National Teachers and Advisers Conference
The virtual 2021 National Teachers and Advisers Conference (NTAC) took place on Wednesday, 12 May.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the event took place virtually for the first time.
The conference was organised to equip teachers and advisers with information and advice to prepare students for entry to higher education and addressed topics such as the changes to teaching and learning during the pandemic; admissions; UCAS reference writing and best practice in the provision of information; advice and guidance (IAG) in schools and colleges.
Conference programme
Browse the following recordings of sessions that took place as part of the event.
From what the future holds for teaching and learning to application resources, our 2021 sessions covered a range of subjects, including our research into the thoughts and feelings of GCSE students when their exams were cancelled
Our keynote presentation focussed on the future of teaching and learning, with the aim to equip teachers with the knowledge to advise students on what they can expect in terms of their undergraduate student experience.
This session was presented by Professor Peter Green, Vice Dean for Teaching, Learning and Students in the Faculty of Science and Engineering.
Staff discussed the changing landscape of higher education admissions, with a focus on:
- how the University has approached applications and admissions during the COVID-19 pandemic;
- our approach to results confirmation in August;
- contextual admissions;
- general admission queries, such as: offer making, places available on programmes, entry requirements, students gaining admission to courses, and work experience.
The UCAS academic reference plays an important role in admissions decisions.
This interactive session covered what universities are looking for in the academic reference and provided best practice in writing and structuring the reference. It used real examples to show the kind of information that could make a difference to the outcome of your students’ application.
This session provided an overview of the virtual resources available to your students, outlining how they can access and engage with our suite of online content.
It covered our virtual and 360 image tours, the Visit University of Manchester app, our Unibuddy student chat platform and the Manchester Live webinar series.
We discussed our research into how students felt about the cancellation of GCSE's last year, and how we can help students this year and in subsequent years when the effects of exam cancellations are still likely to be felt.
This research was carried out by a team at The University of Manchester, including: Tee McCaldin, Kevin Woods, Kerry Brown, Rob Buck, Nicola Fairhall, Emma Forshaw, and David Soares. For more information, email Tee McCaldin.