Keele University: Strengthening Our Community in Cheshire
Keele has been supporting communities in Cheshire since the University’s foundation in 1949. We’re proud to be the university of choice for thousands of students from across the county, helping them to achieve their career goals.
From Keele staff and students offering free language support to refugees and asylum seekers in Crewe, to helping bring exhibits to life for visitors at Tatton Park, we’re continually building on our roots in Cheshire and making a positive impact within the area. Currently, almost 1,000 students from Cheshire are studying at Keele.
Connecting with Cheshire Schools and Colleges
We’re proud to be partnered with Cheshire College South & West. The partnership helps bridge the gap between further education and higher education for students and creates opportunities for staff who are looking towards their future.
Many academic colleagues, as well as outreach staff at Keele, have engaged with students at the college across its three campuses in Crewe, Ellesmere Port, and Chester, with significantly increased numbers of applications to Keele’s undergraduate courses coming through from students from the college each year.
In 2023-24, Keele had more than 80 interactions with 66 schools and colleges across Cheshire, including inviting students to visit Keele, or providing careers advice or subject-specific support in their settings.
Higher Horizons
Through Higher Horizons, thousands of young people in secondary schools, sixth forms and colleges in Cheshire have been supported to make informed decisions about their future.
Higher Horizons is a government-funded programme based at Keele, which aims to widen participation in higher education among under-represented groups.
Working with a total of 22 education establishments across Cheshire, young people who engage in the programme are twice as likely to apply to go to university.
Since 2017 the network has worked with more than 50,000 young people across Cheshire, Staffordshire and Shropshire, 60% of whom were from the most deprived areas.
Our Health Impact in Cheshire
Keele works closely with Mid Cheshire Hospitals Foundations NHS Trust, which provides the University with their apprenticeship provision for nursing associate and nursing programmes. In addition to this, the Trust provides placement circuits for Keele students for the BSc and MSc adult and children's programme.
Karen Estcourt, who lives in Crewe, joined Keele's Registered Nurse Apprenticeship in 2020. The programme is made up of theory studied at Keele and practice hours based at Leighton Hospital. Karen is now working as an A&E nurse at the hospital.
In 2023 she was shortlisted in the NHS Rising Star category at the NHS Parliamentary Awards, after devising a new bed management system to help efficiency at the hospital built on learning about innovation and business plans as part of her studies on the adult nursing pathway.
In the news – supporting the Cheshire community
Visitors to Tatton Park, one of the country's most popular tourist attractions, are finding out more about the book collection in its library – with help from English Literature students at Keele.
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A new partnership between Keele University and a leading Cheshire college will create new opportunities for both students and college staff who are looking towards their future.
English classes to refugees and asylum seekers
Cheshire-based Keele Alumna
Hard-working Nina Collins faced more obstacles than most in her journey to graduate from university. Nina, from Congleton, has dystonic quadriplegia cerebral palsy - which affects all four of her limbs – and uses a wheelchair to get around. The 25-year-old is also severely sight impaired and often needs assistance to get from A to B, especially when she is in a new environment. After graduating from Keele with a Psychology and Counselling degree, she is now studying for a Masters degree at the University, and hopes to become a person-centred counsellor.
Hard-working Nina overcomes daily challenges to graduate with degree
Three Counties Open Art Exhibition
Featuring artists from Shropshire, Cheshire and Staffordshire, we’re proud to host the long-standing Three Counties Open Art Exhibition with our partners. The event, held at the Burslem School of Art, is a celebration of contemporary local artists, from emerging to established practitioners. Several awards are handed out and in 2024 organisers received a record 268 individual submissions, which were short-listed to 98 artists for the exhibition. Cheshire artist Peter Davis won the Arthur Berry Prize in 2024, sponsored by the New Vic Theatre Archive Fund.
Keele Region Applicants
Since our foundation in 1949, we’ve been deeply rooted in our region - Staffordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire. We are committed to our civic role and want to support applicants who choose to study locally - for whatever reason - and commuter students who have fewer local study options available. On that basis, applicants studying at a school or college in the defined ‘Keele Region’, or independent applicants living in the region, will receive an alternative offer.
