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Government Bodies

Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF)
The purpose of the Department for Children, Schools and Families is to make this the best place in the world for children and young people to grow up. Their aim is to make children and young people happy and healthy, keep them safe and sound, give them a top class education and help them stay on track.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS)
The merger of BERR and DIUS brings together the parts of the government with key expertise in enterprise, innovation, and world-class science and research.

National Organisations

Aimhigher Practitioner Website
Aimhigher Practioner website supports delivery by Aimhigher practitioners at an area level. It contains programme information and news, examples of Aimhigher activities, communications resources, links to related websites and a contact directory.

Aimhigher Student Portal
Direct.gov comprises information on all the public services available. Information for students can be found on topics such as student finance, how to apply to HE, careers, accomodation and the benefits of HE.

Association of Colleges (AoC)
The Association of Colleges exists to represent and promote the interests of Colleges and provide members with professional support services. They are the authoritative voice of Colleges – based on credible analysis, research, advocacy and consultation with Colleges – and the first choice destination for guidance and advice for members.

Association of Learning Providers (ALP)
Their goal is to influence the education, skills and employment agenda to secure an integrated employment and skills strategy, meeting employer and individual needs, a 14-19 learning curriculum giving equal weight to the vocational and academic, opportunities for lifelong learning and sustainable employment for all and a government-supported market open to all providers offering high-quality learning

Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL)
The Association of School and College Leaders is the only professional association and trade union in Britain to speak exclusively for secondary school and college leaders. The association has more than 14,000 members including secondary heads, deputy heads, assistant heads, bursars and business managers, college principals, vice-principals and others with whole school/college responsibility.

Continuum - Research centre for widening participation policy studies
As the first UK research centre focusing on the study of widening participation policies, Continuum was officially opened in April 2003 by the then Minister of State for Lifelong Learning and Higher Education. The centre has a clear mission to support and inform developments concerned with widening participation in post compulsory education.

Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FoSIS)
Established in 1962, FoSIS stands for the Federation of Student Islamic Societies, a body that caters for the needs of Muslim students in further and higher education across the UK and Ireland. At the heart of their vision, there are two central aims - to represent and serve Muslim students.

Forum for Access and Continuing Education (FACE)
Established in 1993, FACE is an active UK wide network for all those involved with Access, Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning. As a multi-sector practitioners network, FACE and its members are at the forefront of the challenges involved in providing learning opportunities for all. As an inclusive organisation FACE encourages collaboration and partnership whilst maintaining a member-driven voice on key issues for learners and providers.

Foundation Degree Forward (FDF)
To meet the demands of workforce development, business improvement and the knowledge economy, FDF will seek to stimulate, support and sustain employer partnerships with higher education.

Funding an Education
FundingEducation is a portal to articles on a huge range of issues surrounding how to pay for your child's education. The pages on this site are divided into categories according to your child's age and school type. So there is information on paying your child's pre-school education bills, school fees for private schools, and up-to-date articles on the rapidly changing area of further education and the cost of attending university.

GOALS Project
GOALS aims to introduce the idea of higher education to primary and secondary pupils who might not otherwise have thought that university or college was for them.

Guild HE
Guild HE of a sustainable, diverse and dynamic higher education sector which plays a full part in the development of a well-educated and socially inclusive nation; enhances the UK's economic competitiveness; and fosters cultural engagement, knowledge creation and exchange in a global context.

Higher Education Academy (HEA)
The HEA supports institutions in widening participation and enhancing the learning experience of students from all backgrounds.

Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)
The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) distributes public money for teaching and research to universities and colleges. In doing so, it aims to promote high quality education and research, within a financially healthy sector. The Council also plays a key role in ensuring accountability and promoting good practice.

HEFCE Widening Participation pages
Widening access and improving participation in higher education are a crucial part of their mission and form one of their strategic aims. HEFCE's aim is to promote and provide the opportunity of successful participation in higher education to everyone who can benefit from it. This is vital for social justice and economic competitiveness.

Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI)
Our aim is to ensure as far as possible that higher education policy development in the UK is informed by research and by knowledge of the experience of others.

Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)
The Higher Education Statistics Agency is the official agency for the collection, analysis and dissemination of quantitative information about higher education. It was set up by agreement between the relevant government departments, the higher education funding councils and the universities and colleges in 1993, following the White Paper “Higher Education: a new framework”, which called for more coherence in HE statistics, and the 1992 Higher and Further Education Acts, which established an integrated higher education system throughout the United Kingdom.

Innovations Team
The Innovations programme contributed to the development of a curriculum and learning environment that prepares students for the world of work in the 21st century and enhances the opportunity for appropriate learning within work.

LEA Curriculum Advisers Network (LEACAN)
LEACAN 14+ Ltd is a charitable, national network with a specific focus on 14-19 strategic development. Membership is open to education inspectors, advisers, officers and designated consultants employed by Local Authorities and local Learning and Skills Councils in strategic roles with a specific remit for 14-19 planning and development.

Learning and Skills Council (LSC)
The Learning and Skills Council exists to make England better skilled and more competitive. They have a single goal: to improve the skills of England’s young people and adults to ensure we have a workforce of world-class standard.

Learning and Skills Network (LSN)
The Learning and Skills Network (LSN) is an independent not-for-profit organisation committed to making a difference to education and training.They aim to do this by delivering quality improvement and staff development programmes that support specific government initiatives, through research, training and consultancy; and by supplying services directly to schools, colleges and training organisations.

Lifelong Learning Networks National Forum (LLNs)
Lifelong Learning Networks focus on progression into and through vocational education. They aim to create new learning opportunities; forge agreement across institutions on how qualifications are valued; and produce publicity to help people understand how they can progress through the system.

National Association of Student Money Advisers (NASMA)
NASMA acts as a focus for information exchange between practitioners in the field of student funding, bringing together professionals from across the sector and encouraging the free exchange of ideas and consultation with national decision makers on areas concerning student finance and funding.

National Institute for Adult Continuing Education (NIACE)
The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education aims to encourage all adults to engage in learning of all kinds.

National Open College Network (NOCN)
National Open College Network is the leading credit-based Awarding Body in the UK, offering high quality, flexible, credit-based qualifications and is accredited by the Regulatory Authorities in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

National Union of Students (NUS)
NUS is a voluntary membership organisation which makes a real difference to the lives of students and its member students' unions. Through their member students' unions, they represent the interests of more than seven million students.

Office for Fair Access (OFFA)
OFFA was established in the Higher Education Act 2004 as a measure to ensure that the introduction of higher tuition fees in 2006-07 did not have a detrimental effect on widening participation and that institutions are explicitly committed to increasing the participation rates of under-represented groups.

Pure Potential
Pure Potential is the only independent organisation in the country that helps tens of thousands of bright, state-educated students with their journey through student finance, UCAS forms and career choices. All their services are completely free to students.

Quality Assurance Agency (QAA)
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education was established in 1997 to provide independent assessment of how higher education institutions in the UK maintain their academic standards and quality.

Quality Improvement Agency (QIA)
QIA's vision is for a learning and skills sector known for the excellence of its achievements and the public value it creates, its ability to meet the changing needs of individuals, society and the economy and its inventiveness, capacity to innovate and ability to find creative responses to new challenges

Skill: National Bureau for Students with Disabilities
Skill are a national independent charity that promotes opportunities for people in learning and entry to employment. Since 1974 they have been helping young people and adults over 16 years of age with any kind of impairment including physical and sensory disabilities, learning and mental health difficulties throughout the UK. They believe that for many disabled people education is the key to leading a fulfilling and independent life.

Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT)
The SSAT aim to give practical support to transforming secondary education in England by building and enabling a world-class network of innovative, high-performing secondary schools in partnership with business and the wider community.

Student Finance
A government source containing a wealth of information for students regarding finance whilst studying at university. Areas of information include eligibilty, applying for finance, extra help, what happens after year 1 and repaying student loans.

Supported Integration Training and Employment (SITE)
Supported Integration, Training and Employment is a charity for blind and visually impaired people covering Glasgow and the West of Scotland. They give expert care, advice and training to anyone affected by sight loss, right where it's needed most.

Supporting Professionalism in Admissions (SPA)
The SPA programme was established in 2006 and works closely with higher education institutions, schools and colleges and other stakeholders on the continuing development of fair admissions and good practice in admissions, student recruitment and widening participation across the UK higher education sector.

Teaching Quality Information (TQI)
The Teaching Quality Information website was launched in August 2004 with a view to providing potential students with easy access to official information about the quality of higher education in UK universities and colleges.

TechDis
The JISC TechDis Service aims to be the leading educational advisory service, working across the UK, in the fields of accessibility and inclusion. Their mission is to support the education sector in achieving greater accessibility and inclusion by stimulating innovation and providing expert advice and guidance on disability and technology

Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA)
The Training and Development Agency for Schools is the national agency and recognised sector body responsible for the training and development of the school workforce. They play a central role in supporting the workforce to help children and young people meet the outcomes of the Every Child Matters agenda. Their guiding vision is developing people and improving young lives.

UK Active Map of Universities and HE Institutions
A section of the University of Wolverhampton's website that allows the user to search for higher education institutions across the country.

UK Commission for Employment and Skills
Our ambition is to benefit employers, individuals and government by advising how improved employment and skills systems can help the UK become a world-class leader in productivity, in employment and in having a fair and inclusive society: all this in the context of a fast-changing global economy.

Brightside UNIAID
Are a national educational charity, formed from the merger of The Brightside Trust and The UNIAID Foundation.
The vision is of a society where all individuals are inspired and empowered to achieve their potential through education and employment.


Unistats
Unistats, from Universities and Colleges in the UK, brings together authoritative, official information in one place, in a way that is not available on any other website. HEFCE (the Higher Education Funding Council for England) owns the Unistats websites and has contracted UCAS to manage the delivery and maintenance of these websites on its behalf.

Universities Association for Continuing Education (UACE)
The University Continuing Education Association serves as an important resource to the profession. Its members rely on the Association for timely, cross-disciplinary perspectives on pressing concerns as well as for strategies that can help them respond to the growing population of adults and non-traditional students seeking continuous learning opportunities.

Universities UK
Universities UK is the major representative body and membership organisation for the higher education sector. Together with Higher Education Wales and Universities Scotland, they work to advance the interests of universities and to spread good practice throughout the higher education sector.

University and College Union (UCU)
UCU is the largest trade union and professional association for academics, lecturers, trainers, researchers and academic-related staff working in further and higher education throughout the UK.

Widening Participation in Learning Unit, Skills for Health
Originally connected to the Department of Health, the Widening Participation in Learning Strategy Unit was established to support the National Director, Professor Bob Fryer. In April 2008, the Widening Participation in Learning Strategy Unit came under the wing of Skills for Health, the Sector Skills Council, to assist in joined-up policy and projects.

Regional or Area Organisations

West London Lifelong Learning Network (WLLLN)
The West London Lifelong Learning Network is a government funded partnership that aims to increase the number of vocational learners progressing to and through Higher Education. The WL LLN is committed to joint working with their academic partners to help achieve their goals.

South West Lifelong Learning (SWLLN)
The SWLLN is a Partnership which aims to create a greater quality of choice in Higher Education for work-based, vocational learners in the region. It is part of a national Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) initiative. The SWLLN has been given £3.4 million to develop its activities until July 2009.

University of Worcestershire - Widening Participation
The Widening Participation Unit has an on-going timetable of events. These include School Visit Days, Sports Science Summer School, Drama Summer School and many more.The Widening Participation team also work to inform wider policy and strategies within the University to make sure procedures are inclusive.

West Yorkshire Aimhigher Mentoring Service
WYAMS is a service to enable, empower, embed and encourage Aimhigher staff, to use mentoring, to meet the objectives of Aimhigher.

International/Overseas Organisations

Council for Opportunity in Education, USA (COE)
The Council for Opportunity in Education is a nonprofit organisation, established in 1981, dedicated to furthering the expansion of educational opportunities throughout the United States. Through its numerous membership services, the Council works in conjunction with colleges, universities, and agencies that host TRIO Programs to specifically help low-income students enter college and graduate.

European Access Network
The European Access Network encourages wider access to higher education for those who are currently under-represented, whether for reasons of gender, ethnic origin, nationality, age, disability, family background, vocational training, geographic location, or earlier educational disadvantage.

Department of Education in Northern Ireland (DENI)
The Department of Education is responsible for the central administration of all aspects of education and related services in Northern Ireland - excepting the higher and further education sector, responsibility for which is within the remit of the Department for Employment and Learning.

Department for Employment and Learning Northern Ireland (DELNI)
DELNI's aim is to promote learning and skills, to prepare people for work and to support the economy. Their objectives are to promote economic, social and personal development through high quality learning, research and skills training and to help people into employment and promote good employment practices.

Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW)
Access to higher education for those with the potential to benefit from it has always been HEFCW’s aim. They encourage Welsh higher education institutions to draw students of all ages from all sections of the community. Their core grant to HEIs supports this approach. It includes premium, or extra, payments for widening access and disabled students.

West of Scotland Wider Access Forum
The West of Scotland Wider Access Forum seeks to support member organisations in their efforts to widen access to, and participate in, further and higher education, to provide appropriate information and guidance for students and potential students, to improve student retention, to facilitate student progression from one programme of study to another and to support students in transition between the sectors.