We recognise that your role is crucial in supporting your learners to access Higher Education and we want to help.
You can use our website to book a wide range of events and activities for your learners, as well as to find out more about our programme and how we can support your school/college.
Our programme was developed in consultation with teachers, advisors and other stakeholders. It is designed to be collaborative, impartial and targeted. Please take a look at our Core Programmes to find out more about events and activities for your learners as well as CPD opportunities for staff.
Bookings can be made via our Events & Activities page.

Take a look at our activity programmes
Pre-16 Target Postcode Programme
Download PDFPost-16 Target Postcode Programme
Download PDFAll Schools Programme (Y9-13)
Download PDFTargeted Learners Programme
Download PDFGatsby Benchmarks
As careers aspirations play a significant role in decision-making about higher education, we are working to embed careers related content into our activities (with a higher-level skills focus).
All of our activities support Gatsby Benchmark 7 ‘Encounters with further and higher education’, all other benchmarks noted on our activities are indicative of which Gatbsy benchmarks they may contribute to. For more information, please contact gmhigher@mmu.ac.uk.
We have highlighted which activities support which Gatsby Benchmarks in each of our Core Programmes.
- 01 A stable careers programme
-
02
Learning from career and labour market information
Activities relating to Gatsby Benchmark
- Industry Insights
- Online Mentoring (Insight Programme)
-
03
Addressing the needs of each pupil
Activities relating to Gatsby Benchmark
- 1-2-1 HE guidance
- Projects
-
04
Linking curriculum learning to careers
Activities relating to Gatsby Benchmark
- Curriculum Connections
- Industry Insights
-
05
Encounters with employers and employees
Activities relating to Gatsby Benchmark
- Industry Insights
- Online Mentoring (Insight Programme)
- 06 Experiences of workplaces
-
07
Encounters with further and higher education
Activities relating to Gatsby Benchmark
- Choice Days
- 'A day in the life of a student'
- Curriculum Connections
- On-site / In-school activities
- Go Further Mentoring
- Online Mentoring (Insight, Application and HE Explore programmes)
- Uni:4U Summer Schools
-
08
Personal guidance
Activities relating to Gatsby Benchmark
- 1-2-1 HE guidances
- Online Mentoring (Insight, Application and HE Explore programmes)
Regional Progression Framework
Higher education outreach is most effective when it is delivered as a progressive, sustained programme of activity and engagement over time. Our Regional Progression Framework supports teachers and careers leaders in planning work with Greater Manchester Higher. It also connects to Gatsby Benchmarks.
Our Framework is based on three phases of learning and preparation for higher education:
- Introductory
- Development
- Consolidation
It has the following six themes: LO1 Awareness, LO2 Pathways, LO3 Attainment, LO4 Finance, LO5 Career Ready, LO6 Confidence and Resilience. Each phase is broadly aligned to Key Stages 3, 4, 5 but are not fixed to them. This means that different GM Higher activities can be assigned according to the learner’s current level of knowledge and exposure to higher education.
Our Regional Progression Framework was updated in July 2021 after consultation with our stakeholders and staff:
https://gmhigher.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/RPF-July-2021.pdf
FAQs
All schools and colleges will be supported by a Hub Manager who will facilitate a structured needs analysis and planning process. Through this process, you will be supported to access relevant GM Higher activities for your learners, as well as signposting to events and activities at our partner institutions.
You can also use our Regional Progression Framework as a tool to help map activity across the learning outcomes for your learners.
If you require additional support with planning your engagement or have questions about any of our activities please contact gmhigher@mmu.ac.uk
Our targeted outreach programme of in-school/college presentations and workshops is for year 10-13 learners only.
We also offer a programme of activities and events that are available for year 9-13 learners from targeted learner groups (e.g. care experienced learners, disabled learners, young carers, learners on Free School Meals).
For more information and to find out what events are available for your learners, please email gmhigher@mmu.ac.uk.
Please review our Event Booking Checklist and our Cancellation Policy.
All of our activities are fully-funded—there is no charge to schools, colleges or learners.
We need schools and colleges to support the monitoring and evaluation of our work so that we can evidence impact and comply with our funding requirements. The standard requirement is to provide learner registers prior to all activities and complete activity evaluation.
A requirement of our Office for Students funding is to track learner destinations so that long-term impact can be measured.
We ask learners to opt in to the collection and processing of their personal data for tracking and evaluation purposes via our Destination Tracking Forms. We require Destination Tracking Forms to be completed for all learners who take part in our activities.
Further information about our data collection and GDPR compliance can be found in the GMH Data Collection & GDPR Compliance document.
GM Higher aims to support the government’s social mobility goals by increasing the number of young people from under-represented groups who go into higher education.
The Uni Connect programme focuses on target wards, which are identified by areas where higher education participation is lower than what might be expected given the GCSE results of the young people who live there.
Pre-16
For any school-organised activity 66% of learners need to be from a target postcode.
For the remaining 33%, learners from the following groups should be targeted:
- Looked after children/care leavers
- Learners with disabilities (including long-term health conditions and additional needs)
- Young carers
- Free school meals
- First generation HE
- Asylum seeker/refugee status
- Military family/service children
For activities where individual learners sign up, those who meet postcode criteria will be prioritised, followed by those who meet additional WP criteria.
For 1-2-1s we expect 100% of the learners to be from a target postcode due to the intensity of the intervention.
Post-16
For any college-organised activity 50% of learners need to be from either a Uni Connect target or POLAR 4 Q1/Q2 postcode.
For the remaining 50%, learners from the following groups should be targeted:
- Looked after children/care leavers
- Learners with disabilities (including long-term health conditions and additional needs)
- Young carers
- Estranged students
- First generation HE
- Asylum seeker/refugee status
- Military family/service children
For activities where individual learners sign up, those who meet postcode criteria will be prioritised, followed by those who meet additional WP criteria.
For 1-2-1s we expect 100% of the learners to be from a target postcode or a POLAR 4 Q1 or Q2 postcode due to the intensity of the intervention.
We can provide CPD sessions for teachers and advisors to provide impartial information around key higher education themes.
We can deliver sessions ranging from 30 minutes to 2 hours either as a twilight session or as part of an INSET day.
This activity is available on request and can be tailored to your school/college requirements. Please email gmhigher@mmu.ac.uk for more information.
Resources for teachers
GM Higher documents
Postcode Tool - to help you to quickly identify target postcode learners within your learner cohort and collate activity registers for engagement
https://gmhigher.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/GMH-Uni-Connect-Targeting-Tool-SEP-2022.xlsm
Postcode Tool video - a quick 'step by step' guide on how to use the postcode tool
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deA63O228Ec
Guidance on how to password protect an activity register
https://gmhigher.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Password-instructions.pdf
Schools Partnership Agreement - a document outlining expectations and key policies
https://gmhigher.glasscubes.com/share/s/gn8b3008r7d61m188tiec5sq01
Event Booking Checklist
https://gmhigher.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/event-booking-checklist-2021.pdf
Risk Assessment for in School/College Face-to-Face delivery
https://gmhigher.glasscubes.com/share/s/lsd5m0p0p69o32pj122kvg46k8
Regional Progression Framework - a useful tool to inform your planning of HE progression support and outreach activity for your learners
https://gmhigher.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/RPF-July-2021.pdf
Classroom Resources and Lesson Activities
https://www.ucas.com/advisers/post-16-resources/classroom-resources
https://www.manchester.ac.uk/connect/teachers/teacher-events-resources/resources/
Information for advisors
https://www.ucas.com/advisers/guides-resources-and-training/guides-and-resources/adviser-newsletters
https://russellgroup.ac.uk/policy/publications/informed-choices/
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apprenticeships-resources-for-teachers-and-advisers
Additional support at uni - for estranged students, care leavers, young carers, disabled learners
https://gmhigher.ac.uk/targeted-learners
Student Finance
https://www.gov.uk/get-undergraduate-student-loan
http://www.ucas.com/sfe
See what's available for your school / college
Events & ActivitiesTeacher CPD that you may be interested in

On Request

Breaking Barriers
26 Jan 2023
9.30am-3pm
Event providers: University of Bolton

Maths Teacher CPD
15 Mar 2023
9:45 am - 2:30 pm
Event providers: Manchester Metropolitan University