Pure Potential

Information for Teachers

Pure Potential are committed to supporting the vital role of teachers in the state sector in raising their students' aspirations and helping them to fulfil their academic and professional potential. We do this through our events, our website and our magazine APPLY®. 

At present, only half as many students in the state sector who achieve AAB at A-level go on to pursue a course at a Russell Group university, compared with the independent sector. It is sometimes difficult for teachers to offer the extensive subject- as well as university- specific advice which is often an integral part of encouraging applicants to aim high, so this is where we can help. Since our inception in 2005 we have advised tens of thousands of students with their university applications.

Further information about our events and services for 2012 can be found in our teacher information booklet.

PP: Sixth Events

Our PP: Sixth events are aimed at state school students with the potential to achieve 300 UCAS Points (3Bs) or above and will be applying to unviersity. We cover the benefits of Higher Education, how to write an outstanding personal statement, student finance, budgeting and communication skills. There is also the opportunity for students to meet potential employers representing careers such as medicine, law, accountancy and business. For more information about the PP: Sixth, please visit our events homepage.

To help you promote our events amongst your students, we have a flyer which you can download, print and distribute to your students which will be available in the Spring Term. We can also send you colour copies of the flyer in the post - simply contact Binda on 020 7122 1223 or email binda(at)purepotential.org.

purepotential.org

Our website contains a wide-range of information on Higher Education and careers. If you would like to Pure Potential to include an article which does not currently feature on our website, please contact Binda on 020 7122 1223 or binda(at)purepotential.org. Our online resources include:

• Personal Statement Zone where students can read past statements to inspire their own
• Straight-forward information on student finance and an online students finance test
• Sample questions for university interviews
• Forum to chat to other university applicants
• Information on admissions test for Law and Medicine
• Advice on how to go about securing work experience 

APPLY®

In 2010, we sold 20,000 copies our of university and career guide to schools and colleges across the country. Our guide includes articles on a range of HE topics, including the benefits of going to university, student finance, interview techniques, work experience, CV writing as well as our 10-page personal statement tutorial. Our 2011 edition is available to purchase at a discounted price of £3 per copy (minimum order of 10). A sample copy of our 2010 edition can be viewed by clicking on the image below.

To place an order, please go to our APPLY order form.

Workshops

We have delivered a wide range of workshops for Teach First, the Department for Education, University College London, LSE, North West giftend and Talented and numerous schools and colleges. We have considerable experience in writing and running workshops for students and have received a license from the Department to deliver our workshops in schools and colleges across the UK. We can deliver workshops for your students in the following areas:

• Personal statements
• University life
• Student finance
• Study skills
• Confidence and communication techniques for interviews
• A-Level choices
• CV writing

This list is not exhaustive and we are able to write and deliver workshops for students aged Year 9-13. For more information and the cost of Pure Potential coming to your school to run workshops please get in touch with Binda on 020 7122 1223.

Recommending Pure Potential

Teachers are a vital part of our efforts to offer free services to as many students as possible. If you feel that your students would benefit from our free resources, please pass on our details. Teachers in previous years have found the following to be useful ways of achieving this:

• Intranet: If your school has an intranet, posting a news item with a link to our site means that your students can find out more about us.
• Flyers: Please get in touch if you require any flyers to promote the events and website.
• Assemblies: Teachers often use the theme of widening participating in higher education as a theme for assemblies and current affairs discussions, after which students were encouraged to visit the Pure Potential website to find out more.
• Pure Potential Alumni: You may wish to ask some of your current Year 13s to talk about their experiences of our work to raise awareness amongst Year 12.

We are always pleased to hear from teachers who have feedback or ideas to offer about how to raise awareness of our organisation and to develop the information we provide. If you would like to pass on any comments, please contact Binda on 020 7122 1223 or email binda [at] purepotential.org. You can find further useful resources by going to our Useful Links page.