Read: Aston University partners with the Social Mobility Pledge

We are delighted that Aston University has this week unveiled its new Opportunity Action Plan to increase access to higher education and career opportunities. 

The plan sets out a series of ambitions that Aston University will work towards with the aim of ensuring that more people are able to progress in careers, unhindered by their background or lack of connections. 

Achieving true social mobility in Britain and levelling up our country is a huge challenge but one that businesses and universities are rising to. They have a crucial role to play and can be an incredible force for good in spreading opportunities more evenly across communities and to people that have missed out for far too long.

Being clear on Levelling Up Goals and purpose matters just as much for institutions like universities, as it does for individuals. Rooted in the heritage of Birmingham as a manufacturing city, Aston University was established with a clear purpose of providing skilled graduates with the expertise that local employers need and this has been at its heart ever since.

At a time of debate about universities and their contribution to providing the skills a wider country requires for success, Aston stands out as an institution that has always been intentional in its purpose, responding to what the local and national economy needs and in doing so, unlocking those opportunities for young people, that are on their own doorstep.

Following the pandemic, more than ever, we need an education system which looks to the long-term, not only building a pipeline that provides the skills needed but in doing so, levelling up at the same time, by mining talent from these more disadvantaged communities and providing their young people with the knowledge and skills that our new green and tech economy careers will need. Universities have a crucial role to play and Aston has shown how it purposefully brokers relationships between its students and employers to give its graduates the best chance of having an excellent career.

Aston University also understands that it needs to start from a clear premise of being as inclusive as possible, reaching out to those in the community who are furthest away from a level playing field but who nevertheless have the talent to progress much further. As an institution, it gives families who may have no experience of going to university the information and guidance on what to expect, focusing strongly on potential career outcomes. 

The challenge now, and one that Aston University has stepped up to, is for Britain’s businesses and universities to play an even greater role in boosting opportunity and social mobility as part of our national recovery after COVID-19. We hope many more universities will follow Aston’s lead and consider how they can go further, faster to make Britain a high skilled, high knowledge economy, but in doing so to simultaneously also level up our country.