PRESS RELEASE: AccessHE launches free Creative HE Taster Courses for Y12 and 13s in the capital

December 16th, 2020

From Thursday 17th December, year 12 and 13 students in London will be able to freely access a new set of online courses developed by AccessHE and creative partners.

Designed to reveal creative higher education (HE) in a new light to learners and their teachers, the AccessHE Creative courses contain valuable information on the subject areas of Art & Design, Film & Media, Performing Arts and Music. Through a series of short videos and interactive quizzes, students will learn what they can expect to study in their chosen subject at HE level, how to apply to a variety of creative courses, where to start making professional connections through events/networks in London, and which career pathways are available to them after studying a creative subject at HE level.  

The courses – developed with a range of Creative HE stakeholders, including Ravensbourne University, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, South Essex College, Urdang Academy, Rose Bruford College, Arts Emergency and Purple Moon Drama – feature staff, current students and creative professionals to offer a rounded perspective of the creative industries. They form part of AccessHE’s work as a delivery partner in the government-funded Uni Connect programme in London to increase information on the benefits and realities of going to university or college for underrepresented students.     

The courses are designed to work for a variety of educational purposes. They can be easily embedded into lesson plans, be set as homework or completed as extracurricular HE preparation by students, and are supported in a number of formats, including mobile and tablet. The AccessHE Creative courses act as a starting point for further research and exploration into studying a creative subject at HE, in tandem with the AccessHE and Ukadia Creative Apply Guide, which was published earlier in 2020. 

AccessHE has partnered with the Big Creative Education – London’s largest creative college – to trial embedding the courses into the curriculum for 100 learners, the majority from BAME backgrounds.  

Victoria Spence, Director for Careers, Research and Partnerships at the Big Creative Education, said 

Students are really enjoying completing AccessHE’s Creative online courses, because they understand the clear line of sight to higher education and industry. The courses are clear and insightful, and break down the fear factor of going to university. 

Dr Diana Beech, Chief Executive of London Higher, said  

I am delighted to see the launch of these courses from Access HE, which are designed to showcase the creative sector to students making higher education choices. As the last year has shown, the growth of digital connectivity has enabled more people than ever to access resources, materials, and innovative ways of learning. These courses will enable students to make important connections, while opening up the exciting world of the creative industries to students from all backgrounds.   

Dr Graeme Atherton, Head of AccessHE and Director of NEON, said  

It is crucial that learners from all social backgrounds have the opportunity to progress to higher education courses related to the creative industries. The partnership between AccessHE and Big Creative Education will go some way to providing the pathways that all learners, particularly those underrepresented in these courses at higher education need.  

To access the courses, visit www.accesshecreative.ac.uk  

 

ENDS 

For more information, please contact Beth Hayden, Uni Connect Outreach Coordinator, via beth.hayden@londonhigher.ac.uk.

Notes 

  1. A key division of London Higher and the largest collaborative network of its kind, AccessHE is the pan-London organisation supporting under-represented groups throughout their higher education (HE) learner journeys. AccessHE does this by enabling HE institutions (HEIs), schools, colleges and local authorities to achieve their objectives on widening access to HE and delivering improved student outcomes more efficiently and effectively. For more information on AccessHE, please go to https://www.accesshe.ac.uk/ 
  2. AccessHE Creative is a collaboration between the following institutions: Ravensbourne University, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, South Essex College, Urdang Academy, Rose Bruford College, Arts Emergency and Purple Moon Drama. 
  3. AccessHE Creative is funded by the Uni Connect Programme, which offers impartial advice and guidance on college and university. AccessHE is one of the delivery partners of Uni Connect in London. For more information on Uni Connect, visit https://www.ofsuniconnect.org/  
  4. To access the online courses, go to www.AccessHECreative.ac.uk 
  5. Download the 2016 report, ‘The more colours you add, the nicer the picture’ (2016) 
  6. The AccessHE Ukadia Creative Apply Guide 2.0 is available to download from the ‘Practitioner Resources‘ area of the AccessHE website here (2-page spread version) and here (single-page version) and the accompanying worksheets are available here.