Reaching Wider

Ymestyn yn Ehangach Partneriaeth Gogledd Cymru

Reaching Wider North Wales Partnership

Reaching Wider North Wales Partnership

“Too many people who could potentially benefit from HE still believe that higher education is not for them. HE must break down these perceived barriers.” (Higher Education and the Learning Country, March 2002)

The Reaching Wider initiative

In collaboration with local partners, Glyndŵr University has been a key player in promoting and developing a range of different Reaching Wider activities to raise awareness of higher education.

The Reaching Wider initiative is a Wales-wide, Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) strategy, established in 2002, to widen participation and access to higher education, supporting social inclusion and upskilling.   It aims to increase participation in higher education from groups and communities in Wales, where participation is low, by creating a wide range of study opportunities and learning pathways to higher education. 

The Reaching Wider initiative is managed by the Community University of North Wales (a partnership of the two higher education institutions and eight further education colleges in North Wales) and funded by HEFCW.  Four regional Reaching Wider Partnerships have been established with a membership of all higher and further education institutions in Wales. 
The Partnership in North Wales aims to raise learning aspirations and provide new learning opportunities for people of all ages to enable them to fulfil their academic potential.  
The Reaching Wider initiative focuses on four main groups of people who are currently under-represented in Higher Education. These groups are those living in Communities First areas, people from ethnic minority communities, those who wish to study through the medium of Welsh and people who have a disability.

HEFCW has indicated the scope of activities they may consider eligible for funding and these include:

• Activities that take account of the outcomes of the Leitch, Webb and Graham reviews
• Provision that bridges the further/higher education interface
• Activities that raise aspirations, confidence and achievement and widen access to Higher Education
• Mapping progression routes to higher education
• Activities that address the skills deficit in North Wales
• Family oriented schemes which bring parents/carers and children together to raise the aspirations of both and to enable them to be mutually supportive
• Activities that encourage participation at HE level for those who wish to study through the medium of Welsh, for those who are from minority ethnic backgrounds and people with a disability.

For more information, please contact the Reaching Wider Area Liaison Officer for North Wales:

Tel: 01352 744065

Email: ems613@bangor.ac.uk