about aimhigher greater manchester

Working Together to Widen Participation in Higher Education

Aimhigher Greater Manchester is funded by the Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE) and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), as part of a national initiative to raise levels of participation in higher education.  Our task is to work together to encourage more people to apply to enter higher education and to help them succeed in gaining a place. 

A vision for widening participation in Greater Manchester

Aimhigher Greater Manchester will work to increase social inclusion by encouraging learners to take advantage of higher level education.

Aimhigher Greater Manchester will exploit the wide range of educational opportunity in its local institutions and the varied histories and cultures of its boroughs to deliver a creative and exciting programme that meets local needs and uses area resources.

What are the aims of Aimhigher Greater Manchester?

This is a practical programme which will design and deliver activities for learners and those who influence their opportunities and decisions in order: 

• to increase the number of individuals in Greater Manchester who go on to higher education

• to raise the aspirations, motivation and self esteem of those who have traditionally not progressed to higher education and support them to aim higher

• to raise levels of attainment at KS4 and level 3 and enable progression to higher education

• to increase awareness of the full range of higher education opportunities nationally and locally

• to strengthen alternative progression routes into higher education including via vocational and workbased learning

• to contribute to meeting the skills needs of individuals and of the economy locally and nationally

Who are our Target Groups?

Aimhigher Greater Manchester is working with 13-19 year olds and those aged 19+, with particular emphasis on those from lower socio-economic groups or with no higher education heritage, in schools and colleges, in vocational programmes and in the workplace.

What sort of activities do we offer?

Aimhigher activities range from small-scale projects focusing on specific target groups through to cross-borough activities that are designed to reach a broader audience.

There are four activity working groups with responsibility for developing a programme of initiatives and projects. Here are some examples of current projects.

Working Group : Visibility

• Events for practitioners and for learners
• Representing Aimhigher, and higher education opportunities, at other events 
• Student Ambassador programme 
• Publication of activity menus, leaflets etc...
• Publication of newsletters, reports and websites
• Campaigns to raise awareness of higher education and of Aimhigher

Working Group : Advice and Guidance

• www.uni4me.com and www.college4us.com websites
• Staff development for tutors, teachers and advisors
• Student mentoring programme 
• Disabled student support project
• Advice and guidance for adults

Working Group : Attainment

• Four projects offering a range of taster sessions they are also raising awareness of HE and FE opportunities for ethnic minorty students and parents
• Masterclasses, lectures, workshops in a range of subject areas
• Arts programme in conjunction with Art galleries
• Open Minds programme in conjunction with museums
• Summer schools and Young People's University
• Development of Aimhigher Centres for Learning in each Greater Manchester Borough
• Aimhigher presents programme designed to raise student understanding and motivation in a range of vocational curricula. It culuminates in a music event held at the Royal Northern College of Music
• Creative arts project in which learners work with professional artists and HE students within schools and HEI's
• Examination and revision skills programme delivered within schools by an Aimhigher team of tutors
• Connexions led project in which disengaged students and level 2 learners in FE are offered ICT based activities around the archiving of local history
• Making modern languages fun involves Y8 and Y9 students being visited in their schools and also attending a two day summer school

Working Group : Progression

• Headstart - preparation for higher education
• Opportunities in the healthcare professions
• Developing information about foundation degrees 
• Working with COVES to increase progression to higher education
• Developing vocational access courses
• Vocational pathways into higher education
• Progression to higher level learning for those in the workplace

For more detail about individual projects please look at the "Projects" section of this website.

How does Aimhigher Greater Manchester operate?

Aimhigher Greater Manchester operates through its partners, the Coordination Unit and through its Area Steering Group and Activity Working Groups and Borough Aimhigher Committees. There is an Aimhigher coordinator for each of the partner higher education institutions and each of the ten boroughs in Greater Manchester will have an Aimhigher coordinator. For details of who the coordinators are please see the contacts page of this website.

Who are the Partners?

The Greater Manchester partnership includes 6 Higher Education Institutions and 25 Further Education and Sixth Form Colleges. The Connexions service, the Learning and Skills Council, Association of Work Based Learning providers and Greater Manchester Open College Network are active partners. Employers organisations, libraries, museums and art galleries also contribute to activities. Many projects are run in close cooperation with local schools.

Coordination Unit

The Aimhigher Greater Manchester Coordination Unit is based at The Open University in the North West, in Sharston, South Manchester. The team comprises of Jo Wiggans, Director with support from John Sanders, Assistant Director, Catherine Andrew, Administration Assistant and Helen Shaw, Team Secretary. 

Louise Higham, Project Manager for Advice and Guidance, John Trimby Project Manager for Attainment and Stuart Marshall, project coordinator for the uni4me and college4us projects are also based at the Open University in the North-West.

The Coordination Unit can supply you with a range of materials including :

• a Menu of Aimhigher activities across Greater Manchester
• Newsletters
• Posters
• leaflets, including information about student finance, foundation degrees etc..
• contact information for partners, projects and Aimhigher coordinators

Contact them to obtain these materials or further information about Aimhigher Greater Manchester projects, people or publications.

Area Steering Group and Activity Working Groups

The Aimhigher Greater Manchester Partnership has an Area Steering Group, chaired by Alan Manning, Regional Secretary for the TUC in the North-West. Activity Working Groups are responsible for planning, commissioning, monitoring and directing projects in the following areas:

• Advice and Guidance
• Attainment
• Progression
• Visibility

There is also a Monitoring, Evaluation and Quality Enhancement group designed to ensure that the activities reach the right people and that good practice is shared across Greater Manchester.

For information about membership of the groups please see the Groups page of this website or contact the Coordination Unit.

If you have any suggestions for activities that could be part of Aimhigher Greater Manchester, do get in touch as we welcome new ideas.