OnCourse has been developed by Nottingham Development Enterprise (NDE), a not for profit regeneration agency.

In 2001 NDE first researched and developed the programme in order to create a civic and community  leadership development and succession plan for Nottingham.

The programme was first piloted in Nottingham in 2002 and has proved highly successful with extremely enthusiastic feedback from course participants:

“the insight into people’s learning and management styles and the different way that people deal with situations and work in teams was both helpful and practical.”

Five programmes have now successfully taken place in Nottingham city centre. 

Following local demand a rural programme took place in 2004 and 2005 in North Nottinghamshire, a deprived former coalfield and textile area. 

In 2005 a pilot blended learning programme was available to participants living or working in the East Midlands.  Part-attended and part on-line it offered greater flexibility.  Two waves of participants commenced the programme. 

Across these three different OnCourse formats a total of 200 individuals have been supported through the programme since 2002.

The programme is accredited through the Open College Network and was the first community leadership programme in the UK to gain formal recognition. 

Following five years’ experience in the development of a best practice model in community leadership, NDE believed it was in a very strong and unique position to deliver the programme with partner organisations through a licence agreement. 

OnCourse is now available under licence and developed with funding from the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation so that the programme can be delivered throughout the UK.  The licence may be run as a social enterprise because of the sponsorship and fee income it attracts.  

Each programme year OnCourse has attracted an extremely diverse cross section of people in relation to age (youngest 15 years old, oldest late 50's), ethnicity, qualifications and occupation - a wide mix drawn from public, private and voluntary sectors. The programme has since been extensively evaluated, accredited and rolled out beyond Nottingham in a number of course formats.

Please contact us if you would like to discuss the community leadership programme or other services currently provided by OnCourse.