'Changing Routes to Higher Education'

LEAD ORGANISATION

Progress South Central

PROJECT SUMMARY

In September 2008 Progress South Central held Changing Routes to Higher Education, its first conference for Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) staff. The conference was aimed at guidance workers working with young people, college students and adults.

The keynote address was delivered by Kevin Whitston, then Head of Widening Participation at HEFCE, who talked about LLNs and their impact on routes into Higher Education. A panel session on 'What HE has meant to me' featured three students following vocational programmes at local FE colleges, talking about their experiences of school and college and why they had chosen the courses they had. The conference also included a marketplace of local HE providers focusing on vocational courses and non-traditional entry into higher education. Delegates could choose from afternoon workshops including 14-19 Diplomas - the challenges for Universities; The Potential of Foundation Degrees and Aimhigher - the next 3 years, and additionally had the opportunity to get a first look at the Progress to HE toolkit being produced by Progress South Central in partnership with Aimhigher Berkshire and nextstep Berkshire.

The success of this conference resulted in a second conference for IAG staff held in October 2009, and a further event is scheduled for November 2010.

IMPACT

45 delegates attended the event at Newbury Racecourse. Of those feeding back, all but one rated the event as 'Excellent' or 'Good'. Similarly, all but one agreed that the event had met their expectations and would be helpful to them in informing their work providing guidance to learners.

The keynote address and the student panel were the aspects of the conference rated as most enjoyable and useful. When asked what was the main thing they had learned from the day, several delegates mentioned learning more about Diplomas and Foundation Degrees, although three delegates noted that they still needed to know more about Diplomas (responding to this need, Progress South Central ran a dedicated event on the 14-19 Diploma in November 2008).

The conference was well-received by the participants. Selected comments from delegates included:

"Good networking opportunities in addition to the conference itself."

"Thank you - a useful day."

"Excellent conference."