Access to higher education

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Press release

Wednesday 13 June 2007

QAA celebrates the success of Access to Higher Education and launches the new Diploma

Bill Rammell highlights the benefits of Access to Higher Education as a successful route to university at a conference in London to launch the new Access to Higher Education Diploma today .

The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) has revised its existing Access to Higher Education certificate qualification as part of a programme of actions to attract more people to consider returning to university – even if they left school with no qualifications. The new unique, nationally-recognised, diploma qualification will be available to all who successfully complete an Access to Higher Education course.

The conference reflects the success of Access to Higher Education and provides an opportunity to hear from former Access to Higher Education students who progressed to university and now have successful new careers. Their stories are illustrated in QAA’s A student guide to the Access to HE Diploma which demonstrates the importance of Access to Higher Education for people of all ages and backgrounds who were unable to, or who decided not to, progress to higher education after leaving school.

Peter Williams, Chief Executive of QAA, says: ‘Access to Higher Education has been a splendid, but largely unsung, success. QAA has been pleased to be associated with that success over the last 10 years and I am delighted to introduce the new Diploma. Over 20,000 students were awarded the Access to Higher Education qualification in 2005-06: the highest figure we have ever seen. Each of those students has a story to tell about how Access to Higher Education changed their life. We hope the Diploma will boost awareness of Access to Higher Education as a quality-assured route to higher education and that more people take advantage of this opportunity to benefit from a university education.’

The re-development of Access to Higher Education follows a request to QAA in the 2003 White Paper The Future of Higher Education. Research carried out by QAA in 2004 showed a need to improve consistency in the description of student achievement across all Access to Higher Education courses in order to support fair and consistent admissions practices.

Peter Williams adds: ‘QAA is responsible for assuring the quality and standards of Access to Higher Education courses. By providing standard requirements for the achievement of the Diploma, and confirming that all Access to Higher Education students’ achievements are described in a consistent way, we can ensure that the Diploma provides a thorough preparation for study at university and that the qualification allows students to be considered fairly and equitably when they apply for admission to higher education institutions.’

By 2008-09, the Access to HE certificate will have been phased out and all QAA-recognised Access to HE courses will lead to the award of the Diploma. Further information about Access to Higher Education can be accessed at www.accesstohe.ac.uk

Ends

Notes to editors

For further information, contact Katie Sharrock, Project Officer
tel 01452 557074, fax 01452 557070,
email k.sharrock@qaa.ac.uk

1 Speakers at the conference include:

2 Media interviews with former Access to Higher Education students and Kath Dentith, Head of Access at QAA, are available on request.

3 The Access to Higher Education Diploma is a credit-based award. For the award of the Diploma, all students must achieve 60 credits, with at least 45 of those being at Level 3, on a planned programme of study.

4 A student guide to the Access to Higher Education Diploma contains stories from seven former Access to Higher Education students and information on how to apply for courses.

5 Key Statistics 2007 contains statistical information about Access to HE in 2005-06.

6 The 2003 White Paper The Future of Higher Education is available at www.dfes.gov.uk/hegateway/strategy/hestrategy/

About QAA

QAA regulates the national recognition of Access to HE courses and is responsible for assuring the quality of recognised courses and the adequacy of standards of student achievement on these courses.

To ensure these responsibilities are met, QAA has established the QAA Recognition Scheme for Access to Higher Education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Scheme has three elements: