Welcome!

I’m Sophie, a recent University of Manchester graduate who now works as an intern in in the Access and Success Team! I’m from a Widening Participation (WP) background myself, and it's so interesting and exciting to see how the team works from the other side. I wanted to give an overview of the Manchester Distance Access Scheme, or MDAS, particularly with the perspective of someone who studied a humanities subject, since I’m a history graduate myself.

Hello and welcome back to another blog post in our series ‘University: Explained’. New intern Faryal will be talking through the similarities and differences between College and University, including things such as cost, lessons and extracurricular activities.

Hello and welcome back to another blog post in our series ‘University: Explained’. Today we’ll be finding out more about University Open Days. You may have already heard about Open Days or been told by your teachers to go to some. However, what are Open Days? How do they help you prepare for applying to university? Is it worth travelling across the country to attend Open Days? We’ll be answering these questions and more in this blog post!

In the first post in our new series 'Study the Student', we talk to First Year Medicine student, Aaliyah Riaz about all things university and taking part in the Manchester Access Programme. Read on to find out more about Aaliyah's favourite things about studying Medicine, plans for the future and how MAP helped in preparing Aaliyah for university. There will also be some really helpful tips and advice for current GCSE and A Level/BTEC students on how to start researching and preparing for university and how to take care of your mental health and wellbeing whilst studying.

If you're in high school or sixth form at the moment then thinking about what you might want to do after University is probably not something you're focusing on too much! That's totally fine, as it is a long way away. However, some jobs require specific degrees, so if you have a specific career in mind then it might be good to start having a look into them now before you apply to university. Alternatively, many jobs (like mine!) don't require a degree in a specific subject, simply a degree in any subject. In this case you might want to think about what subjects you enjoy studying and whether you might like to study this at degree level, rather than having to study a specific degree for a particular job. Either way, I thought it might be fun to talk through a day in my life as a Graduate Intern at the University of Manchester to give you an idea of what a graduate job might look like. Please note though that every job is different and some graduate roles may have very different structures!

There can be a lot of things to think about when preparing to apply for university, which can be especially confusing if you don't know anyone who has gone to university before! In the newest instalment of our series 'University: Explained', we talk through all things University Accommodation, from the different types of places you can stay, to the differences between catered and uncatered halls and the key student halls areas in Manchester!

Happy New Year! We're back for another Scheme of the Semester! This time we're discussing all things 'Pathways to Law'- a two year scheme aimed at students interested in an education and career in law. Read on to find out more about the scheme, its benefits and who is eligible.

There can be a lot of things to think about when preparing to apply for university, which can be especially confusing if you don't know anyone who has gone to university before! In the first instalment of our new series 'University: Explained' we talk through how to choose the right university and course for you to help you in your decision-making process.

In the third instalment of our 'Research the Researcher' series, we speak to PhD Student in Political Philosophy and ultra-marathon runner, Matt, about his research into human and animal rights and his journey into postgraduate research.

Join us for the first blog post in the new series: Cracking the Course. Here we discuss all things Classics, Ancient History, Archaeology and Egyptology and how they might be more accessible degree options than you think! We also have a great Q&A with Egyptology lecturer Dr Nicky Nielsen to discuss the courses in more detail.

It's that time of year again! A new semester means a new Scheme of the Semester post, but this time I've decided to switch it up a little. Read more to find out about the Unibuddy chat platform and how it can help you in finding out more about coming to study at university.

Hi everyone, I am the new Access Manchester/MDAS intern, Nikki! This blog post is just a quick introduction to myself and also a rundown of what blog posts and series I am hoping to start (and continue!) over the next year.

Part 5 of our 'Student finance: in real life' series is here! We speak to Lizzie in this instalment, who graduated from The University of Manchester in 2017 with a BSc in Psychology. Lizzie found applying for student finance "really confusing" but it "didn't cause her as much stress as she thought it would" during her student days. She's now a Trainee Clinical Psychologist for the NHS and says uni was definitely a good investment for lots of reasons - click to find out more!

In this post, we speak with the University's Head of Widening Participation (WP) and Outreach Stephanie Lee about all things widening participation. She gives us a history of WP initiatives at UoM and how these have developed since 2003, as well as telling us about some of her favourite moments during her time at the University. Click to enter into a world of WP!

This blog post unpicks what contextual offers and contextual admissions are (don’t worry – we will explain these shortly!) and how these initiatives could help you earn an offer to study at The University of Manchester.

In this instalment of our 'Research the Researcher' series, we speak to the brilliant Jack. Jack is a Postgraduate Researcher within the KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology (how cool?!) as well as a WP Fellow, and talks to us about his journey into research from the Wirral to Manchester, with a stop-off in Sweden on the way.

It's here - part 4 of our 'Student finance: in real life' series! In this episode, we talk to Ellie who graduated from The University of Manchester in 2015 with a BSc in Speech and Language Therapy. She explains how she thinks of her student loan as an "investment" as she wouldn't have been able to do her job without it, and tells us how the application process "wasn't as scary" as she initially thought it would be.

In the third instalment of the series, we ask Chloe, a University of Manchester graduate who now works as a Community Engagement Lead at the West Midlands Combined Authority, for her thoughts on student finance. Chloe was one of the first students to experience the tuition fee increase from £3,000 to £9,000 a year, but (spoiler alert!) she still thinks university was one of the "best decisions" she's ever made! Click to find out more.

NEW SERIES ALERT! 'Research the Researcher' is an interview feature that asks academics and postgraduate students (don't worry - we'll go over what this means in the blog post!) from widening participation backgrounds to speak about their journey into the world of research. Today we're talking to Charlotte Mellor, a Cancer Research UK-funded PhD student who previously participated in the Manchester Access Programme and studied Medical Biochemistry at The University of Manchester.

It's here! Part 2 of our 'Student finance: in real life' series where we ask University of Manchester graduates how they felt about student finance before they began their course, how they feel about it now, and what it’s really like to live with student debt. Click to find out more about Rich and his thoughts on student finance before, during, and after university.

Do you live or study in Greater Manchester? Are you a Year 12 student? Then read on, because you could be eligible for the Manchester Access Programme! We wanted to use this blog post to tell you a little bit more about what MAP is, what students really think of the programme, and give you some tips and tricks on mastering the MAPlication (see what we did there?) form.

This is the first part of our new series where we ask University of Manchester graduates how they felt about student finance before they began their course, how they feel about it now, and what it’s really like to live with student debt. Click to find out more about Asha’s experiences with student finance over the years, and whether she thinks going to university was worth it (spoiler: she does!).

Are you thinking about applying for university, but don't think you could afford to go? Then read this blog post! We firmly believe that university is for everyone, and there's a load of financial support in place to help you while you study. Click to find out more about student finance, tuition fees, maintenance loans, and the various scholarships and bursaries you could be eligible for here at The University of Manchester.