Learning Champions are mature students who volunteer as role models to inspire others to consider higher education by sharing their own stories.
This scheme is delivered by the Lifelong Learning Centre at the University of Leeds who coordinate outreach and engagement activity with communities typically under-represented in higher education. Learning champions play a key role in these activities, drawing on authentic shared experience and fostering mutual support to demonstrate that HE is a realistic aspiration.
The Challenge
The Learning Champions programme seeks to address the barriers that mature and part-time learners, particularly those from underrepresented and socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds, face when accessing Higher Education (HE). Although adults can bring a wealth of skills and lived experience, they often struggle to see university as a realistic option.
The University of Leeds’ Lifelong Learning Centre (LLC) aims to redress this through its Learning Champions programme, which provides opportunities for mature students and graduates to take part in outreach activities with communities typically underrepresented in HE.
These communities may struggle with a perceived lack of legitimacy in taking advantage of HE opportunities and the LLC’s range of pre-entry activities aims to address this through its long-term partnership work with organisations supporting under-represented groups. Learning Champions participate in events to raise aspirations to HE both on campus and in community settings, sharing their authentic lived experience and developing valuable skills and networks. By volunteering as Learning Champions and participating in mutually beneficial community outreach, under-represented students can grow in confidence and develop key graduate skills such as public speaking, facilitation, signposting and the ability to engage and inspire diverse audiences.
If we can do it, so can you
We are a group of mature and part-time students who entered Higher Education through alternative routes. Some of us may have left education early or have not studied for a long time. We are here to help adults in the community realise that they can go to university; if we can get there, then so can you!
The LLC’s Learning Champions programme provides opportunities for mature students to become Learning Champions by reflecting on and sharing their experiences through outreach activities. Learning Champions actively engage in events for community groups and organisations, sharing their stories with people involved in, for example, social housing, fostering, early years education, and addiction recovery.
The initiative encourages those from underrepresented groups to view HE as a realistic and attainable choice, championing peer-support and authentic communication as a means of overcoming barriers to student success. By fostering a culture of mutual support, the programme helps participants reframe their experiences and build the confidence to pursue Higher Education and career opportunities.
For example, while delivering an outreach activity, a white working-class female Learning Champion shared her story with a group of Bangladeshi women. She explained how, as a woman, she faced societal pressure to stay at home and not pursue a career. The Bangladeshi women were struck by this shared experience, highlighting the programme's ability to raise awareness of common struggles, regardless of cultural background. Through exchanges like these, participants gain both personal insight and mutual understanding, ultimately strengthening aspirations and increasing a sense of belonging.
The programme is built on a large database of over 100 volunteers, with around 50 actively involved each year. In recent years, Learning Champions have expanded their role to deliver online outreach, increasing accessibility for those unable to attend in person.
The Impact
Learning Champions have had a significant impact on communities that traditionally do not consider HE to be a realistic option. The programme nurtures inspiring role models and authentic voices who can effectively demonstrate that HE is not only attainable, but an environment in which working-class adults can thrive.
By showcasing the achievements of mature learners who have faced similar struggles, the programme sends a clear message to others in these communities that they too can succeed.
Inspirational is not a powerful enough word for how impressed I was. [The Learning Champion] is rock solid proof of what is possible. She had the same problems as me and gave me a real boost and great inspiration to really give it a go.” Another community group participant noted that “Learning Champions are inspiring and fantastic advocates. I feel that University is well within my reach now.
Through these connections and shared stories, Learning Champions help break down barriers to HE and foster a belief that university is for everyone, not just a select few. Participants report that their children’s conversation has shifted from “if I go to university” to “when I go to university,” demonstrating a long-term cultural change in attitudes toward HE.
The programme also enhances the social capital and confidence of volunteers, equipping them with key graduate employability skills such as creativity, leadership, communication, and peer mentoring. Many mature learners from working-class backgrounds feel disconnected from the academic environment, unsure of their place, and reluctant to pursue graduate roles upon completion of their studies.
This scheme gives them opportunities to build their professional networks through introducing them to a wide range of local organisations that support adults. Mature students who become Learning Champions benefit from skills-focused training and development opportunities, including training on effective storytelling, and are also eligible for professional references from the LLC.
Michael’s story: Gaining skills, growing confidence, and supporting others
Michael Marr, a current Learning Champion who graduated in 2024, faced significant barriers to HE after falling ill in his twenties. He decided to return to education, studying GCSE English Language at Leeds City College. An LLC staff member visited his class to raise awareness of opportunities for adults to access higher education and Mike was encouraged to apply to university. His application was successful, but Mike struggled with anxiety while he was a student. Olivia Garvey from the LLC encouraged Mike to become a Learning Champion to help his confidence.
Mike has since flourished, gaining confidence in public speaking, and is now able to share his story of access and success in HE to inspire members of the community.
Mike reflects on his experience of becoming a Learning Champion:
“I became ill in my mid-twenties. It turned out I've got this thing called ME. And it took me quite a long time to deal with that mentally, but then also deal with the physical aspects. It's a lot better these days and I'm a lot better for it. But in my thirties, I decided that I wanted to do something. I felt like my talents and my skillset were going to waste. So, it's like, right, I want to try university. And I applied and the rest is history, I guess.
“I was in the LLC in February 2022. Olivia Garvey mentioned the Learning Champions programme to me. I was like, oh, yeah. Maybe. I'm not very good at public speaking. I’d get severe anxiety and it's just painful. Olivia said this opportunity could help me with that, so I gave it a go.
“Now, I love participating in the groups, encouraging the dialogue and encouraging the participation, having them learn but in a fun, relaxed way. A lot of skills have been developed through this process of being a learning champion: communication, confidence and self-confidence, public speaking, all these kinds of skills.”
Mike draws from his own experience to connect with others. He explains that he enjoys this and finds value in helping others access HE:
“It's like showing other people that your age and your experience in life and your circumstances are not necessarily barriers. It can be hard to free yourself from those shackles, or you’re expecting someone else to do it. You think you don't have the strength yourself, but actually, you do.
“That’s where the Learning Champions experience comes in. I can speak on that level myself. You've been stuck in a certain place for a long time and it's all you've known. Some obstacles could be financial or mental; if they've grown up in a setting where they haven't been valued or their skill set or way of thinking hasn't been tapped into, it could have discouraged them. But they've realised later in life that they want to do this. It's a personal goal, isn't it?
“People's motivations are quite different, really. Of the people I've spoken to recently, one is currently working in a nursing home but wants to get a degree and change career direction. Another person is a single mother, she wants some focus on herself. There's another person with severe anxiety issues. There's another person with a learning disability. It's a very diverse group.
“As a Learning Champion, it's about saying to these people; ‘you do have power, you do have agency and you can do this.’ Being a mature student involves a wide range of backgrounds and life experiences. It's an enriching experience, to be honest with you.”
“A learning champion to me is someone who shares their experiences and promotes the learning experience of the university. They have unique experiences in life that prospective mature students might relate to. Mature students are a diverse group, and when prospective mature students come here, we have group meetings where they can ask questions directly, which helps them build up a picture of what university life might be like for them. Learning Champions offer a window through which the prospective student could view their student experience. It's like living vicariously for a moment.”
Get in touch
If you would like to find out more about Learning Champions and the work the LLC does with mature students, please email the Student Success team at studentsuccess@leeds.ac.uk, or email the Lifelong Learning Centre at lifelonglearning@leeds.ac.uk.