Jisc Change Agents' Network Conference 2024

Access and Participation Plans (APP) explain how higher education providers will improve equality of opportunity for underrepresented groups to access, succeed in and progress from higher education.  An APP must identify:

1. Risks to equality of opportunity in the institutional context,

2. Interventions put in place to mitigate those risks,

3. Outcomes this is expected to achieve,

4. Plans for evaluating these interventions.  

A University must have an APP if they are registered with the Office for Students in the ‘approved (fee cap’ category) and want to charge above the basic tuition fee cap.  APPs typically run for a four-year cycle before requiring a new plan to be developed.  Solent University, along with hundreds of other higher education providers, are required to submit a new APP this year. 

In this poster presentation, we will show how staff have worked in partnership with students to shape the thinking and development of our APP via four key phases of co-creation:

• Reflecting on our institutional access, continuation, completion, attainment and progression data 

• Exploring the lived experiences of students from our target student groups 

• Testing interventions aimed at addressing our data gaps and barriers  

• Providing feedback on, and developing narrative for, the Solent University draft APP.

The poster will explain the process of this challenging work as well as the value placed on the co-creation of the APP by the staff and students involved in the project.