Our Foundation Year team scooped a prestigious award last week for their innovative approach to supporting students. The Pearson HE Innovate Awards recognise innovative approaches to teaching, learning and student support in higher education, and the team won the award at the online ceremony on Thursday 8 December.

Dr Wendy Garnham, Director for the Student Experience for the Foundation Year Programme, said: “For the work of the Foundation Year Team to be recognised by the wider HE community through this award is fantastic. Supporting each other to support our students is at the heart of what we do.”

The team’s award-winning project introduced a new model, the ‘doughnut,’ to revolutionise the way that support is offered to students. Aiming to remove the barriers to accessing support, and to empower students to take an active role in utilising what’s on offer, the doughnut provides a strong and interconnected circle of support around each student, with key individuals involved in the different services talking with each other to ensure a rounded approach.

The new model includes a ‘touching base’ initiative where academic advisors reach out to students at regular intervals and can use this to refer them to specialised support services where necessary. Rather than referring students to generic support teams, individual members of those teams are allocated specifically to supporting Foundation Year students, so that students became familiar with them, introducing a more personalised approach.

Not only has this approach led to more students accessing support but it has led to increasing progression and attainment rates, helped reduce permanent withdrawals, and influenced the creation of student-led support initiatives to extend the range of services offered further.

Matt Watts, a Student Adviser in the Student Experience team who was instrumental in introducing the new model said: “I feel very honoured and proud. This award is testament to how dedicated and hard-working the central Foundation Year team is in supporting students to succeed.”

Ruth McDonald in the Student Support Unit said: “I am extremely proud and happy to be working alongside such a dedicated team supporting students in their foundation course. The impact of the support is so positive for so many students during their time at Sussex.”

As part of the award the team won £300 which they have chosen to donate to the Student Hardship Fund.

See a short animation about the new model which was produced as part of the award submission.