The nation's sixth-formers are in the middle of what for many will be a nerve-wracking time: waiting to hear from their chosen universities; revising for exams; and planning for the many and varied experiences that the next few years will hold.
Student finance is, naturally, an issue that is of utmost importance to all university applicants, so it's heartening that an increasing number of private organisations are taking steps to enable students from poorer backgrounds to access university.
It's in the interests of UK business to support these students. As well as acting in a great tradition of British philanthropy, adding to a business' corporate social responsibility credentials, funding students will assist in providing the well-educated workforce that is crucial to Britain's economic success, both at home as well as on a wider, global stage. It's in Britain's wider interests to ensure that our businesses have as many bright graduates to choose from as possible - something that won't happen if we let some of the most promising students slip through the net due to something as basic as the money they need to attend university.
UNITE recently consulted 1,200 prospective students in an attempt to understand what effect the new tuition fees might have on their decisions. When asked why they felt able to go to university given the fee hike, 17% claimed the main reason was that they will be eligible for a bursary or other financial support. With changes to the student finance system we believe there is a real risk that a lack of financial support might mean that some talented young people will be put off higher education altogether.
We have made a £200,000 investment in our charitable trust, the UNITE Foundation, in enabling us to support 21 students from the University of Bristol, the University of Edinburgh, King's College, London, and Sheffield Hallam University. We plan to extend our bursary scheme over the next four years so that by 2016 our Foundation will be supporting 140 students.
In addition to the bursaries, we're going to be making targeted donations to organisations that support the UNITE Foundation's objectives of widening university access and integrating students into the community. Initially, the beneficiaries will be IntoUniversity and Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE).
IntoUniversity helps young people from Britain's poorest backgrounds gain the skills to help them enter higher education. Their work, which begins with children of school age, has proven results; 70% of IntoUniversity student's progress to university compared with the national average of 43%, and considerably better than 24%, which is the national average for pupils on Free School Meals (similar background to IntoUniversity students).
SIFE is an international organisation that works with business and higher education leaders to mobilise students around the world to make a difference to their communities while developing the skills they need to become socially responsible business leaders.
With the pressures on the public sector purse strings, it has never been more important for the private sector to invest in young people in this way. We would urge even more private enterprises to join us in ensuring that those from poorer backgrounds have the same opportunities that others take for advantage, to remove barriers that might prevent them achieving their potential.