Alive and Kicking - Perspectives on Access Education

This symposium brings together a range of researchers whose focus is on Access Education. They come from different perspectives based in both further and higher education and represent the diversity that exists in Access provision. For example the Access to HE Diploma (AHED ) is accredited by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) at level three and is usually taught in colleges. However, some universities deliver in-house bespoke Access courses that range in duration from one semester to a full academic year, covering a range of skills and subjects, but with a focus on internal progression. The aims of symposium are to bring together people working in this field with the hope of building a sustainable network for the future; to re-establish why Access education continues to be an important aspect of widening participation and lifelong learning and finally to identify contemporary themes that are pertinent to current research into Access education. The researchers represented in this symposium utilise a range of approaches and or methods including, interviews, focus groups, case studies and practice-based action research.