Future of Widening Participation at
UWE
Life after Aimhigher
Fay Croft
Director of Widening Participation and
Schools and Colleges Partnerships
fay.croft@uwe.ac.uk
UWE
• Track record of WP – especially in the health
and related sectors
• Working in partnership and widening
participation are key strategic aims - “Better
Together”
• From operational staff to the VC
A call to government
• “WP, how we approach this as a country, goes to
the core of our society and our aspirations for
social mobility”
• “WP has been and will remain a strategic
priority”
• “this requires sustained effort, working with
partners”
• “government funding should be provided to
support collaborative arrangements”
Track record
• Inclusive curriculum
• Partnerships e.g. with employers
• Outreach
– Health and Social Care 09/10
• 88 events, 6279 participants
– UWE 09/10
• 1099 events, 135,600 participants
Partnerships for delivery
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Schools
Colleges
IAG services
WVLLN
RDA
Local Authorities
Aimhigher
• Member of Aimhigher West and SW Regional
Partnerships
• Strand lead for Events and for Health and Social
Care
• Support across the university and in particular in
the Faculty
For example
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Healthcare Taster Days
Children’s Nursing Project
Healthcare Experiments Roadshows
Leap into Health Summer School
Group Interview Practice for Nursing
UCAS Personal Statement writing
Current challenges
• Changes to the funding regime for HE from
12/13
• Access Agreements for fees of £6K or above
• Commitments to outreach, retention, student
experience, achievement and graduate level
employability
• Changes in our partner organisations
2011/12
• All Aimhigher and WVLLN staff will be retained
and embedded in roles in Schools and Colleges
Partnership Service
• Faculty commitment to WP remains
• A transition year – challenges for schools,
colleges and our other partners
• No formal collaborative partnership with other
HEIs
The brave new world
• Access Agreements will be approved (or not)
and made public on 11th July
• Bursaries will be available to target groups of
students under the National Scholarship
Programme and under individual university
schemes
• Details will be available on UCAS web site and
university web pages wef 11th July
UWE offer for 2011/12
• A programme of centrally provided raising
aspirations activities to support progression to
HE/UWE
• Faculty based activities and interventions
• Information and IAG support for 12/13 applicants
• Continued collaboration in informal ways
WP for the long term
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University commitment
Targeted and focused work on key WP groups
Responding to any changes in the market for HE
Building on current strengths
Aligning ourselves with the changes happening
in our partners
Useful web sites
• www.uwe.ac.uk/schoolsandcolleges
• http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/UniversityAndHig
herEducation/StudentFinance
• www.offa.org.uk
• http://www.ucas.com/