Commission to discover University’s widening access successes

Published On Tue 2 Feb 2016 by Grant Hill

The University of Dundee will this week welcome a high-level delegation keen to hear about its sector-leading work in widening access to higher education.

The Commission on Widening Access (CoWA), a group set up by the Scottish Government to help realise its ambition that children from the most deprived communities should have the same chance of going to university as those born in the least deprived, will visit Dundee on Wednesday, 3rd February.

Staff and students will meet with Commissioners and deliver presentations outlining the University’s innovative and pioneering approach to widening access that promotes the value of holistic, contextual selection and supports in-house preparation for study opportunities. They will also demonstrate developing work in a number of areas, including fair admissions and gender equality.

“For decades increasing the number of talented students from the most deprived backgrounds has been an absolute priority of ours,” said Dr John Blicharski, who leads the Access & Participation team at Dundee.

“We work especially closely with local schools to make sure that all highly able students, regardless of background, can access Scotland’s University of the Year. Our research has shown our approach works really well, but the fact it has transformed lives is the real story.”

Dr Blicharski and his colleagues will discuss the various ways the University interacts with prospective students from areas of multiple deprivation and how they help them overcome obstacles right the way through from initial participation and to them completing their course. Students who have gone on to study at Dundee after successfully completing access programmes will also share their experiences with the visitors.

The Commission has been established to advise the Government on how their ambitions for the Scottish university sector can be met by understanding and removing barriers to accessing higher education, developing a clear plan to achieve equality of access, and provide a framework for a culture of partnership between stakeholders.

In order to do this they will identify best practice on widening access across early years, schools, colleges, universities and employers, and make recommendations as to how best practice on access and retention can be scaled up and embedded within the work of individual institutions across the wider education and employment system.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
Tel: +44 (0)1382 384768
Mobile: 07854 953277
Email: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk