Read: University of Southampton partners with former Education Secretary to help level up the UK

The University of Southampton has partnered with former Education Secretary Rt Hon Justine Greening in a bid to level up the UK. 

The partnership with Greening, who is an alumni of the University of Southampton, will see the University develop a Levelling Up Impact Report to map its activity against 14 goals. The plan will build on the University’s work to increase access to higher education for students from under-represented backgrounds and ensure a wide range of young people are given opportunities. 

The Levelling Up Goals provide a framework to focus efforts on driving equality of opportunity at key life stages. The 14 goals provide a universal benchmark for organisations to measure their impact against. 

The University of Southampton joins the University of York as one of the first Russell Group universities to commit to measuring impact against the Levelling Up Goals. It joins other UK universities including University of Derby, University of Worcester and Northumbria University assessing their best practice and measuring their impact against the goals, as well as a number of NHS trusts, local authorities and organisations including the BBC, Compass Group and bp.

Justine Greening is a long-term campaigner on social mobility and levelling up both inside and now outside of Parliament. In 2018 Justine co-founded the Social Mobility Pledge to bring businesses and universities together to improve social mobility. The Levelling Up Goals are the first major piece of work launched by the most committed of these organisations, The Purpose Coalition. 

Justine Greening said: "I am delighted to be working with Professor Mark E. Smith and the team on their levelling up work - especially because as a Southampton alumni, coming to do my Economics degree at the University of Southampton absolutely turbo charged my opportunities in life. As a young person arriving as a student many years ago, like many of my peers, I was away from home for the first time but the University and the wider city very much welcomed me and helped me feel at home. It was to be a transformative, amazing experience both in study and post-graduation, working in a city which would very much shape my future life for the better. 

“I hope our partnership on the Levelling Up Goals can help bring even more benefits to a new generation of young people through the University’s work in the city and beyond."

Professor Mark E. Smith, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Southampton, said: “Given the role that education of all types plays in social mobility we are delighted to be joining the Purpose Coalition. As we recover from Covid and our society and economy changes shape, putting social change and levelling up at the heart of this is important. It is great to see this project spear-headed by one of our own alumni which demonstrates the launch pad a Southampton University education can provide. Working with other local partners to deliver this will reinforce our commitment to our civic role.”