Our four objectives

Bridges to Higher Education has four objectives:

1. Improving academic outcomes

To provide enriched learning opportunities that support student readiness for higher education.  Increasingly these begin in the early years of primary school, supporting schools to achieve literacy and numeracy outcomes. Programs continue through all years of high school and include summer schools, enriched learning activities to support the school syllabus, study skills sessions, HSC preparation, tutoring and homework clubs.

2. Raising education aspiration and engagement

Activities are delivered on campus, in primary and high schools, in communities and electronically to encourage students to consider higher education and to help them achieve their goals. Bridges partner universities arrange visits to campus and schools, mentoring programs, work experience and careers awareness.

3. Building teacher and community capacity

Bridges partner universities engage with school teachers, principals, the New South Wales Department of Education and Communities Community Liaison Officer network, careers advisors, parents, non government organisations and other partners to assist them to increase aspiration to, and potential for higher education.

This includes providing teachers and other school staff with professional development to support curriculum outcomes and a range of resources about higher education pathways.

A number of programs have been specifically designed to meet the needs of specific community groups, parents and community leaders.

4. Increasing capacity to access higher education

Bridges is improving routes to university for prospective higher education applicants who have left school, including working in partnership with vocational and further education.

Bridges to Higher Education will be evaluated against its outcomes across its four objectives, through an evaluation framework that Bridges is developing.