January 2010
28.01.10
HEFCE publishes 'Trends in young participation in higher education: core results for England' report
HEFCE has published a major study of all young people living in England, which gives the first picture of the trends in the proportion of young people entering higher education at ages 18 and 19 between the mid-1990s and the present. The study, Trends in young participation in higher education: core results for England, finds that there has been a substantial and sustained increase in the higher education participation rate of young people living in the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods since the mid-2000s. To view a copy of the report, please visit the Evaluation and Monitoring section of the practitioner website, or the HEFCE website.
19.01.10
Government responds to Milburn report
The Government has published its response to Alan Milburn’s Final Report from the Panel of Fair Access into access to the professions and widening participation in higher education. For more information, please visit the BIS website.
Grant announcement for higher education 2010-11
HEFCE has received the annual grant letter from the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills for 2010-11. Fairer access and widening participation are key areas on which the Government wants to focus during the next academic year. To view a copy of the letter, which includes the new funding figures, please visit the HEFCE website.
Opportunity to feed into Student Finance Review
The Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance is currently in progress, with a first call for evidence issued in December. The panel is particularly interested in the impact of the introduction of variable tuition fees and the associated changes to student support, and participation is one of three key themes. There is still an opportunity to respond to this call via the Review website, before it closes on 31 January.
The review panel will eventually make recommendations to the Government on future policy and financial support for full and part-time undergraduate and postgraduate students. The panel will be holding public hearings throughout January and will publish a summary of the findings. A second call for evidence will take place later in 2010, which will involve further public hearings. Visit the Review’s website for details of the first update and the panel operating protocol.
Report on Action on Access Annual Conference
Action on Access held their annual conference on 10 December 2009, which aimed to affirm the widening participation dividend and explore its contribution to other national agendas. Speakers included John Selby (HEFCE), Bev Thomas (BIS) and Nicola Dandridge (UUK), who focused on the contribution of cross-sector partnerships, schools, colleges and universities working together, fair access and widening participation supporting an economic recovery and promoting social cohesion and mobility. Visit the Action on Access website to view the presentations.
First Meeting of the National Advisory Board
The first meeting of the National Advisory Board (NAB) is due to take place in March. The board, which includes representatives from UUK, NUS, GuildHE and the Frank Buttle Trust amongst others, works to provide strategic advice for the development and future sustainability of the AH programme and to promote the aims and objectives at a national level.
Latest GCSE attainment figures show that free school meal and gender gap has narrowed
The latest set of GCSE attainment figures have been published in a report by the DCSF. The report findings show that the attainment gap between those on free school meals and their peers, and between boys and girls, has narrowed over the last 12 months. Visit the DCSF website to view the report and press release.
New showcase for Aimhigher good practice
The NCRT has created a new section on the practitioner website to showcase good practice examples of Aimhigher activities that have taken place around the country. This section, which will be continually updated, aims to highlight the range of innovative and successful activities that are devised and employed by Aimhigher partnerships. If you have recently delivered a project or activity that you would like us to include as a case study, please email the NCRT.
Introduction to digital and social media for partnerships
The NCRT has produced a toolkit to support practitioners who are interested in using social media as part of their communications work. The toolkit provides practitioners with an introduction to digital and social media, along with examples of the work already being carried out by Aimhigher partnerships, and more widely. Members of the ACN will be notified by email when this is available from the practitioner website. Any partnerships that would like to raise awareness of where they have made use of social media are asked to email the NCRT with details.
Update to online education calendar
The Aimhigher Campaign Calendar has been replaced by a national education calendar, which is designed to provide Aimhigher staff with ‘at a glance’ information about key national events and milestones from the wider education agenda, which may be of relevance to partnerships. Monthly updates are also available from the homepage.
BIS launches new guide for parents of recent graduates
BIS has published guidance to help parents support graduates in their search for employment and to understand the support available. Psychologist and career coach Denise Taylor has written ‘The Parent Motivators’ guide, which can be downloaded from the Direct Gov website. For more details, please visit the BIS website.
Aimhigher leaflet update
In last month’s bulletin we advised that BIS is in the process of creating a new leaflet – ‘Aimhigher: Inspiring young people, changing lives’ – which is for use by partnerships in communicating with partners. The leaflet is currently awaiting Ministerial approval and when this has been secured, the leaflet will be mailed to Aimhigher Communications Leads as well as being made available on the practitioner website.
Aimhigher North West's Aimhigher Healthcare Strand Conference
Five Aimhigher partnerships in the North West are joining forces to host an Aimhigher Healthcare Strand Conference. The 'Tomorrows Workforce Solution Today' conference will take place at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton on 12 February and through a series of workshops, will focus on how to ensure a more diverse workforce, reflective of its community, and how to inspire young people to enter the healthcare professions.
Professor Bob Fryer, Chair of Campaign for Learning and formerly Chief Executive of NHSU will open and set the scene for the event. Conference Chair, Christine Edmunds commented: "Our healthcare strand has been particularly strong in the NW due to the wonderful support of our health partners. We look forward to an interesting and informative day of celebration."
For more details, visit the Action on Access website or email nwaimhigherconference@googlemail.com and register your interest.
Aimhigher York and North Yorkshire publishes its annual report
Findings from Aimhigher York and North Yorkshire’s 2008/09 annual report illustrates that 5,000 school pupils have benefitted from work of Aimhigher in 2008/09. The report states 989 pupils visited a university and more than 2,440 attended an Aimhigher master class. In addition, 440 school pupils received Aimhigher mentoring and 438 took part in Aimhigher activities. Professor Stuart Billingham, Pro-Vice Chancellor at York St John University and Chair of the Partnership Committee which oversees Aimhigher’s work in York and North Yorkshire, said: “This report confirms that sustained, joined-up and, above all, targeted educational interventions do indeed liberate the full potential of our children and young people which can often go untapped.” For more information, please contact Richard Adams.
