The new role will be key in further developing the University’s Widening Participation work
Alex's extensive experience of Widening Participation work and innovative engagement with schools will be of huge benefit to this very important initiative, which will be targeting a new applicant field of students who currently don't tend to apply to Cambridge.
Professor Graham Virgo
Dr Pryce joined the University of Cambridge this week to lead preparations for the Transition Year pilot programme which aims to provide talented students from a background of educational disadvantage with teaching, support and guidance to raise their attainment level and succeed in admission to leading universities such as Cambridge.
As well as working with Colleges, central services, Faculties and Departments within Cambridge, she will engage with schools and FE colleges across the UK as details of the Transition Year are developed.
The University will also be exploring other forms of transition-level support for potential Cambridge applicants which may include, for example, bridging programmes, mentoring schemes, study skills support for students pre-18, and technology-enabled learning. Dr Pryce will co-ordinate this work.
Dr Pryce has spent her entire professional career within the HE sector and most recently was Head of Outreach Development (Undergraduate Admissions and Outreach) at the University of Oxford, where she set up initiatives to help raise attainment in schools and refined existing access projects.
She previously worked as Head of Student Recruitment at Oxford, and before that was the University’s Widening Access and Participation Coordinator, developing digital outreach portal Oxplore – to engage students aged 11-18 - among other projects.
Dr Pryce said: “Programmes like the Transition Year have the potential to make a monumental difference both to those who study on them and to the University's student body. Cambridge’s forward-thinking on this issue excites me and I’m looking forward to progressing this vital work with colleagues from across the institution. ”
Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education Professor Graham Virgo said: “We’re delighted to welcome Alex to the University and to the Transition Year programme. Her extensive experience of Widening Participation work and innovative engagement with schools will be of huge benefit to this very important initiative, which will be targeting a new applicant field of students who currently don't tend to apply to Cambridge.”
A full collegiate consultation on implementing the Transition Year will begin later this year. The Transition Year programme has a projected launch date of 2021; the first intake is expected in October 2022. Launching in pilot mode, it is anticipated that the residential programme will initially support up to 50 students per year, with the pilot focusing on subjects in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.