Welcome to FOCUS West, an educational support and guidance programme designed to widen access to higher education.

We are based in the west of Scotland and work with 37 secondary schools that are deemed to have the greatest need; the criterion for inclusion in the programme being that the school has an average progression rate to higher education that is considerably below the national average (less than 25% average progression to higher education). Higher Education is defined as university study for a degree or an HNC/HND course at a college.

Our work is funded by the Scottish Funding Council as part of a national programme known as the Schools for Higher Education Programme. FOCUS West works with educational partners to help all pupils with the potential to succeed to have more choices and opportunities in their higher studies and careers.

Our programme includes:

  • For Primary 6 and Primary 7 pupils, plus pupils in S1 (age 10-12) – awareness-raising work, including profiling, prior to transition to secondary school
  • For pupils from S4 to S6, individual personal pupil support, in the form of one-to-one information, advice and guidance on routes and pathways to higher education
  • For pupils from S2 to S4, campus visits and experiences for pupils, delivered by the University of Strathclyde
  • For S5 and S6 pupils, college preparation work, entitled Routes for All, run by the University of the West of Scotland and by Glasgow Caledonian University
  • For S4 to S6 pupils, the Portfolio Development Programme, for students interested in careers in art and design, run by the Glasgow School of Art
  • For S5 and S6 pupils, an Access to the Creative Industries Programme, delivered by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
  • For S5 and S6 pupils, Top-Up, a university preparation course, delivered by the University of Glasgow.

All pupils in our programme also have access to our award nominated FOCUS Point website and resource, that gives pupils support with careers and progression from P6 to S6 and beyond.

SUCCESS STORIES

“FOCUS West has been pivotal for me in terms of looking at higher education; had I not been involved in the program I doubt I would have considered universities outside of Scotland, never mind the best universities in the world.”

Emma Cairns

“Overall I think Entry to the Creative Industries is brilliant and very, very helpful.”

Kieran Fitzpatrick
St. Andrew’s Secondary

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CORE VALUE

Working in 37 secondary schools in the west of Scotland to widen access to higher education, driving higher and greater aspiration for the young people we work with and supporting an embedded knowledge culture of successful application to university.

ABOUT US

Based in Glasgow, FOCUS West (formerly part of the West of Scotland Wider Access Programme) works in 37 schools in the west of Scotland.

 

WHAT WE DO

Based in Glasgow, FOCUS West (formerly part of the West of Scotland Wider Access Programme) works in 37 schools in the west of Scotland and is funded by the Scottish Funding Council. FOCUS West is part of the national Schools for Higher Education Programme.

All activities are free for pupils to take part in, and take place at school and on college and university campuses.

Partners

FOCUS West works with a broad range of partners in many different sectors in the UK and abroad.

PARTNERS

Our Schools

We work closely with FOCUS West schools across the west of Scotland who have a lower rate of pupils accessing higher education.

OUR SCHOOLS

Contact Us