Enabling Education and non-mainstream schools

University Makes a Difference Outreach Project

I am pleased to announce that the report of the University Makes a Difference Project for 2025 has been published. The program will also be featured at a session of the Doing School Differently conference in Melbourne. The University Makes a Difference Outreach program is an initiative of the Adelaide University Pathways College to take enabling education into non-traditional classrooms. Students in flexible and alternative settings consistently report valuing the care, relational support and personalised learning these environments provide—qualities that often re‑engage young people who have been labelled “disengaged” when, in reality, mainstream systems have failed to accommodate their circumstances.

Young people in alternative settings are not disengaged from learning or their futures—they are seeking educational structures that recognise their strengths, honour their experiences and scaffold their ambitions. What is missing is an enabling pathway: one that integrates academic challenge, community connection, wellbeing support and future‑focused guidance to help students build confidence and transition successfully beyond school.

The University Makes a Difference program demonstrates what such pathways can look like. Through deep engagement with complex problems, collaboration with researchers and immersion in new learning environments, participating students have demonstrated the insight, capability and aspiration that characterise the capacities of young people committed to receiving an education. Their achievements—celebrated through poster presentations and growing interest in Foundation Studies—underscore the transformative potential of educational models that position young people not as disengaged, but as emerging scholars and contributors to their communities.The University makes a Difference Program is a problem-based learning project where students work collaboratively alongside University of Adelaide personnel and come together to share their findings at a showcase.

Students involved in the program are enrolled in a University of Adelaide short course - Understanding Gen Z – and develop an individual or collaborative research question that is of importance to themselves and the wider community.   The short course is facilitated by University of Adelaide Pathways College tutors and supported by mentors from the University of Adelaide.  Students will have access to the University Library, be invited on tours of the University and interview academics in the field of their research.

“This program was built on a simple but powerful idea: that when secondary school students have the opportunity to step into the university environment — to meet academics, to explore real-world questions, and to see themselves as investigators — something special happens. They see that their ideas matter, that their questions have value, and that they already belong in places of higher learning – Sarah Hattam Director Adelaide University Pathways College

Students involved in the program will be eligible for up to two units of SACE at Stage 1 or 2 , by negotiation and will receive credit for the short course.  Participation in the course will be a guarantee of entry to Adelaide University Pathways College.

The university provides teaching personnel, mentors, catering and transport to and from University Campus and SACE curriculum support.  The participating sites will recruit students, facilitate access to the short course and enroll students in SACE units negotiated and support students through their research.

Extra funding has been secured to expand the program and carry it through to 2028.