The European Parliament Ambassador School Programme at USP College
What is EPAS?
The European Parliament Ambassador School (EPAS) Programme is a popular, non-partisan initiative of the European Parliament which aims to improve the political participation and political education of students in the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe by teaching them about European values and European parliamentary democracy.
In the programme, students and teachers at schools and colleges across Europe are designated as European Parliament Junior Ambassadors and European Parliament Senior Ambassadors respectively and tasked with organising activities and events which promote the programme and its aims at their schools and in their local communities. At the end of the year, these schools are then recognised as European Parliament Ambassador Schools with their ambassadors receiving official accreditation from the European Parliament for their efforts.
How does USP College fit into all this?
Unified Seevic Palmer's College is a further education college with three campuses in Essex, England, the Palmer's Campus in Grays, the Seevic Campus in Benfleet and the XTEND Digital Campus in Canvey. We have been an accredited European Parliament Ambassador School since 2021. The UK branch of EPAS was launched at Seevic on 29th April 2021. Since then, EPAS UK has grown to include over 13 accredited ambassador schools, with many more schools currently working towards their accreditation in the programme. USP College is proud to have pioneered this growing family of schools in the UK, which is joined by around 2,000 other schools across the rest of Europe.
EPAS at USP College started as a programme exclusive to our Seevic Campus. In 2022, the programme relocated to our Palmer's Campus, before becoming a cross-campus initiative for both Palmer's and Seevic from 2023. At USP College, EPAS is a student-led initiative, with senior ambassadors mainly providing a supporting or pastoral role while the events, activities and implementation of the programme at our college and in our local community are decided by junior ambassadors. To find out more about the role of junior ambassadors, you can look at the What is a European Parliament Junior Ambassador? article over on our digital infopoint, which also brings together all the latest news, events and activities of EPAS at USP, as well as all the important information about Europe and European politics.
The EPAS programme is not yet available for students at our XTEND Digital Campus in Canvey, but we do hope to expand to XTEND at some point in the near future.
How do I get involved?
Joining EPAS at USP College is simple! If you're a student at either Palmer's or Seevic, you can join the team as one of our junior ambassadors. To become a junior ambassador, students should talk to our Lead Senior Ambassador Darren Cogavin, who works at both Palmer's and Seevic at different times throughout the college week in the Humanities Department and can be reached through e-mail at darren.cogavin@uspcollege.ac.uk. Alternatively, you can e-mail the wider EPAS team at USP College at epasatuspcollege@outlook.com, and one of our junior or senior ambassadors will aim to get back to you within three work days.
For teachers, staff and volunteers, you may join the programme at USP College as a senior ambassador. Anyone working or volunteering at USP College can serve as a senior ambassador by discussing this with Lead Senior Ambassador Darren Cogavin. Senior ambassadors can be teachers, pastoral staff, tutors and other members of staff, such as personal support assistants, learning support assistants, library staff, careers advisers and even exam invigilators.
Students and other local stakeholders who wish to participate in the programme but do not attend, volunteer or work at USP College can also participate as advisory ambassadors. External students and young people aged 18 or below are able to join as advisory junior ambassadors, while other external stakeholders may join as advisory senior ambassadors, and may help with EPAS projects and events. To do so, please contact the EPAS team at epasatuspcollege@outlook.com.
Meet our team!
EPAS at USP College is led by a core group of lead ambassadors, a lead and deputy lead senior ambassador for USP College and a lead junior ambassador for USP College who has two deputies, one from Palmer's and from Seevic. The Lead Junior Ambassador and their deputies are elected into office at the start of each year by all the other junior ambassadors in the programme at USP College. The Lead Junior Ambassador is responsible for overseeing the delivery of the programme at the college and the wider region of South Essex with the support of their deputies, with the pastoral support of the Lead Senior Ambassador and their deputy.
Elections for the 2025-2026 lead ambassadors will be held in September 2025. Until then, the previous leadership team will continue to serve in an acting capacity; since 2024, the elected Lead Junior Ambassador has been Jayden O'Brien. His deputies are Erdem Gultekin from Palmer's Campus and Sebastian Rapley Mende from Seevic Campus, both elected in 2025. Since 2022, the Lead Senior Ambassador has been Darren Cogavin, who since 2025 has been assisted by Kelsey Pryce. The profiles of each ambassador can be accessed through the links below:
From the 2025-2026 academic year, EPAS at USP College has also had an elected editorial board of junior ambassadors who are responsible for the programme's editorial content and social media outreach. Members of the editorial board are elected by the Lead Senior Ambassador, Lead Junior Ambassador and the Deputy Lead Junior Ambassadors and are jointly responsible for managing and contributing to the programme's website and social media channels.
For the 2025-2026 academic year, there will be four elected members of the editorial board, two from the Palmer's Campus and the Seevic Campus each, as well as a fifth member who is co-opted from the leadership team. Each editorial board member's profile can be accessed through the links below:
Our partners
EPAS at USP College is partnered with the USP College Student Union, as well as the non-partisan youth arms of Castle Point Council, Basildon Council, Southend Council and Thurrock Council: Castle Point Youth Council, Basildon Youth Council, Thurrock Youth Cabinet and Southend Youth Council. The team collaborates with these partners to deliver the programme both within USP College and in the wider local communities of Castle Point, Basildon, Southend and Thurrock, which are the communities served by our Palmer's and Seevic campuses. Our European Parliament Junior Ambassadors have representatives in these organisations who serve as both junior ambassadors and members of these organisations, and who help co-ordinate and organise collaborations between these organisations and the programme's team at the college.
Since April 2025, EPAS at USP College has also been in a partnership with the Old Palmerians' Association, which promotes continued support and collaboration between the programme's current junior and senior ambassadors and those who have since left the college. Through this alumni network, former ambassadors have helped organise trips, events and projects for EPAS at USP College, such as the Palmer's Archive on our official Flickr page.
Want to work with us? The EPAS team at USP College is more than happy to discuss collaborating or forming a working partnership with you or members of your organisation. Just contact us using the e-mails stated above and we'll get back to you as soon as possible!
Where are we?
Unified Seevic Palmer's (USP) College was originally founded in Grays in 1706 by its namesake William Palmer. The college took its current form in August 2017 when Palmer's absorbed Seevic College. Today, the Palmer's Campus in Little Thurrock, Grays is the main campus of the college, while Seevic in Thundersley, Benfleet is the secondary campus, with a third XTEND Digital Campus in Canvey Island. Our two EPAS teams are based from Palmer's and Seevic, the exact locations of which can be viewed in the map below.