Manchester Access Programme 2020 officially launches

24 Apr 2020

MAP is the university’s flagship widening access programme, having run for 15 years and welcomed thousands of local young people onto campus

The programme aims to support Year 12 students from underrepresented backgrounds through a curriculum of activities to further develop their skills and preparedness for progression to Manchester or another research intensive university. 

As this year we are not able to deliver MAP face to face on campus, we are reconfiguring the programme to remote delivery. This is an ambitious challenge as we have our largest cohort to date, with 651 students signing up to attend our Launch Event webinars, which were delivered on 22 and 23 April. 

One student said: "With what has been happening, I was expecting (MAP) to be called off this year but this shows their commitment and passion for the access programme, the fact that they still manage to keep it going virtually, makes me really proud to be connected to this programme."

Another said: "I feel reassured that there is a team of people looking out for our academic studies post-college during these times."

Students will also complete a 1,500 word academic assignment, a marked piece of work which is supported by 170 academic tutors via Zoom and Blackboard, the opportunity to attend a Research and Referencing Skills session in May, the University Open Week in June and a remote University Life Conference in Summer.  

We are also keen to develop an ‘experience’ for this cohort of MAP and will be using past MAP student voices and current student ambassadors across a variety of online platforms in order to help build a sense of connection and belonging to the University. 

• If you would like more information about MAP, or if you have any online resources or events that may be suitable for Year 12s, please do get in touch with us at map@manchester.ac.uk.