Widening Participation Impact Pot Application Form
Title of Proposed Project: Leicester-London Debating Partnership
Name of Project Leader: Will Cooling
Email Address of Project Leader: wic1@le.ac.uk
Telephone Number of Project Leader: 0116 223 1099
Please return your completed application form to Will Cooling
at wic1@le.ac.uk by 5pm on Friday 4th July
When completing this application form please note that when deciding whether to fund your project,
the Widening Participation Impact Pot Management Group will also consider the extent to which:
a.
b.
The project will raise the profile of the University of Leicester amongst underrepresented
groups
The project will be an efficient use of resources
Additionally all projects funded by the Widening Participation Impact Pot will be centrally evaluated. As
will be specified by the Widening Participation Impact Pot Management Group after funding has been
awarded, project leaders will be required to provide access and information to facilitate this
evaluation.
Please outline the aims and objectives of your project. Please note that these must meet at least one of
the following criteria:
a.
b.
c.
d.
Encourage progression to higher education from underrepresented groups
Improve student retention and academic performance amongst students from
underrepresented groups
Improve progression amongst students from underrepresented groups to graduate
employment or postgraduate education
Inform the University of Leicester’s approach to widening participation through research
Aims:
1.
2.
3.
To improve the academic performance of students from deprived backgrounds through using
debating activities to improve general knowledge, self-confidence, critical thinking and public
speaking.
To encourage progression to selective universities through increasing awareness of the student
support available to disadvantaged students applying to the University of Leicester and other
selective universities.
(potential) To support future progression into high status careers through developing links
between participants and local graduate employers through recruiting local employers to
provide workshops and other activities.
If you have any questions about the Widening Participation Impact Pot or need any
assistance with your application please contact Will Cooling (wic1@le.ac.uk) or Professor
Emma Smith (es228@le.ac.uk).
Objectives:
•
•
•
To pilot a weekly debate club for 8 weeks across four local authority schools or academies, all
of whom have student bodies with high proportion of WP students, and enter them into a local
debating competition.
(Optional) Provide a single training workshop across four more schools or academies, all of
whom have student bodies with high proportion of WP students, and stage a debating
competition to compare their progress. Alternatively this can be funded through external
sponsorship by Thomson Reuters.
To provide a range of IAG materials and workshops to participating students.
Please outline which demographic group(s) your project is aimed at and how you will ensure it
effectively targets them. Please note that these must include at least one of the following groups:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
Living in a low participation neighbourhood (POLAR3 Quintiles 1 & 2)
Coming from a lower socio-economic household (NS-SEC 4-8)
Being the first in the family to come from higher education
Self-defining as disabled
Being a mature learner
Those who have experienced educational disadvantage due to self-defining as Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual or Trans
Belonging to an underrepresented ethnic minority
Belonging to an underrepresented gender
The target demographic for this project will be pupils aged 15-18 residing in the London Boroughs of
Lambeth, Southwark, and Tower Hamlets due to the high levels of socio-economic deprivation in these
areas.
Schools will be selected on the basis of key indicators such as: eligibility for pupil premium or free school
meals, rates of physical disabilities or learning difficulties, and concentration of ethnic minorities or
groups who speak English as a second language. Only schools that exceed the OFSTED average in any
one of these indicators will be considered for this project. Pupils will nominate themselves for the project
with the school’s staff proactively offering places to those most in need to ensure as representative a
sample as possible.
Please outline how your project will have a positive impact on the educational opportunities of people
from the underrepresented group(s) you have targeted
Debate Clubs are common not only across universities but also independent schools and elite state
schools. They provide participants with the opportunity to improve their general knowledge, selfconfidence, critical thinking and public speaking. These skills are particularly important for those looking
to progress into high-status professions such as law or politics.
However these opportunities are too often denied to students from widening participation
backgrounds due to their schools lacking the resources to provide such activities. This project will
provide widening participation students with these opportunities. Evaluations of similar projects
undertaken by the Central London Debating Society saw participating students identified the following
benefits:





Increased confidence and validation of their opinions
Delight at surpassing their own expectations of themselves
A sense of greater preparedness for impromptu assessment
The ability to express themselves coherently without needing to be technical experts
Increased awareness of importance of public speaking and constructing an argument.
If you have any questions about the Widening Participation Impact Pot or need any
assistance with your application please contact Will Cooling (wic1@le.ac.uk) or Professor
Emma Smith (es228@le.ac.uk).
The project will also use participants’ prolonged engagement with the debate clubs as a hook to
provide participants with increased access to IAG materials produced by the University of Leicester.
Please describe the full project team (please specify if participation is linked to funding from the
Widening Participation Impact Pot)
The University of Leicester would deliver the project in partnership with the Central London Debating
Society (CLDS) which has worked closely with local schools and other stakeholders to deliver similar
aspiration raising and attainment enhancing activities (see Appendix for the Final Report of a project
they did in conjunction with Thomson Reuters last year). Will Cooling shall act as the project liaison for
the University of Leicester. Tony Koutsoumbos shall act as the project liaison for the CLDS.
Should the WP Impact Pot choose to fund this project, Will Cooling will draw up a Service Level
Agreement with the Central London Debating Society. This shall clearly outline the responsibilities of
both parties. The University of Leicester will assist the Central London Debating Society in identifying the
schools to target for participation in the project, providing additional IAG materials about higher
education and employability to participants and conduct the post-activity evaluation. The CLDS will
oversee the management of the debating clubs including providing the debate trainers and
organising participants involvement in a debate competition.
Working in collaboration with a third-sector organisation such as the CLDS provides the University of
Leicester with the opportunity to conduct in-school widening participation outreach beyond
communities within Leicester and Leicestershire over a sustained period whilst also providing us with
access to expertise not present within the University.
Please outline the staff members and/or volunteers that have agreed to participate on this project and
any funding you have already secured from sources other than the Widening Participation Impact Pot
Will Cooling and Tony Koutsoumbos will be the project leaders, with the latter providing debate trainers
through the Central London Debating Society. Will Cooling will also work with other university
departments to identify material and activity providers as necessary.
Should the Widening Participation Impact Pot allocate £5,000 the project would consist of organising
debating clubs in four highly disadvantaged schools as described above. It would then seek external
funding for the second aspect of the project – holding one-off debating workshops in a further four
schools and organising a debating tournament for debaters from all eight schools to compete in. This
funding may come from Thomson Reuters, as the CLDS is in the process of applying for a renewal of the
£1000 grant received last year to support the delivery of single taster workshops across four schools and
a debating competition for them in the firm’s Canary Wharf headquarters. If the WP Impact Pot
allocates £6000 then the one-off workshops and competition can be funded by the university.
Please outline the funding from the Widening Participation Impact Pot you are requesting and explain
how this will be used to resource your project
Total requested: £5,000 - £6,000
Pupil numbers: 60-100 pupils (based on £5,000) or 120-200 pupils (based on £6,000)
Time period: September 2014 – December 2014
Costs:
•
•
•
Debate trainer: 4 x £50 p/h x 24 hours = £4800
Administration costs: 4 x project banners and programme printing = £200
(Optional): Debate Trainer x 4 full-day workshops and Competition = £1000
If you have any questions about the Widening Participation Impact Pot or need any
assistance with your application please contact Will Cooling (wic1@le.ac.uk) or Professor
Emma Smith (es228@le.ac.uk).