Decisions at 18 2010 - Flexibility for careers of the future20 April 2010 - 22 April 2010

Workshop details

Day

Day 1

Session

B

Start time

16.35

Strand

Practitioner

Code

B4

Presenters

Ms Brenda Stephenson - Project Manager, Aimhigher County Durham

Ms Lucy Backhurst - Head of Undergraduate Recruitment and Admissions Unit, Newcastle University

Overview

Widening participation compact schemes are not new. A recent report from HEFCE identified that in 2008 around 60,000 leavers from 1,700 schools were involved in compacts of one sort or another.

The PARTNERS Programme at Newcastle University is one such compact arrangement. Building on 10 years' experience in this area, Newcastle University is now taking the lead on a new national compact scheme involving 13* of the UK's leading research-intensive universities. The ambitious and innovative Realising Opportunities Scheme, the first national scheme of its kind, aims to identify, encourage and support the ‘most able least likely' students to apply to such universities.

What will it involve?

This session will chart the journey from a local to a national compact scheme, and will give participants the opportunity to offer their own experiences of widening participation compact arrangements, to help inform the development of Realising Opportunities.

*Universities participating in the Realising Opportunities Scheme are: University of Birmingham, University of Bristol, University of Essex, University of Exeter, King's College London, University of Leeds, University of Leicester, University of Liverpool, University of Manchester, Newcastle University, University of Southampton, University of Warwick and the University of York.  

Who is it for?

Careers Advisers, Connexions PAs (working in sixth forms) Sixth Form tutors, Teachers and any colleagues interested in encouraging able students to reach their potential.