Aimhigher is an umbrella term to describe initiatives aimed at
widening participation
Widening participation (WP) in higher education is a major component of government education policy in the United Kingdom and Europe. It consists of an attempt to increase not only the numbers of young people entering higher education, but also th ...
in
UK higher education
Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after comple ...
, particularly among students from non-traditional backgrounds, minority groups and disabled persons.
Aimhigher was an initiative by the former
Department for Education and Skills (DfES), working with the
Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).
Aimhigher was created in 2004 through the integration of two earlier initiatives, Partnerships for Progression (P4P) and Excellence Challenge, bringing together a wide range of partners, including
universities
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...
,
college
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...
s,
school
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes comp ...
s,
training providers and the
Connexions service. On the 25 November 2010,
David Willetts
David Linsay Willetts, Baron Willetts, (born 9 March 1956) is a British politician and life peer. From 1992 to 2015, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the constituency of Havant in Hampshire. He served as Minister of State for ...
, the universities and science minister, announced the closure of the programme at the end of academic year 2010/11 (31 July 2011).
Aimhigher operated in England on a national, regional and area basis, including:
*A range of projects at national level
*Nine regions undertaking cross-regional activities (Although this regional structure ended in July 2008)
*45 areas where most of the planning and delivery takes place
In 2008, the Aimhigher student portal website was merged into the Directgov web resource, and to create an archive of the initiative's activities but that has since been removed. Information about Aimhigher is no longer available on the UK Government website but only on the Internet Archive, for example in the archive of the Aimhigher Pactitioner Website.
References
External links
Aimhigher{{Widening Participation in the United Kingdom
Education enrollment
Higher education organisations based in the United Kingdom