Widening Access Initiative (Outreach) Award – Commendation
The Higher Horizons NNCO led by Keele University has delivered two collaborative Y10 Conferences and two Looked After Children conferences per year for a number of years following the end of AimHigher, and the NNCO funding has allowed the network to bolster this provision in 2015. These events are an excellent example of collaborative good practice – each event is hosted by a different HEI, while the other HEIs in the group send sessions to run to groups of learners on a carousel basis. Each HEI is further represented by Student Ambassadors, allowing the learner to get students’ views and experiences of Higher Education. Since April 2015, the group has held two LAC conferences and three Y10 conferences, with a further four events planned until the end of the NNCO funding in December 2016. A total of 503 learners have attended the programme of conferences since April 2015, coming from 30 different schools throughout Staffordshire, Cheshire and Derbyshire.