Widening participation

Widening participation (WP) in higher education can be a component of government education policy. It consists of an attempt to increase not only the numbers of young people entering higher education, but also improve equality of opportunity for students from all backgrounds. Widening participation is one of the strategic objectives of the UK's Office for Students (OfS). The Office for Students is pursuing this policy through a number of measures, including the payment of financial incentives to universities. This policy is linked to the previous Labour government's target of increasing participation in higher education to 50% by 2010.

Criticism

The issue of widening participation became a political issue after the Laura Spence Affair which hit the headlines in 2000, and after the University of Bristol admissions controversy in 2003, which concerned alleged biases against and in favour of state schools, respectively.

See also

• Academic inflation
• Office for Students

Further reading

• Young participation in higher education by Mark Corver HEFCE 2005/03
• Review of widening participation research: addressing the barriers to participation in higher education, Report to HEFCE by University of York, Higher Education Academy and Institute for Access Studies, July 2006 [1]
• How to think about widening participation in UK higher education, Report to HEFCE by Professor Sir David Watson, July 2006 [2]
• Review of widening participation research: addressing the barriers to participation in higher education, Report to HEFCE by University of York, Higher Education Academy and Institute for Access Studies, September 2006 [3]

External links

• Role of the Office for Students (OfS) in promoting equal opportunities in higher education
• Widening participation in higher education in England, Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, HC485 Session 2001–2002: 18 January 2002
• DfES White Paper: The future of Higher Education, 2003
• HEFCE: Widening participation
• DfES Higher Education