Continuum - Widening Participation

Welcome to Continuum:

Professor John Storan, Continuum Director, met the new First Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills, Lord President of the Council following his appointment.

Following Lord Mandelson's first major HE speech, John said,

"I warmly welcome the speech and in particular the comments which  recognised the centrality of widening HE access and the value and significance of the social role of universities. Lord Mandelson also said that he was impatient in the wake of Alan Milburn's report on social mobility for more progress recognising that access to HE will inevitably define the degree of social mobility in Britain. The areas highlighted in the speech are critical to the work of Continuum so we will look forward to working with Lord Mandelson and colleagues over the coming months."

The Government has created a new department for Business, Innovation & Skills whose key role will be to build Britian's capabilities to compete in the global economy.

The new department which Lord Mandelson heads up, which includes higher education, has been created by merging BERR and DIUS.

The merger will create a single department committed to building Britian's future economic strengths. To compete in a global economy and create jobs of the future, Britian requires a regulatory environment that encourages enterprise, skilled people, innovation and world-class science and research. The merger of BERR and DIUS brings together the parts of the government with key expertise in these areas.

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Continuum Aims:

Continuum - the centre for widening participation policy studies is the first research centre of its kind in the UK.

The aim of Continuum is to provide a focus for critical understanding of widening participation policy and practice.

Continuum has developed a wide portfolio of work concerned with:

• Research into widening participation policy - regionally, nationally and internationally.
• Developing a critical understanding of the interrelationships between widening participation policy and practice.
• Establishing a major resource base to support the analysis and understanding of widening participation policy and practice.
• Developing collaborative and partnership modes of working to further understanding of widening participation.

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© 2010