SOAR Project

The SOAR Project was an inter-institutional collaboration on Access. It involved the South Cluster of higher education institutions - Munster Technological University, South East Technological University, University College Cork and a variety of community partners. Together we developed strategies to increase access to higher education for groups that are currently under-represented. The Project commenced in 2018, ran until 2025 and was funded by the Programme for Access to Higher Education (PATH) Strand 3.

The SOAR Project was housed within the Access Service of each college to complement and add value to existing Access work. We collaborated with schools, community partners, advocacy groups and other relevant stakeholders in the design and implementation of initiatives. The project had five distinct work streams – Travellers in Education; Enabling Transitions; Connecting Communities, Connecting Curriculum; 1916 Bursary Fund and Partnership for Access.