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From homeless to Cambridge: Making Education Accessible

The story of a former homeless man winning a spot to study at Cambridge University is a warming reminder that accessibility in education is key. In our bid to make campuses connected and students informed, we level the playing field, making universities a place of equal opportunity again.

Congratulations to Geoff Edwards, a 52-year-old Englishman who left school with almost no qualifications and just started his first term studying English Literature at the famous University of Cambridge.

The previous Big Issue seller spent times in his life unemployed, depressed and, at times, homeless. He sold the Big Issue on the streets for years and was famous for always having a “book on the go”. In his forties he sought to continue his education at the local Cambridge Regional College. Phenomenal results in his gateway course led to an application to Cambridge, and then an acceptance.

Geoff’s story is like something out of a fairytale, perhaps, but the moral of this story is very much realistic: Education should be accessible to all. StuComm aims to inspire and engage all learners, and whilst we do not handle university applications we provide students with connected campuses that make them better informed than ever before.

Education is the accessibility and teaching of information, and yet year after year students complain about the inaccessibility of their institution’s administrative information. Multiple sign-ins, hundreds of emails and archaic systems drive the modern-minded student mad. It also means they miss out on key info which results in their inability to become as engaged on campus as they would like.

When every student has equal access to administrative information in an app then campus becomes a place of equal opportunity. Learners are become enthused in their education when communication is facilitated between institution and student – 89% of our customers would agree, considering they report the introduction of our StudentsApp has had a direct impact on improving student satisfaction ratings. And why wouldn’t it? When information is pushed out to everybody in real time, nobody gets left behind. Campus becomes accessible for all just as classrooms are becoming more and more so.

By having everything students need in one place on their smartphone universities can inform, engage and inspire their students equally and easily. Streamlining communication means hundreds of different voices become one with a clear message: We are here to enable your education. StuComm broadcasts this message for universities, and the impact on students means their voices are also heard more clearly. And not just the voices of a select few – everyone on campus is connected in the same way meaning everything becomes accessible, and campuses a place of “information equality”.

If Geoff’s story teaches us anything it’s that dreams are made to be realised: Our dream at StuComm is a body of informed and inspired students discovering their futures thanks to the accessibility of knowledge – whether that be in the form of a lecture or a push notification.

We've Moved | Find more info about our student experience solution @ Ready Education.
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