YOUNGSTERS in Blackburn and Darwen are being urged to "aim higher" in their educational ambitions...by going to university.
The Aimhigher Roadshow is visiting Year 9 pupils across the area in a bid to encourage more to carry on studying.
Aimhigher is a Department for Education and Skills campaign that hopes to encourage more young people from backgrounds with little or no family experience of higher education to go to university or college and it is supported by The Royal Bank of Scotland and Natwest.
Latest UCAS figures show that applications to university are rising faster in Aimhigher areas than they are in other locations.
In Blackburn at the moment 17.9 per cent of 18 year-olds currently go on to higher education compared to a national average of 22 per cent.
Recent graduate, Sharon Bange, will be running the Roadshow locally. She will draw upon her own higher education experience to inform pupils about higher education options, student finance and the realities of student life.
Sharon says: "Doing a degree changed my dad's life and actually made a huge impact on our whole family's quality of life. He made me realise what a life changing impact going to university could have and inspired me to get a degree of my own."
The roadshow will be visiting Pleckgate High School today and Witton Park High School tomorrow .
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