April 2017
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With the Government having set two widening participation targets - doubling the number of students from disadvantaged backgrounds from 14% to 28%, and to increase by 20% the numbers of students from BME backgrounds, both by 2020 - this seminar was an opportunity to assess existing best practice, remaining practical challenges and next steps for policy in order achieve these goals.
The seminar also came as HEFCE prepares to oversee the launch of a new Collaborative Outreach Program which will see consortia of universities and other groups leading efforts to realise the Government's targets and with considerable change planned to post-16 vocational qualifications.
Delegates discussed the impact of the reform of post-16 technical education and the opportunities presented by Degree Apprenticeships for widening participation, the distinct challenges for improving participation among students who are mature, BAME, disabled or from disadvantaged communities, and evidence of what works in outreach and how lessons might be drawn from this to inform policy and practice more widely.
The role of the admissions system in widening participation was also discussed, including the proposal for UCAS applications to be ‘name-blind’ which is currently being trialled and consulted upon, as well the likely impact of new requirements for universities to report admissions data, the growing use of contextual data to inform offers and the merits of wider reform of the system such as moving to a Post-Qualification Application model.
