Shaping Futures (Uni Connect Programme)

What Shaping Futures (Uni Connect Programme) does

Shaping Futures operates as a Uni Connect Programme delivery organisation based in Liverpool, UK. The Uni Connect Programme is a UK government-funded higher education outreach initiative, administered nationally by the Office for Students, that targets prospective students from underrepresented backgrounds to widen participation in higher education. Shaping Futures is one of the regional partnership vehicles through which that national mandate is executed, operating within a defined geographic catchment in the Liverpool area. Its core activity consists of outreach and engagement work with schools, colleges, and learners who are statistically less likely to progress to higher education, including activities such as campus visits, subject taster sessions, mentoring, and information, advice and guidance. The organisation is staffed by a small team of 9 employees, consistent with a locally embedded outreach partnership rather than a national headquarters function.

The business model is non-commercial. Shaping Futures is structured as a non-profit and is funded through the Uni Connect Programme grant framework rather than through fee-paying customers. Revenue therefore derives from public-sector grant allocation tied to the Office for Students contract, with delivery measured against widening-participation targets and outreach milestones rather than commercial KPIs. There is no evidence in the input of a diversified revenue base, earned-income stream, or commercial pricing model; the operating model is grant-dependent and mission-driven. This concentration on a single programme funder is structural to the Uni Connect architecture rather than a discretionary choice.

The input material provides no operational disclosures beyond identity, location, non-profit status, and headcount: no product portfolio, technology platform, partner-school list, beneficiary caseload, financial figures, or recent strategic actions are documented. The description above is therefore limited to what can be grounded in the supplied data and in the publicly known structure of the Uni Connect Programme. Any further characterisation of technology stack, customer mix, or growth dynamics would be unsupported.

Name

Shaping Futures (Uni Connect Programme)

Website

https://shaping-futures.org.uk

Company type

Private

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Shaping Futures is a Liverpool-based non-profit that delivers the UK Uni Connect Programme, running higher-education outreach for underrepresented prospective students in its regional catchment. It operates as a grant-funded partnership with a 9-person delivery team.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education Outreach Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Support Services (6117)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Post-Secondary Transition Planning & Coordination (EDAKANAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Transition Services (Secondary to Postsecondary/Employment, Life Skills) (EDAJAKAG)

Keywords

• Higher education outreach
• Widening participation
• University access programmes
• Educational advisory services
• Non-profit education support

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Core offering

Shaping Futures delivers the Uni Connect Programme, a higher education outreach and widening-participation initiative aimed at supporting prospective students from underrepresented backgrounds to access, progress through and succeed in higher education. The Liverpool-based non-profit works with schools, colleges and community partners to provide information, advice, guidance and progression activities for learners considering university.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Uni Connect Programme A higher education outreach and widening-participation programme delivering information, advice, guidance and progression activities to prospective university students from underrepresented backgrounds in the Liverpool region.

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Broad incumbents

• HEON (Higher Education Outreach Network): Surrey-based consortium of universities, schools and colleges coordinating widening-participation outreach. Comparable Uni Connect-style partnership structure and target beneficiaries.
• National Education Opportunities Network (NEON): UK sector body supporting widening participation professionals across higher education. Provides the wider ecosystem context and shared frameworks within which Shaping Futures operates.

Direct peers

• IntoUniversity: UK educational charity running local learning centres that support under-represented young people to progress to higher education. Direct peer in mission, target cohort, and operating model to Shaping Futures' Uni Connect outreach work.
• The Brilliant Club: UK charity placing PhD researchers in schools to support university access for pupils from under-represented backgrounds. Comparable widening-participation mission and school-engagement model.
• Future First: UK charity connecting state-school students with alumni role models to raise aspirations and support progression to higher education. Comparable university-access and school-engagement focus.
• Social Mobility Foundation: UK charity supporting high-achieving students from lower-income backgrounds into leading universities and careers. Comparable target cohort and university-progression outcomes.
• The Access Project: UK charity providing in-school tutoring and university application support to students from under-represented backgrounds. Closely comparable beneficiary profile and widening-participation focus.
• ReachOut UK: UK-based charity that recruits university student mentors to support pupils from disadvantaged communities. Comparable programme design and beneficiary cohort to Shaping Futures.

Emerging players

• Speakers for Schools: UK charity providing state-school students with talks and work experience from senior professionals. Broader aspiration-raising remit, but overlapping beneficiary cohort and school-engagement distribution.

Regional players

• Cambridge Outreach: University of Cambridge's widening-participation and outreach programme serving a different region but demonstrating the same Uni Connect-aligned participation mandate and delivery model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights4 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/shaping-futures-uni-connect-programme

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Shaping Futures (Uni Connect Programme)