Keynote Speaker - Bev Thomas, Deputy Director for Widening Participation & Teaching Quality, Department for Business, Innovation & Skills

In a bid to strengthen the progress made to date by local widening participation programmes, the Government has outlined a new framework to encourage fair access, focusing on the outcomes rather than the inputs and processes, and placing greater responsibility on higher education institutions.

With the package of radical reforms to the higher education system due to take effect from 2012, preparation and planning begins now. This special symposium offers a valuable opportunity for local widening participation practitioners, universities, FE colleges and schools to:

• Examine the Government's vision for widening participation in higher education
• Discuss how to better attract and retain students from under-represented groups and assess progress
• Consider how to work in partnership to raise aspirations and attainment
• Explore how to identify and target students with potential from disadvantaged backgrounds.

For further details about the symposium, please see the attached flyer.