The Part-Time Forum

Making part-time learning work for Scotland:

the way ahead 

Monday 11th January 2010

Radisson SAS Hotel, Glasgow

Keynote speaker:
Keith Brown MSP
Minister for Schools and Skills

Chaired by:
Ruth Wishart
Journalist and Broadcaster

In 2009/10 some of the most innovative new initiatives in Scottish higher education have part-time learning at their core.  These include exploring new ways to engage employers in learning and skills development; projects trialling ways of using skills more effectively in the workplace; and, for the first time, schemes looking at how we can provide financial support to part-time postgraduate learners.  The way these projects develop and the lessons we learn from them have the potential to drive up Scotland’s productivity, improve employer engagement, and increase our postgraduate skills base; all essential components in Scotland’s ambitions to become a high-skill economy.

The 2010 Part-Time Forum will bring together some of the key people involved in these cutting-edge new projects – learning providers, employers, trades unions and learners - to lead a series of case study sessions.  These will outline how the projects are being developed, what lessons we can learn from them and how these findings might be applied to the future development of part-time learning.  Using state-of-the-art technology, delegates will be able to participate in interactive discussions throughout the day, and ensure their views are heard by submitting comments and questions to the panel sessions.

With keynote presentations by some of Scotland’s leading players in learning and skills development, The Part-Time Forum provides an ideal opportunity to debate and explore the latest thinking on how to make part-time learning work more effectively for Scotland.

Organised by University of the West of Scotland and The Open University in Scotland, The Part-Time Forum is an annual conference which provides a platform for discussion of the key issues related to part-time learning.

Over the past six years The Part-Time Forum events have grown to become a highly-regarded focal point for debating and progressing policy related to part-time students and providers.

As the largest providers of part-time higher education in Scotland, The Open University in Scotland and University of the West of Scotland bring to The Part-Time Forum their understanding of the issues facing both part-time students and the institutions that support them.

University of the West of Scotland currently has around 9,500 part-time students, just over half of its student population.  The University played a pioneering role in the launch of credit bearing taught modular part-time study in Scotland and since 1990 has helped thousands of part-time students achieve their personal and career development goals.

The Open University has 14,000 part-time students living in virtually every community across Scotland.  Three quarters of The Open University’s students are working while they study.  Flexible, part-time learning with the OU supports them to enhance their employability and equip themselves for Scotland’s changing job market.