What is Widening Participation?

Widening Participation is the drive to increase access to learning, and providing opportunities for success and progression to a much wider cross section of the population than at present. Widening participation to Higher Education aims to adapt institutional programmes and ways of working, in order to meet the learning needs and aspirations of individuals and groups whose experiences or circumstances can inhibit participation in Higher Education. Ultimately the aim is to encourage a more diverse section of the population to benefit from higher education. Widening Participation involves:

• Attracting and engaging a more diverse body of learners

• Developing appropriate learning programmes in higher education

• Providing effective learning and other support for learners in higher education

• Ensuring that all students are enabled to achieve

In aiming to diversify the student population, widening participation activities tend to focus upon opening access to “under-represented” social groups (often referred to as “non-traditional learners”). These groups are defined by the OFS (Office for Students) and these are updated perpetually based on emerging research and evidence. Historically, higher education has favoured particular constituent groups and, as a result, some social groups may be under-represented in comparison with their presence in the population as a whole. Depending on the setting in question, therefore, “under-represented” groups may be defined in relation to social class, gender, ethnicity, age, disability or other social factors. In addition, widening participation also encourages entry to higher education via “non-standard routes”: that is, entry via routes other than the standard A-Level configuration. Thus widening participation may also focus, for example, upon developing alternative access programmes or upon providing further training and continuing professional development.

Widening Participation at The University of Sheffield

The University of Sheffield has a long-standing commitment to the ethos of widening participation and has a national reputation in this field. Widening Participation at The University of Sheffield is coordinated by the Access Service. Given the high levels of local educational disadvantage and its strong commitment to the community, much of the Access Service's existing outreach activity has been based within the region, particularly targeting areas of low educational attainment and progression, and a high proportion of widening participation funding is allocated directly to this work to raise aspirations and attainment locally.