Access Courses After Ten Years: A Review

Abstract

In the 10 years since 1978 there has been an explosion of courses aimed at widening access to higher education. This paper reviews the development of those courses and the issues surrounding them. In general the courses developed in an ad hoc fashion determined at local level. However as the DES draws access provision into the centre of educational policy that local diversity may be threatened. If DES policy on widening access is to succeed then it will have to move beyond exhortation to face major policy issues such as the reallocation of resources: but if it does this then the initial emphasis of practitioners on directing resources at disadvantaged groups may itself be constrained. A coherent strategy is necessary if the original aims of access provision are to be realised.

Assuring quality in Access Courses ‐ the authorized version

“…The initial aim was to enable more people from ethnic minorities to enter higher education in order to increase their numbers in professions such as teaching and community work with a high profile in the inner cities (Millins, 1984). However, the Department of Education and Science's attempt to cater for the specific problems faced by ethnic minorities in their "cultural acclimatization" (Department of Education and Science, 1978) was "In practice generalised by practitioners, including tutors and course organisers, into a concern to widen access to higher education for various groups who had previously been largely excluded" (Lieven, 1989).…”

“…(3) a response by institutions to a predicted 33 per cent fall in the typical student intake (19-year-olds) between 1984 and 1996; and (4) part of government strategy for retraining the adult population for new forms of work and entry into professions (Lieven, 1989).…”

“…The focus on access to education (the participation of adults in post-secondary and higher education) led to a proliferation of programmes which "…emerged in a largely ad hoc manner, dependent on local and often fortuitous coincidences…" (Lieven, 1989). However, the emerging definition was based on two key features: a curriculum concerned with preparing the learner for higher education programmes (or other "progression" routes); and a course or programme of study aimed at "disadvantaged" learners.…”

Mature students’ access to higher education: A critical analysis of the impact of the 23+ policy in Portugal

“…| 395 AMORIM opportunities" and the empowerment of "systemically disadvantaged groups" (Lieven, 1989, p. 162); (ii) the higher education system's transformation: Parry (1989, p. 7) called this the "catalyst argument", i.e., "a means of changing teaching and learning" in higher education; (iii) the qualification of human resources (Lieven, 1989;Osborne, Leopold, & Ferrie, 1997;Parry, 1989); and (iv) institutional survival (Lieven, 1989;Nóvoa, 2007;Osborne, 2003;Parry, 1989;Woodley & Wilson, 2002), as the decrease in the number of "traditional" candidates Buchler, Castle, Osman, & Walters, 2007), i.e., youngsters between 18 and early 20s progressing directly from upper secondary to higher education, made mature students a valuable resource to overcome financial difficulties (Castle, Munro, & Osman, 2006). This means that, in some cases, institutions are driven by "opportunism" rather than by a commitment to the promotion of social justice or change (Nóvoa, 2007).…”