Go Higher West Yorkshire Guest Blog

We are living through exceptional times, but what has not changed is our commitment to supporting students to make informed decisions about their next steps in education. Go Higher West Yorkshire is a partnership of Higher Education providers that supports pupils to access success in and progression from Higher Education. Our members are Bradford College, University of Bradford, Calderdale College, University of Huddersfield, Kirklees College, University of Leeds, Leeds Arts University, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds College of Building, Leeds City College, Leeds College of Music, Leeds Trinity University, Wakefield College.

Our members have been working hard since the lock-down to make sure that young people have the support they need to make informed decisions. From open days to webinars or enabling students to hear from or ask questions of current students, we’ve got it covered.

We are developing our outreach information and signposting service for schools and colleges within West Yorkshire. The Office for Students’ (OfS) Uni Connect Programme provides impartial advice and guidance on going to college and university. This service will help you to achieve your Gatsby Benchmarks, particularly Gatsby Benchmark 7, by providing you with useful links, resources and information to create meaningful encounters between your students and Higher Education.

We want to ensure that every student, regardless of their background, can have a fulfilling experience of higher education that enriches their lives and careers. We do this both online and offline, working to engage schools and colleges with our diverse partnership of local Higher Education providers, highlighting what they can offer prospective students.

Take a look at our resources, expanding over 13 topics relating to Higher Education, they can help you plan fun and engaging activities for your students, whether they are continuing to learn from home or are back in the classroom. We also have a dedicated events listing to help showcase the range of opportunities available from our members.

Higher Education Virtual Festival

And finally, whilst physical events are currently on-hold, this has not stopped our members developing a ‘Higher Education Virtual Festival’ , which will be held from 13 – 17 July 2020, providing a week of activity to support Year 12 and 13 students make informed choices about their next steps.

There will be activities relevant for all Year 12 students exploring their options as well as Year 13 students who have not yet applied to Higher Education and might be interested in a ‘direct to clearing’ route.

Students, parents, teachers and advisers will be able to access a range of activities and materials to support them in making the most of the information and services available leading up to GCSE and A-Level results, including the 2020 clearing process.

The week will consist of activities, keynote sessions, podcasts, blogs and Q&A sessions. We hope you and your students enjoy the week.