How to create an access and participation plan

In 2019-20 the University of Oxford had 9.1 advantaged students for every 1 disadvantaged student as measured by TUNDRA Q5:Q1.

In only two years, by 2021-22, this had improved to 5.5 advantaged students to every 1 disadvantaged student.

And the picture is similar for the University of Durham who since 2018-19 have reduced this same ratio from 7.3 advantaged students for every 1 disadvantaged student, to 3.6:1.

This is very good progress over a short space of time for universities where access inequality has been entrenched for hundreds of years.

It shows that with provider commitment, collaboration and strong regulation, inequality can be meaningfully addressed.

It’s just a shame good news stories like this don’t often make the national press – or when they do, that they are framed as bad news.

When done well, the access and participation plan creation process can be a powerful tool in driving progress like this.

Until recently, I was leading regulation and funding related to equality of opportunity at the Office for Students (OfS). Since then, I have been enjoying the freedom of expression that comes with not having to tow the regulator line.

With most universities and colleges having to submit a new access and participation plan this year or next, I would like to take this opportunity to share advice for universities and colleges to consider when writing access and participation plans.

A changing HE environment

It’s fair to say that change is a regular feature of higher education and the next few years will be no exception. With most new plans running for four years from 2024-25 or 2025-26, the content in each will have to contend with at least a general election and potentially a new Director for Fair Access and Participation when the term of this director comes to an end in two years’ time.

Universities may also have internal changes afoot such as a major strategy review or new senior leadership who will have their own, new agendas.

Inevitably this change will bring new policy imperatives to which universities have to adapt. Raising attainment in schools today, degree apprenticeships tomorrow.

A good equality of opportunity strategy has elements which are agile and able to adapt quickly. These might be a funding competition, innovative or start up project work, or timebound research projects.

Bringing an agile element to an equality of opportunity strategy will meet the needs of leadership, the regulator or government because you are delivering on their agenda quickly and positively.

In this sense, it will more likely protect longer or established programmes of work, meaning the whole strategy doesn’t have to be overhauled every time there is a new policy or political interest.

The whole provider

Taking a whole provider inclusive approach is one of the most powerful things a university or college can do to address equality of opportunity.

This means embedding equality in the organisation values, admissions processes, facilities, pedagogy, and curriculum. Much of this will be led by the leadership team in terms of culture, if you are leading on writing a plan it is within your gift to facilitate a whole provider approach.

The writing of a new plan after four or five years is an opportunity that can involve all teams across the university or college.

People often ask how this can be achieved – examples include:

• Involving colleagues from across the organisation in the design and development of the plan. Setting the expectation of a culture of ambition and open mindedness. Getting people talking about equality of opportunity.
• Showing different departments their localised access and participation data. Competition or collaboration between departments have both worked in the past.
• Creating an opportunity for the university or college leadership to speak to staff, students or the public about their commitment to equality of opportunity.
• Putting information about the access and participation plan in front of governors and student representatives and teaching them how they can hold the university to account over time, including key milestones.

If the author of an APP is a lone wolf, part of a small team that has written and delivered the plan in isolation, it may be likely that opportunities will have been missed.

Evaluation of interventions

Whether the provider has £8k or £80m to invest in equality of opportunity, in a financially scarce environment it is in providers’ interests to know whether they are good investments.

Providers are also likely to have to justify investments internally and to the regulator. It’s no longer “good enough” to just be delivering well intentioned outreach activities.

The OfS self-assessment evaluation tool is a great place to start or the TASO website. An evaluation should ideally be designed into interventions from the start, rather than as a tag on at the end. Asking what interventions aim to achieve and how a provider might measure progress over time is crucial.

If evaluation results in changes to some interventions as detailed in the plan, so be it. If providers can provide a rationale detailing why they amended or ended an intervention based on evaluation findings, this will likely be accepted by the regulator.

Growth of 18-year-olds

The UCAS Journey to a Million report suggests that by 2030 there will be one million HE applicants, up from three quarters of a million applicants currently.

It predicts that this increased competition may set equality of opportunity back significantly if not properly managed. This is because greater competition adversely affects disadvantaged students the most.

However, most universities and colleges have been preparing for this increase in 18-year-olds for many years. So hopefully, the reality won’t be as bad as UCAS predicts.

Selective universities that are not growing to accommodate this rise in 18-year-olds will need to use the plan writing process to consider how the organisation will address this risk.

Therefore, it is essential that those providers are reviewing admissions processes, raising attainment in schools work and monitoring data closely to ensure inequality is not increased as a result of this increased competition.

Telling a story

For those new to writing an access and participation plan, the level of detail and number of requirements can seem quite daunting. But the essence of what is needed in a plan is actually quite simple.

Good plans tell a story which goes something like this…

• Considering our context and background research these are the key issues we want to address related to equality of opportunity…
• For each key issue, this is where we are now, and this is where we want to get to over the duration of the plan… If it’s an issue that requires a longer-term solution, this is broadly our longer-term aim…
• Then for each of our key issues, these are the measures we are going to take to make progress in this area, over and above what we already do. Financial support for students is usually one of these measures aimed at helping students complete their studies. This is the investment the measures require…
• Finally, this is how we will evaluate the interventions, monitor the delivery of the plan, and use the learning from evaluation to make improvements…

There are a few other legal requirements for a plan, for example that students have been consulted properly on the draft plan, and a written commitment that providers will make information about fees and financial support available to students in good time before they sign up to the course.

One other thing to raise is to make any commitments in the plan focused, time bound and measurable. Where providers do this, the access and participation plan can be a great tool for focusing equality of opportunity work and holding the organisation to account. The plan should work for the provider as well as the regulator.

You are not on your own

Finally, you are not on your own. We know that driving equality of opportunity in an organisation can be tough, and so it’s important to make the most of the support around you.

One thing I think the HE sector can be great at is supporting each other. There are several different networks run by peers in the sector with responsibility for writing access and participation plans.

If you are not involved in any of them, I would highly recommend it. Having people outside of your provider to bounce ideas off can be really helpful.