Posted 24 January 2023

There are some big things coming up for Go Higher West Yorkshire (GHWY) in 2023.

Many who work in Access and Participation across the student lifecycle will be eagerly awaiting a refreshed take on access and participation plans that the Office for Students (OfS) is looking to bring in. We submitted a response to TASO’s rapid evidence review as part of this, highlighting the meta-risk around geography and HE provision. I am interested to see which risks make it into the first iteration of OfS’s Equality of Opportunity Risk Register.

Our Uni Connect project is also on the cusp of trialling its new Attainment Raising strand of work, with young people in Years 8-10 in school. The Uni Connect team has done a fantastic job and shown real leadership in this area. The aim of the pilot is that some significant learning will come out of it that can support our 13 member HE providers with their own activity in this area.

We are also looking forward to the first big push on our employer resources. These have been developed to promote HE in all its forms to employers, with a particular view to supporting both those who are in work to achieve higher-level skills, and to help SMEs to understand the benefits of recruiting graduates from a wide range of backgrounds.

Finally, we are looking forward to bringing together our under-represented groups networks in May for an in-person showcase and workshopping of ideas. The event will continue to contribute to strategic activity in support of reducing inequalities in access to, success in and progression from higher education.

In summary, there are potentially some big changes and new opportunities afoot, ones which we could benefit from working on together and learning alongside each other. We can achieve more when we collaborate.

 

Helen Sykes, Head of GHWY