Almost everyone connected with the university is an achiever.  A high proportion of staff hold degrees, professional qualifications or have been successful in some sort of training: all our students have strong achievements to their names before they arrive here: that is a sine qua non for them being here.

This evening I have been at an event that celebrated those for whom achievement is only starting to be within their grasp - and who may never actually make it in the way I have described above.  Yet the role of the university in trying to stretch their ambitions is very considerable.  We had around 200 visitors to the Octagon Centre this evening for the presentation of certificates to young people from schools around South Yorkshire who have successfully completed a series of tasks with the help of mentors (ambassadors) from within our student population.  The young people are from backgrounds where there is no experience of university, and little recognition of what higher education may do for an individual's life chances.  Those who came on the stage to receive certificates from me were from Y9 to Y13.  All had had a role model presented to them in the form of a current student, and we celebrated their dedication as well: many of our students told me how worthwhile they felt the whole project had been.

A month or two ago I was at an awards evening at the Sixth Form College where I am a governor. On that occasion I was not presenting the certificates - that was being done by Phil Jones from Sheffield Hallam and David Blunkett (in whose constituency the College lies).  Many of the awards were for academic work.  Some were for non-academic achievement - support for newly arriving mid-year students, help with pastoral work and so on.  But towards the end of the evening there were awards for students who had entered the college aged 16 with no formal qualifications at all - no GCSEs for example - but who were now established in a work routine that might lead to them achieving certificates within a year or two.  There was something very touching about these young people as they came onto the stage - an air of mixed defiance at being involved in an event that was not really very cool in their eyes, mixed with a feeling of pride that perhaps for the first time in their lives they were being praised for something.  It may actually have been the first time they had ever felt pride in themselves for something that other people would also recognise as meritorious.  I met a group of the lads outside the college afterwards and congratulated them on their awards - once again they didn't quite know how to react but they seemed pleased I had commented.  But I noticed that while all those who had won awards for academic achievement had their parents with them, none of these winners of awards for just turning up regularly and punctually was accompanied by any family member.

In my view it is important that a university that thrives on excellence and achievement should do whatever it can, in whatever way possible, to try to encourage aspiration raising and achievement in those who may ultimately not engage further with us - but who can benefit greatly from our encouragement, particularly where there is little else encouraging in their lives.