Completed Projects
- Linking London
- Continuum International Summer Institute
- University of Boras WP Staff Development
- Baggium Schools
- CABLE
- Aimhigher Hampshire & Isle of Wight
- Intersect HE
- Malmo University WP Staff Development
- Action on Access
- Skills for Adults in the Gauteng, South Africa
- Developing Articulation between the QCF and FHEQ
- Progression Pathways in the CCI sector
- Swedish Study Visits
- HEFCE: HE & Communities - Barking & Dagenham
- Creative Industries - Creative Solutions
- Moving On: The Creative Way
- Support & Recognition for Widening Participation Practitioners
- ESCalate: New Learning Professionals
- ESCalate: Learner Voice
- ESCalate: Virtual Schools Wiki
Please contact us if you would like to commission the Research Team to undertake a research project.
Action on Access National Co-ordination Team for Widening Participation
Continuum Director, John Storan will continue as Director and Regional Advisor for Action on Access following a sucessful bid to HEFCE for the Widening Participation National Co-ordination Team contract.
The Action on Access mission is to promote inclusivity and diversity, and the broadest possible access to higher education. The team will shape and influence both policy and practice and broker dialogue between policy-makers and practitioners. It will also challenge and support the sector, working with a wide range or partners and strategic alliances to help deliver and embed widening participation.
See the Action on Access web site for further information on all aspects of the work of the team.
Skills for Adults in the Gauteng, South Africa
From left to right, the project team: Front: J Storan (UEL), C Fouche, R du Pré, L du Plessis, T Hudson (UEL), M Brits. Back: J Smit, D Mokoena, T Sutherland, J Mokoatala.
Continuum has been awarded funding for a joint project with the Vaal University of Technology (VUT) under the England-Africa Partnership (EAP) scheme funded by the DfES and administered by the British Council. It aims to support HE partnerships between England and sub-Saharan Africa and strengthen capacity in African higher education.
Economically, Gauteng is competitively weak due to high levels of unemployment and low levels of education. Wider access to higher level skills is vital for economic growth in the region. The project, Skills for Adults in the Gauteng, will address specific skills shortages and social exclusion through three strands: teacher re-education; community upliftment through the support of entrepreneurs; and developing policies and instruments for the Recognition of Prior Learning to enable adult workers to access to HE programmes.
VUT and UEL have collaborated for over three years and both universities have a strategic commitment to adult skills development and strong links with their communities. There will be a progress report on this work at the FACE conference, which will have a one day strand devoted to EAP Projects. If you would like further details of the project or dissemination event please contact Continuum.
Developing Articulation between the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) and the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ)
This project, funded by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) will look at the interaction between vocational and academic higher level qualifications. This is in the context of the new Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) currently being developed by the QCA. The research aims to investigate the attitude of HEIs to greater interaction and articulation between vocational and academic higher level qualifications, through the use of credit transfer. This is in the context of a policy climate encouraging these interactions through Lifelong Learning Networks and greater HE/FE interactions.
The fieldwork for this project will involve talking to people at a number of HE Insitiutions with knowledge of the current relationships that the institution has with FE Colleges and the higher level vocational qualifications that they provide; and also with people who work on developing credit transfer opportunities for access to HE from vocational routes. If you would like more information about this project please contact Continuum.
Progression Pathways in the Cultural and Creative Industries Sector: from the new 14-19 Specialised Diplomas to Foundation Degrees
This project funded by Foundation Degree Forward (FDF) will investigate the current progression routes within the cultural and creative industries (CCI) sector towards foundation degrees and beyond. It will consider the potential impact of the new 14-19 Specialised Diplomas on progression to foundation degrees and other higher education courses.
The project will involve talking to those working in Lifelong Learning Networks (LLNs), FE Colleges, HEIs accrediting Foundation Degrees and Employers providing work placements as well as learners in FE Colleges, either on 14-19 programmes or foundation degrees in the CCI sector. For more information on the project please contact Continuum.
Swedish Study Visits
In 2002, the Swedish Special Committee on Recruitment to Higher Education invited Continuum to create and host a number of study visits for Swedish academics who wanted to get a deeper understanding of widening participation and compare work carried out in Sweden with work here in Great Britain. In total, Continuum have orgainsed six very sucessful visits to date.
Continuum now has a new relationship with The Swedish Agency for Networks and Cooperation in Higher Education (NSHU) and is organising a series of study visits for them. The first took place in March 2007 and involved visits to three different HEIs around the country and to the Higher Education Funding Council for England. A report about this visit will appear here shortly.
To read more about previous study visits, please see the past study visits page. If you are interested in planning a study visit to the UK with us, please contact Continuum.
HEFCE: HE & Communities
Continuum has been commissioned by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to undertake research on low participation rates in Higher Education in Barking & Dagenham.
This project will build on research previously commissioned by HEFCE on young peoples’ participation in Higher Education, which provided a rich and complex picture of the social, economic and cultural processes that underpin these low rates. This round of research is a further stage of geographically focused work with a direct emphasis on the facilitation of longer term HE engagement in low participation neighbourhoods and the development of transferable models of practice. The methodology is largely qualitative, and will involve a high level of engagement with young people in the borough.
The Steering Group for the project draws on a wide range of expertise from across the university including Professor David Rose (Acting Pro-Vice Chancellor), Dr Iain MacRury (Director of LERI, SMACCS), Brian Hipkin (Director of Student Services), and of course Professor John Storan and Tony Hudson from Continuum, alongside our FE partners, David Cleall (Head of Creative Industries at Barking College), and John Platten (HE Co-ordinator Havering College), with research support from Jo Finch (Havering College).
For more information about the project, please feel free to contact Karina Berzins.
For more information about the previous round of research – the Four Cities research please see http://www.hefce.ac.uk/news/hefce/2007/4cities.asp
The accompanying film for this project can be found at: http://youtu.be/Dd2hrwZAhMg
Moving On: The Creative Way
The Thames Gateway region has a vibrant creative and cultural industries sector, one which supports employment opportunities and economic prosperity. A significant number of students, in Further Education and VIth Form Colleges, across the region, are studying courses related to the creative and cultural industries. This is a knowledge-based, high skills sector in which graduates form a higher than average proportion of the workforce. Evidence suggests that graduates in creative and cultural subject areas have better employment prospects than those who leave after completing level 3 courses.
After finishing their college course, some students go on to degree level study. Yet a significant number of students take other pathways: they may find jobs, continue to develop their creative skills informally, or make other choices. We want to understand better why some learners following vocational programmes in the creative and cultural subject areas opt to progress to HE whilst others do not.
The Moving On : The Creative Way research project posed questions about college students following creative and cultural courses:
- Why do so few progress to degree level study?
- How do learners decide what to do next?
- What are the social, economic, familial and cultural determinants of educational choice at this level?
- As educational consumers, how do learners perceive the choices open to them? What perceptions of educational and employment opportunities do learners have?
- How do learners perceive the pitfalls and rewards of higher level study?
- What changes are necessary to make degree level study more culturally accessible to college students?
To explore these questions, researchers will conducted a series of group interviews with students in Further Education and VIth Form Colleges and Universities across the Thames Gateway region. The research will focused particularly on gaining an insight on learner perspectives, and also included college tutors, staff offering educational advice, and employers.
The results of this research project were published in a report in September 2008, and distributed to national and regional policy makers and to heads of institutions. This research was commissioned by the Thames Gateway Lifelong Learning Network – The Creative Way.
If you would like further information about Moving On: The Creative Way then please contact Tony Hudson.
Recognition and Support for Widening Participation Practitioners
Background
Providing opportunities for staff involved in widening participation to develop their skills and knowledge and to gain recognition for them is critical to sustaining and embedding widening participation across the education sector.
Continuum has undertaken this scoping study with the Higher Education Academy on Recognition and Support for Widening Participation Practitioners.
Aims
The aims of the scoping study were:
- to identify the existing accreditation opportunities to support widening participation practitioners;
- to identify and explore potential unmet recognition and accreditation needs;
- to develop proposals as to how such practitioners could be supported.
Methods
Web-based search
The providers of existing accreditation opportunities were identified by undertaking a web based search and details of their provision recorded.
On-line survey
An on-line survey was used to gather information on the opportunities that widening participation practitioners have already taken advantage of; as well as identifying and exploring their support and development needs. Practitioners were invited to participate in the survey through a series of targeted e-mails using existing e-mail distribution lists such as JISC mail. In addition all Aimhigher Area Coordinators were advised of the scoping study to enable them to encourage their WP practitioners to contribute to the survey. The questionnaire was conducted between 7th August and 10th September 2006.
Workshop
The findings from the survey were fed into discussions at an invited workshop to be held at HEFCE in London on Monday 25 September 2006. A range of stakeholders were invited to participate in this workshop including: funding bodies, accreditation bodies, deliverers and users. The outcomes of the workshop, as well as the survey, were reported to the HEA in the final report, and will be used as the basis for ongoing discussions around the development of recognition and support for widening participation practitioners.
Benefits and Outcomes
- The development of flexible learning opportunities available to widening participation practitioners to be piloted in 2007.
- To contribute to embedding widening participation in institutions.
- To collect evidence of and build upon the existing provision of work based and experiential learning opportunities for widening participation practitioners.
- To contribute towards professional recognition and career development for widening participation practitioners.
To read the final report please go to the publications page. For further information please contact: Tony Hudson.
Creative Industries - Creative Solutions
Continuum will be leading a joint project: Creative Industries – Creative Solutions with colleagues from Durban University of Technology and the Creative Way Lifelong Learning Network.
The objective of the project is to improve the employability and entrepreneurial skills of Graphic Design students at DUT whilst at the same time forge stronger links between employers and education providers; improving articulation between Further and Higher Education and signposting routes from FE through to HE and into employment.
The main focus of the project will be the set up and operation of a Creative and Cultural Industries Studio/Work Laboratory within the Department of Visual Communication and Design at DUT.
Both UEL and DUT have a significant offer in subjects related to CCI, are situated in deprived multi-cultural areas and share proximity to forthcoming major international sporting events - the 2010 World Cup in Durban and the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Through research and consultancy Continuum has experience and expertise of working with employers, FE and HE partners in the Creative and Cultural Industries. Continuum’ Research Manager, Tony Hudson said: “We’re looking forward to working with colleagues at DUT to improve progression for learners.”
The programme is funded by DIUS and administered by the British Council under the Education Partnerships in Africa Programme.
For more information about the project, please contact Tony Hudson
Support & Recognition for Widening Participation Practitioners
Continuum has been working with the Higher Education Academy to identify both existing accreditation opportunities to support widening participation practitioners as well as their unmet recognition and accreditation needs.
To download the final report please visit our publications page. For more information on the project please go to the recognition and support page or contact Continuum.
Our Newsletter
Now available: Continuum Newsletter
Feedback
Let us know what you think about our website: Feedback form
