out their project, solving problems along the way as their arise.

'Year 9: Develop': Building on what they have learned in Year 8, in Year 9 the teams work on a film project, working in collaboration with two academic departments (Film & TV Studies; History). They build on the skills they developed in Year 8 to work together as a team, to plan what their film will be about, all the logistics that come with the practicalities of how to make a film; and continue to solve problems over the course of the year.

For more information, please email unitracks@warwick.ac.uk