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Centre for Widening Participation
Employability and Widening Participation
Cath Walsh

This event took place on 19th May 2010 at 1:00pm (12:00 GMT)

Location: Meeting Room 8, CETL area

13.00-14.00 Two steps forward, re-defining higher education for adult work based learners

This paper explores the challenges and opportunities for higher education providers seeking to deliver on key policy agendas around Leitch, Higher Ambitions, UKCES skills gap, economic growth and widening participation. It debates the extent to which the HE systems, processes and infrastructures are fit for purpose

The research draws on evidence from the Greater Manchester Strategic Alliance (GMSA*) Credit Accumulation and Transfer scheme, AdvanceUK. AdvanceUK offers a ‘pick and mix’ curriculum from multiple providers to adult learners in work. It facilitates work based and lifelong learning by providing easier access to small modules of learning that carry credit towards a range of higher education qualifications within the FHEQ. Learning programmes are not pre-planned but based on an emergence model where the learner or employer is able to continually build and re-shape the learning journey to respond to their personal or specific business needs at any point in time.

The paper presents the findings from the pilot study. It will review the outcomes of the work of the GMSA so far and concludes with an overview of how the AdvanceUK scheme is expanding to accommodate the needs of other learning consortia cross the UK.

*The GMSA is an Alliance of universities, colleges, work based training providers and other organisations including Aimhigher and the Commission for the New Economy across Greater Manchester. It is a fee paying membership organisation. It has delivered a large, successful Lifelong Learning Network from which this project was funded.

You may attend just the seminar or the seminar and workshop. Please RSVP to Sue Wright s.j.wright@open.ac.uk, as places are limited. Please state whether you are attending just the seminar or the seminar and workshop.

The webcast was open to 200 users

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