About the University of York
The University of York is a member of the Russell Group and one of just four UK universities rated both gold for teaching and top 10 for research. Their work combines academic excellence with social purpose.
Context
The University of York Careers and Employability team supports students from a range of widening participation (WP) backgrounds*, including those on the “On Track Programme”. While the team had a strong foundation of inclusive practice, they recognised a need to be more targeted in their support for this specific group.
“Prior to working with Inclusive Futures, we were being very broad for all WP groups, and we wanted to be more specific in our support for these particular students.”
Although challenges facing On Track students had been identified through research and graduate outcomes, the team wanted to move beyond general assumptions and respond more directly to students lived experiences.
*Widening participation refers to initiatives aimed at increasing access to higher education for underrepresented groups, ensuring that students from diverse backgrounds have equal opportunities to pursue higher education.
Prior to working with Inclusive Futures, we were being very broad for all WP groups, and we wanted to be more specific in our support for these particular students.”
The Challenge
The key challenge was creating support that genuinely met students where they were, without overwhelming them or relying on generic employability messaging. The team wanted to do more than simply acknowledge barriers, they wanted to change how students experienced employability support:
“We have got better – through the insights from Inclusive Futures and the coaching you have done – at speaking to specifics and putting students at ease, creating a safer space in our general programme.”
Why Inclusive Futures
The University of York team encountered Inclusive Futures during the NEON* education conference, through the idea of “future possible selves” and working with students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
*NEON Summer Symposium is an annual education event: find out more on their website here. We’ll be back in June 2026.
“We saw an article through NEON around the concept of future self* and your work with students from lower economic backgrounds, and it spoke to us.”
“We could have worked with another coach provider, but the specific focus IF have on supporting students from these backgrounds to achieve success is important to us.”
“The team at IF are clearly passionate about working with students from a range of backgrounds and have the expertise to support students with the challenges they face.”
“It feels easy and productive to work with IF to create a better offer for students, because they understand the context of our students and are driven by the same purpose.”
“IF have worked with us really well to stop, take stock and tweak our offer to ensure that we have honed in on what we particularly want to address for these students and their circumstances.”
* You can read our article for NEON on enhancing possible selves through coaching here.
Impact on Students
The transformation seen among On Track students has been evidenced through surveys and focus groups.
“Students can confidently articulate how coaching has been helpful, how it has helped them to work through challenges in a way that works for them and the mindset shifts they have experienced.”
“The concept of future possible selves has allowed students to consider ‘what is possible for me and how do I get there?’”
“The students IF have been supporting don’t always know what is possible or what they want, so they need this before they work on the ‘how’.”
“Students end the programme knowing what’s possible, being clearer of their future and having thought about what is important to them.”
“They can break down how they are feeling and why – whether it is a job interview, starting a new role or building their network.”
“They hopefully now have that ‘voice on the shoulder’ as they are used to being pushed to think in a certain way by their coach and they can now continue to do that for themselves.”
Supporting social mobility in higher education through coaching
We love delivering our Coaching Skills workshops to staff teams and student supporters, as we have done for the University of York. And we have a number of other leading programmes and workshops to help you support your student body and the career development and skills of your staff.
For a no-obligation exploratory chat, please get in touch.