Promoting academic excellence within the Grangetown community (PACE)

The idea for PACE was developed after the Grangetown Careers and Role Model Week 2018 held a joint Medical School and Health Care Sciences Workshop. This was a very well-attended session by both local children and their parents with lots of interest in careers in this area.

Widening access to healthcare professions is a key goal for the School of Medicine and this PACE aims to support and stimulate student academic development and encourage aspirations by running weekly interactive sessions from November through to March. The PACE project reaches out to Yr9, Yr10 and Yr11 pupils. The project has expanded to run in 4 schools across Cardiff.

Through this project and in collaboration with local schools, the PACE project aims to:

• inspire students to see University as a possibility
• mentor students through the University application process
• help students gain entry to University
• use relatable role models to help inspire students
• support the teaching in schools with university students acting as tutors to raise grades

Building on the delivery of PACE through the academic year, the PACE project has developed an on-campus summer school which takes place in June and aims to:

• further inspire these pupils to see Medicine and healthcare as a potential profession
• inspire pupils to actively consider University education as a viable option
• provide an experience of University teaching /learning

The summer school delivers a taster of Case Based Learning. The case sessions are delivered through near peer learning by Yr1, Yr2 and Yr3 medical students and include plenaries, workshops, tutorials and clinical skills sessions. The day culminates with each Year group creating a short presentation of what they have learnt which they deliver to their peers, the near peer tutors, and PACE team.