Schools and Colleges activity

Make Happen

We unlock opportunities for young people across Essex by helping them make informed choices about their education and future.

Part of UniConnect

Based at the University of Essex, Make Happen is part of the Office for Students’ UniConnect programme, and we’re one of 29 national partnerships that bring together teachers from schools and colleges, with universities and other local educational partners, to offer activities, advice and information on the benefits and realities of going to university or college to study a degree, or to take a degree apprenticeship. We are also dedicated to supporting school students’ exploration of the world of work and career progression.

Our work has a particular focus on areas of the county where participation in higher education is lower than might be expected, given the GCSE results of the young people who live there.

Reaching thousands of young people across Essex

We started in 2016, and by 2021 we have engaged with almost 90,000 students across the county, from 268 schools and further education colleges through our activities – and we have achieved a total of almost 180,000 engagements with students. These have ranged from university taster days to mentoring programmes, and study skills workshops to aspirational careers programmes.

We continue to deliver a varied programme of activities to the same partner schools and colleges – with all of our work being supported by continuous evaluation of our programme’s effectiveness.