As part of Pembroke’s ongoing partnership with Rochdale Development Agency, a sustained academic engagement programme has been launched in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. This is a ground-breaking university access initiative, an extraordinary coalition – made up of Pembroke College, Oxford; the University of Cambridge; St John’s College, Cambridge; Rochdale Sixth Form College; The Altus Education Partnership; Rochdale Council and Rochdale Development Agency – to bridge the gap between untapped potential in Rochdale and the world-class education found at Oxford and Cambridge.

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The Atom Valley Education Challenge Consortium (AVECC) will build on existing long-term strategic relationships to deliver a programme of sustained academic engagement for the brightest young minds, initially focused on the borough of Rochdale. However, those behind the initiative are committed to a long-term vision to ultimately develop a blueprint that other regions in the UK can learn from. Representatives from each institution, including Pembroke Access Fellow Dr Peter Claus, Academic Director Dr Nicholas Cole, and the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, gathered to launch the initiative.

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​​(L-R Standing) Mr Richard Partington, Senior Tutor, St John’s College, Cambridge; Mr Richard Ronksley, CEO Altus Education Partnership; Mr Karl Smith, Principal, Rochdale Sixth Form College
(L-R Seated) Councillor Neil Emmott, Leader of Rochdale Borough Council; Professor Debbie Prentice, Vice Chancellor, University of Cambridge; Dr Nicholas Cole, Academic Director, Pembroke College, Oxford

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The AVECC aims to give all those with the necessary academic talent the opportunity to benefit from the unique mixture of tradition and innovation to be found at Oxford and Cambridge. The project intends to create a continuous “pipeline” that identifies and selects the brightest young minds, those with academic potential, especially without any knowledge of university experience within their family, from primary school through to post-16. Students on the initiative will be supported by dedicated events to achieve the necessary academic outcomes to first achieve an Oxbridge place, and then thrive when they get there.

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Sir Ernest Ryder, Master of Pembroke College, shared: “In its 400th year Pembroke College is proud to celebrate its strong access and outreach work with schools and colleges in Rochdale, Greater Manchester and across the North West. For more than 10 years, we have been helping our brightest students to develop their confidence and skills to go to the university of their choice. We are delighted to welcome many of them to Oxford. This is an inspirational collaboration that we hope will become a model for others, building on a collaboration that brings the public and private sectors together in our common purpose of advancing knowledge and identifying those who will serve our communities well in the future.”​

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