Welcome

Welcome to the University of Manchester. We are very glad to have you visiting our webpages, and we hope you find them useful in informing you about the educational pathways available for your children. As your child starts secondary school, and progresses through their educational journey, they will be faced with many choices, and in order for them to make informed decisions, we want them to understand that higher education is an option for them.

These webpages will allow you to build your own knowledge about the choices your child  faces throughout their education, which will allow you to support and advise them on how to make the best decisions.

If you find yourself with more questions after engaging with our webpages, then please feel free to contact us at: gateways@manchester.ac.uk and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

But before we start, let us introduce ourselves…

Who are we?

The University of Manchester is one of the largest single-site universities in the whole of the UK. With approximately 40,000 students, and over 400 different undergraduate degree programmes, we pride ourselves on the size, and diversity of our university. Manchester offers an education that will equip students for future success and experiences that will inspire them to make a difference in the world and grow into the best graduate they can be.

See our campus from afar, and we hope one day soon that we can welcome you onto our campus physically:

What do we stand for?

Social responsibility is a core goal of the university, and we aspire to make a difference on a local, national and global scale. The University is committed to widening participation and increasing the number of higher education opportunities available to students from local communities. We want to ensure that talented young people, who will thrive in the educational environment of an institution like The University of Manchester, have equity of access into the higher education system.

We have therefore developed a comprehensive and exciting programme of activities for prospective students and their influencers; working with primary, secondary and post-16 students, as well as teachers, parents and carers, with an aim to:

  • Promote opportunities for progression to higher education generally, wherever that might be;
  • Identify and attract talented students to Manchester from all educational backgrounds

What is the Gateways Programme?

The Gateways programme is a programme of events for local children in Year 7 – 11. The programme sees these students visit our University campus once a year, throughout secondary school, and participate in a range of workshops that demonstrate the range of subjects that can be studied at university. The workshops provide the young people with the opportunity to develop fundamental life skills such as team working, independent enquiry, creative thinking and self-management. Each year group will focus on a different aspect of university, and by the end of the programme, they should have a well-rounded, fuller understanding of what university is.

To find out more about these events and activities, visit our events webpage: www.manchester.ac.uk/undergraduate/schoolsandcolleges

What is Higher Education?

A quick overview of what higher education (HE) is 

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Higher Education Options

A quick overview of the different ways in which you can study in HE. Read more

Affording Higher Education

A quick overview of student finance

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Additional Support applying to HE

Explore additional support available when applying to HE.

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