New Access to HE (Medicine) course launched
16 July 10 
A new Higher Education (HE) qualification has recently been funded by the Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Lifelong Learning Network.
The Access to HE (Medicine & Health Professions) award is a nationally recognised qualification which has been developed through close partnerships among New College Telford, Stafford College, Newcastle-under-Lyme College, Keele University and OCN West Midlands.
This one-year full-time course of study is designed for adults who aspire to qualify as doctors, or allied health professionals, but do not currently hold the requisite qualifications to meet academic requirements for entry onto university programmes in medicine, pharmacy and physiotherapy.
Access to Medicine Diploma courses are currently available in Lewes, London, Norwich, King’s Lynn, Lincoln, Leeds/Bradford, Manchester, Lancaster and Perth; until now there was no provision in the West Midlands area.
In the first development of its kind for our region, Stafford College, New College Telford and Newcastle-under-Lyme College worked together to develop a shared Access to HE (Medicine & Health Professions) Diploma, intended to widen access to medicine, pharmacy and physiotherapy degrees.
The course was the brainchild of Jill Ward, Director of the Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Lifelong Learning Network, and has been developed in close collaboration with the School of Medicine at Keele University.
A project group consisting of representatives from each of the collaborative partners was co-ordinated by Anne Longbottom of the LLN, who commented:
“This is a really good example of the LLN’s ability to broker FE/HE collaboration for the benefit of learners in the region. Each of the partners brought particular expertise and insights to the process and we think the end product has been well worth all the hard work. The University has been particularly supportive in terms of curriculum advice.”
Stafford College and New College Telford will be delivering this diploma from September 2010.
Working alongside its educational partners and some of the region’s notable training providers and employers the remit of the Lifelong Learning Networks is to catalyse innovative new learning opportunities for non-traditional, vocational learners, as well as to deliver formal agreements to enable such learners to progress into, and through, Higher Education, whether into full awards, such as Foundation Degrees, (FD’s) or through other, novel forms of learning.
Since the establishment of the Lifelong Learning Networks, collectively they have achieved over 1,000 Progression Agreements that have resulted in the creation or modification of 250 Higher Education courses and the allocation of 74,000 additional student places across the UK.
To find out more about this course LLN Health & Social Care and Cross-Cutting Themes Co-ordinator Anne Longbottom is available for radio interviews/further comment.
To arrange this contact Marketing Officer Lisa Black on 01785 353811. Email: l.black@staffs.ac.uk