Diversifying the talent pipeline

Impact report - talent pipeline

In today’s rapidly evolving global economy, universities play a pivotal role in shaping the future workforce. The demand for highly skilled professionals in new sectors continues to rise.

Since its foundation 125 years ago, UEL has been cultivating a diverse talent pipeline in east London. It supports students at every stage of their higher education journey, equipping them with the tools they need to access an education pathway that helps them achieve their aims and ambitions. Its focus now is on reimagining and reinventing the role of higher education for a sustainable future, ensuring the curriculum and UEL degree programmes can help bridge the gap between education and employment, and meet the expectations of an ever-changing 5.0 economy. This includes introducing new courses and opportunities to address existing national skills gaps and working with industry to identify future skills gaps.

At the heart of UEL sits a commitment to social justice and equity - ensuring that whatever their background, students can access a modern, career ready education and gain the skills they need to progress.

UEL's triple helix approach brings together education, industry and talent in a new education and skills social value partnership, breaking down barriers to access and challenging employers to move away from old-fashioned proxies of talent. UEL is making a major contribution to social mobility, and its whole-institution approach to equity and diversity means that both staff and students benefit from an inclusive environment which promotes student success. We know that talent is everywhere, and we are committed to ensuring opportunity is as well.

Foreword by The Rt Hon Sir Stephen Timms

The University of East London is a huge part of our community in Newham. It has been a privilege to work with the institution across my nearly 30 years as an MP. Throughout that time, I have seen first-hand its positive impact on the lives of students, staff and the citizens of east London. It has always been an enterprising, vibrant, and forward-looking institution, and the sheer breadth and quality of impact described in this report is testament to that.

I campaigned for UEL’s Docklands campus – at the time the first new university campus to be built in London for over 50 years – which marked an important step in unlocking Thames Gateway redevelopment. Since then, the University has invested further in our local area, and is playing a vital role in building up Newham for the future. Its new partnership with Newham Council on the Stratford Youth Zone, for example, seeks to unlock untapped potential in the wider area as a vibrant hub for creative arts and culture, driving arts sector innovation with the community voice at its heart.

70%

of UEL students are from Global Ethnic Majority (GEM) backgrounds.

75%

of UEL students come from the most deprived 40% of English households.

85%

of students reported that the skills they developed through the Mental Wealth curriculum were useful to their future career.

A socially inclusive university

For 125 years, UEL has played a key role in unlocking talent and potential for students from east London and beyond. This includes a huge focus on attracting talented students from groups that have been historically underrepresented in higher education, including those identifying as from Global Ethnic Majority (GEM) backgrounds, mature learners and those from economically deprived households. Forging strong links within local communities and understanding the needs of these students has been instrumental in this.

Almost half of UEL’s students are mature learners and 75% of UK students come from the most deprived 40% of English households.

UEL’s search for talent is not limited by the UK’s borders, with the 40,481-strong student population studying UEL courses at our campuses or with international partners hailing from over 160 different nationalities and spanning five continents.

Removing barriers to social mobility

Unlocking talent means removing barriers to access where they exist. UEL has a long history of supporting local people to access higher education and join its academic community. The University runs a wide range of activities to support prospective students from across the Newham borough and beyond to consider, apply and progress to higher education as a crucial stepping stone in their lives. UEL is proud to take a ‘whole university approach’ to access and participation, where academics, professional services and students come together to build the pipeline of new talent, supported by UEL’s leadership team.

UEL is embedded in its local educational community and in the past three years the Schools and Colleges team has engaged with 14,855 prospective students from over 300 institutions to help them make the right choices about their education. This includes 21 UEL ‘partner schools’ across east London, which benefit from a close and ongoing working relationship with the University, with multiple activities delivered throughout the year.

The transition between further and higher education can be a challenge for students who don’t immediately have access to the relevant support and knowledge from their school or college, so UEL has also developed targeted progression pathways for these learners. This includes offering adjusted tariffs, academic readiness workshops and tailored transition programmes for mature learners across 200 Access to HE Diploma courses delivered by partner colleges across London. To signpost these progression pathways, UEL’s Information, Advice and Guidance service has developed tailored support for these students to ensure they understand the opportunities available to them, in higher education and beyond.

UEL commands an impressive reputation for its ability to identify and support a diverse range of students to overcome barriers to higher education, and was highly commended in the Best Widening Participation Initiative category at the 2022 Heist Awards.

UEL’s commitment to social mobility has also been recognised in the Sutton Trust’s recent rankings which calculates a ‘mobility rate’ for universities, subjects, and individual degrees, based on how many students from disadvantaged backgrounds get in, and how many of them go on to be high earners after graduation. UEL was ranked 8th in England, demonstrating that even when compared to other similar institutions, UEL is punching above its weight, increasing social mobility and equality of opportunity in England. UEL was also ranked 1st in the UK for the number of care-experienced undergraduate students in a recent league table compiled by Civitas.

Learn more about UEL's research in our REF 2021 case study on advocacy for young people with learning disabilities.

New Beginnings

UEL’s New Beginnings programme has been running for over 20 years and is built on the belief that everyone should be allowed to succeed at university. New Beginnings offers access to many degree programmes for around 600 mature learners each year, many of whom do not have any other formal qualifications. Students on the New Beginnings programme come from a range of diverse backgrounds - including care leavers, estranged students and students with disabilities. This reflects UEL’s wider aim to ensure that those who may find access to higher education challenging can succeed.

On successfully passing the New Beginnings course, students can progress onto a wider range of selected degrees at UEL, from Business Management to Education Studies, and Sport to Counselling.

Since New Beginnings started, 72% of those on the programme have gone on to achieve a 2.1 or 1st. This year, 69% of students who would not otherwise have received a university offer were given unconditional offers at UEL through New Beginnings.

Office for Institutional Equity

Inclusion and equity are at the heart of UEL as an institution – because only through embracing diversity can it push boundaries and find solutions to complex challenges. To drive forward change, UEL established the UK’s first Office for Institutional Equity (OIE) in 2019, which aims to make UEL the country’s most inclusive university. Its guiding principles to foster inclusion, promote success, enhance belonging and promote equitable culture and practice manifest themselves in a sector-leading approach to equity. Through its strategic plan to deliver and embed equity across the University, the OIE can dedicate resources and expertise to complex issues such as the Degree Awarding Gap. This historic gap observed between White and Black students in their First and 2:1 degree outcomes is currently 8.8% at UEL, the lowest it has been in recent years.

Social justice is an integral part of UEL’s mission. It has been an accredited Living Wage Employer since 2013, holds the Athena Swan Bronze award for gender equality and has no statistically significant gender pay gap – a particularly notable achievement compared to the average 12% gender pay gap for the higher education sector. The institution has achieved a Bronze Race Equality Charter (REC) award, is a disability-confident employer
and works closely with Stonewall to ensure inclusivity for LGBTQ+ staff and students, receiving a Stonewall Silver Charter Award in February 2022. UEL has also joined the Women’s Higher Education Network 100 Black Women Professors Now programme, which aims to proactively promote equity of opportunity, increase diversity in the academic pipeline, break down barriers to academic progression and eliminate bias from progression. Alongside this, the OIE provides additional support for participants, including one-to-one support, mentoring, and increased visibility within the institution.

Metropolitan College, Greece

UEL's partnership with Metropolitan College in Greece is the largest UK Transnational Education partnership in the country. The college has been offering high-quality courses in collaboration with international universities since 1982, and now has 8 campuses across Greece (with its state-of-the-art Maroussi campus shown below).

Metropolitan College and UEL’s partnership was first established in 2011. UEL has been a key part of Metropolitan College’s success, becoming the institution of choice for many Greek students, and over 4,400 students are enrolled on UEL courses.

Academic programmes are offered in partnership between the two institutions in a number of areas, including early childhood education, civil engineering and construction, and UEL’s pioneering new MBA in Fintech Management. All courses are accredited by both the Ministry of Education in Greece and by UEL’s Academic Board.

Developing talent globally

Talent can be found abroad as well as at home. UEL acts as a global gateway through which talent from across the world can access a modern, careers-focused education.

Over 50 per cent of UEL's on-campus student body is international, with 12,206 students studying across the three East London campuses

It is UEL’s power as a convening force for talented individuals from across the world that ensures the richness and diversity of its student body.

Preparing students for the demands of a 5.0 economy

UEL works with over 2,500 active employer partners, an increase of more than 830% since 2018.
In the last three years, UEL has helped support 340 new student startups, creating 369 jobs – and is now ranked 6th in the UK for annual graduate start-ups.
85% of students reported that the skills and experience they developed through the Mental Wealth and Professional Fitness curriculum were useful to their future career.
The 2023 Times Social Inclusion ranking shows our success in placing UEL 1st in London for social inclusion and 12th nationally.
In the last three years, over 500 on-campus graduates have secured graduate employment with companies in the Times Top 100 Graduate Employers 2023. UEL is now working directly with 15 of the Times Top 100 graduate employers including KPMG, IBM, HSBC, Barclays, NHS, Civil Service, Police Now, BT and British Airways.
The turnover of UEL’s active graduate start-ups in 2021-22 was estimated at over £5 million.

The University’s focus on honing students’ creative and critical thinking skills, regardless of degree subject, sets UEL apart and will help ensure Britain has one of the world’s most talented workforces of the future.”

Robin Strup,

Vice President, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

A new social value partnership

UEL’s commitment to addressing structural inequalities doesn’t end with access to higher education – this is only part of the
journey. To offer a truly inclusive university education, students also need the right assistance to empower them while they study, and tailored support to help them achieve their aims and ambitions in a competitive graduate job market.

UEL’s mission is to diversify the talent pipeline, ensuring students from a diverse range of backgrounds can access the tools and opportunities they need to succeed. It both empowers students to become highly skilled professionals and gives employers access to the diverse talent they need to innovate and grow in order to meet the demand of the 125,000 new jobs being created in east London by 2030, and across the world as interconnected global economies continue to develop.

When universities and businesses collaborate on common goals, we can create a powerful force for good. The great strides UEL has made in recent years in improving graduate employability prospects, proving itself as an engine of innovation, and its ongoing positive civic impact, shines a light on that potential.

John Dickie

Chief Executive

A careers-ready curriculum

UEL’s careers-first approach informs everything that the University does. Their work to change industry’s approaches to recruitment, address inequalities at every stage of the talent pipeline, and boost the economy through investment and supply, all feeds into that central purpose.

So it’s no surprise that the University’s careers support offer to students is as comprehensive and innovative as everything else they do.

To make sure UEL students are careers-ready, the University had to make sure their curriculum was too. In 2018, UEL underwent a transformation as an institution, implementing the ambitious Vision 2028 strategy. As part of this, the curriculum for each course was completely rewritten in partnership with employers, and teaching methods were emboldened and enhanced to ensure that UEL graduates are armed with more than just technical skills, but also the knowledge, qualities, and connections they need to thrive in our evolving economy.

The Mental Wealth and Professional Fitness programme won the HE Innovate Award in 2022 for most innovative approach to developing employability skills.

At the core of this approach is the award-winning Mental Wealth and Professional Fitness curriculum, which puts holistic career development centre-stage, and nurtures and supports students’ aspirations throughout their time at UEL.

By embedding the Mental Wealth and Professional Fitness programme for every student, UEL seeks to ‘level the playing field’, ensuring that all students develop these skills at every stage of their learning.

UEL students come from a range of backgrounds and different prior educational experiences, and the University knows that tailored support is often the most valuable. UEL’s approach to careers support is therefore data-led, and starts before students have even attended their first classes.

Pre-enrolment support and careers registration allow the University to tailor interventions from day one, so students can hit the ground running. A suite of co-curricular and extra-curricular schemes are also on offer: career development planning, careers passport sessions, skills development, volunteering opportunities, internships, mentoring, start-up support, one-to-one coaching, temp work and more. These opportunities ensure that outside of the classroom students are empowered to take control of their own development and invest in their future.

UEL was awarded Best University Employer Engagement Strategy 2023 at the Institute for Student Employers Awards, and Best University Employability Strategy 2022 at the National Graduate Recruitment Awards.

Supporting diverse talent into industry

Diverse businesses make better, bolder decisions, come up with new ideas and solutions, and perform better financially. Boston Consulting Group have estimated that companies with diverse management teams generate 19% more revenue from innovation than those with less diverse teams, and a 2020 report from consultancy firm McKinsey found that the positive relationship between company diversity and financial performance has only strengthened over time.

However, there are significant challenges for students from disadvantaged and under-represented backgrounds when trying to access graduate jobs at some of the world’s top companies. Data shows that students from the lowest socio-economic backgrounds are 10.6% less likely to be in full-time graduate employment than their average counterpart and students identifying as from Global Ethnic Majority backgrounds are 8% less likely to be in full-time graduate employment.

UEL’s flagship Diversity of Thought employer partnership programme is designed to tackle both issues. It helps encourage and empower UEL’s diverse student body to access the best graduate jobs - boosting social mobility by targeting support to students from traditionally under-represented backgrounds at key stages throughout the recruitment cycle. It supports employers to gain a competitive edge by recruiting and retaining diverse talent with different viewpoints and a range of life experiences.

The programme is premised on three core elements: mentoring, work-based learning, and exposure to professional environments. It was developed and is delivered in collaboration with a range of progressive industry partners including AWS, WPP, Siemens, MSCI, ITV, KPMG and Madison Square Gardens. Students on the programme receive a personal mentor appointed from within the business along with work-based learning experience, and targeted employability support designed to maximise their potential. Through this, students can access high-quality careers support and guidance, tailored to the student and their future goals.

UEL graduates from the 2019/20 and 2020/21 cohorts are now working at Times Top 100 Employers such as the NHS, Amazon, Accenture, Barclays, E&Y, JP Morgan, GSK, Bank of England, IBM, BT, Mercedes Benz, and British Airways.

Leading the way on apprenticeships

Some students' pathways to higher education start with employment. UEL’s degree apprenticeship programmes offer an alternative route into higher education for students who know what industry they would like to work in and want to study for a higher qualification alongside it. The University partners with trailblazer companies and key public sector partners to offer high-quality degrees and higher technical qualifications, ensuring apprentices are both highly skilled and prepared with transferable qualifications for lifelong employability.

UEL is on its way to becoming one of the leading higher and degree apprenticeship providers in the country with a strong network of high-profile engaged employers across various sectors.

Since 2019, the number of higher and degree-level apprenticeships UEL offers has increased almost 10-fold, to around 1,600 across 13 different courses and qualifications.

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UEL Impact Report

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