Monitoring and Evaluation Report for University of Limerick's Academy for Children

2024 marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the University of Limerick Access Office (Access at 20, 2019). In that time the Access Office has supported, encouraged and advocated for pupils from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds to access higher education at the University of Limerick.

One of the most important initiatives undertaken by the Access Office in University of Limerick is the Academy for Children. The Academy for Children project has sought to build on our previous pre-entry school activities at second level through working with pupils in DEIS primary schools in some of Limerick’s most disadvantaged electoral areas. This is in keeping with our belief that the seeds of ambition and commitment to attend university need to be planted, nurtured, and developed from an early age to allow primary school children to reach their potential.

In 2020 the Academy for Children offered a pilot programme to one school and has since grown to involve twelve schools, offering a variety of programmes for pupils, and their parents/guardians, to interact with the University of Limerick.

As part of the project, the Academy for Children designed a Monitoring and Evaluation programme, supported by Rethink Ireland and Mainlevel Consulting, to research the effectiveness and achievements of the Academy for Children and disseminate this information to all the stakeholders involved. The findings from that research are outlined in this report.