New Gateshead education centre to provide opportunities for thousands of local young people

• The centre is a partnership between education charity IntoUniversity,  Newcastle University and Northumbria University.
• It will provide academic support, mentoring and aspiration-raising activities for young people in Gateshead facing disadvantage.
• The new IntoUniversity Gateshead centre was officially launched at a celebratory event yesterday, at which the ribbon was cut by local students.

Young people facing disadvantage from Gateshead and the surrounding areas will have a significantly enhanced opportunity to attend higher education, thanks to a new children’s education centre which has been launched in the town.

The new education facility, which is jointly funded by education charity IntoUniversity,  Newcastle University and Northumbria University, celebrated an opening event at its centre in the Design Works Business Centre on William Street, Felling.

The centre employs four full-time members of staff and will be used to offer after-school academic support, mentoring with local university students and professionals, in-school aspiration-raising workshops and enrichment and work experience opportunities.

Gateshead is an IMD (index of multiple deprivation) decile 1 area, meaning it’s among the 10% most deprived places nationally. The local progression rate into higher education is just 28%, compared to 44% of students nationally, making the area a prime location for an IntoUniversity centre.

Attending the event were students aged 7-18 who are set to benefit from the centre for the next academic year and beyond, with some of them delivering speeches.

Primary school students took part in a variety of activities during the event replicating the type of activities they will be engaging with in the year ahead. Secondary school students posed questions about future study and careers to attending guests.

IntoUniversity has a proven track record of improving attainment into higher education for students facing disadvantage, and currently supports over 60,000 young people each year at its 45 centres nationwide.

58% of students who attend IntoUniversity centres go on to progress to university, compared with 29% of students from similar backgrounds nationally.

The centre is a joint venture between IntoUniversity, Newcastle University and  Northumbria University, and builds on the work of the partnership in Newcastle where the three organisations have successfully run an IntoUniversity centre since 2021, which has supported over 2,500 students already. IntoUniversity also runs centres in Middlesbrough and Hull, and is in the process of opening a new centre in Hartlepool.

Professor Andy Long, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive at Northumbria University, said: "The success of IntoUniversity Newcastle East has shown us the genuine impact this partnership has on young people's lives and aspirations. Opening a second centre in Gateshead is the natural next step in our commitment to widening access to higher education across the region. Social mobility is a key priority in our strategy at Northumbria - up to 40% of our undergraduates come from traditionally under-represented backgrounds, a record of which we are incredibly proud. This expansion will enable us to support even more young people from under-represented backgrounds to discover their potential and achieve their ambitions, whether that's university or another chosen path."

Professor Chris Day, Vice-Chancellor and President, Newcastle University, said: “Being able to further our partnership with INTO University to launch this new centre in Gateshead means that we are extending our impact creating opportunities for all in the region. We've already seen through our involvement with IntoUniversity Newcastle East how successfully this kind of learning and support inspires children and young people and empowers them to achieve their ambitions. I look forward to seeing this new generation of change makers shape a future where possibilities are limitless and every voice matters.”

Dr Rachel Carr, Chief Executive and Co-Founder of IntoUniversity, said: “We are really excited to be officially launching this new centre in Gateshead, and are so energised by the experience we’ve had already working with the local young people, their families, schools and the wider community. We are so thankful to our partners Newcastle University and the University of Northumbria, for building on their already fantastic support of our centre in Newcastle and investing further in the North East through this new centre in Gateshead. Young people in Gateshead have so much talent, but circumstances can mean their opportunities to reach their full potential are limited. We believe they deserve to have the same opportunities to succeed as young people from any other part of the country, and we look forward to working with them to help them realise their potential. We can’t wait to see what the future holds!”