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Widening Participation Conference 2023

Thursday 7th December 2023
09:30am - 4:00pm
Etc Venues, Chancery Lane, 50-52 Chancery Lane, London, WC2A 1HL

The Widening Participation Conference 2023 will explore the latest practice and innovation in delivering high impact interventions that drive outcomes on access and participation.

The Conference will take a deep-dive into acting on the expectations of the Equality of Opportunity Risk Register and will consider action points for the design of reformed Access and Participation Plans. Attendees will also examine solutions from leading providers on intervention design, evaluation and monitoring.



Headline Speakers

Lord Jo Johnson
Former Minister of State for Universities, Research and Innovation

John Blake
Director for Fair Access and Participation
Office for Students

Mary Curnock Cook CBE
Former Chief Executive, UCAS

Professor Antony Moss
Pro Vice-Chancellor Education and Student Experience
London South Bank University

Dr Eliza Kozman
Deputy CEO
TASO


Agenda


8:45 am

Registration, Refreshments and Networking


9:30 am

Chair’s Welcome Address

 

Dr Eliza Kozman
Deputy CEO
TASO (CONFIRMED)


9:40 am

The Leaders Forum: The State of Access and Participation in Higher Education - What does Real Progress Look Like?

 
  • How can regulatory expectations on equality of opportunity be translated into real progress on widening participation?

  • What are the next steps in supporting a robust evidence base for targeted interventions?

  • How can we develop a cohesive system-wide view on social mobility from school age to employment?

  • What does the ‘journey to a million’ applicants mean for access and what will demand from students look like?

  • What is the impact of inflationary pressures, cost of living concerns and frozen tuition fees on driving progress on widening participation?

 

Lord Jo Johnson
Former Minister of State for Universities, Research and Innovation (CONFIRMED)

 

Mary Curnock Cook CBE
Former Chief Executive, UCAS (CONFIRMED)

 

Professor Antony Moss
Pro Vice-Chancellor Education and Student Experience
London South Bank University (CONFIRMED)

 

Nick Bent
CEO
Upreach (CONFIRMED)


10:30 am

Office for Students Update: The New Approach to Access and Participation Plans and Next Steps

 
  • The approach to monitoring risks to equality of opportunity and how the OfS is evaluation provider performance

  • Outcomes from wave 1 submissions that act on new guidance for Access and Participation Plans

  • Next steps for wave 2 submissions in 2024 and the delivery route for 2025 – 26

  • Successful approaches to embedding student engagement into A&P Plans

  • Evaluating ‘what works’ in delivering intervention strategies and demonstrating high quality evaluation

 

John Blake
Director for Fair Access and Participation
Office for Students (CONFIRMED)


11:00 am

Break and Networking


11:20 am

The Impact of Curriculum Reform on the Ethnicity Degree Awarding Gap

 

The session will explore Behavioural Insights Team research which assessed whether two curriculum reforms had an impact on the attainment of BAME students and addressed the EDAG. Dr Laure Bokobza will be considering the results from this study, using quasi-experimental quantitative methods to assess the impact of the reforms.

This research update will then be followed by a wider discussion on practical delivery in closing the EDAG from Dr Ada Adeghe, University of Wolverhampton.

 

Dr Laure Bokobza
Senior Research Advisor
The Behavioural Insights Team (CONFIRMED)

 

Dr Ada Adeghe
Associate Dean, Inclusivity
University of Wolverhampton (CONFIRMED)


11:50 am

Insights from a Wave 1 Volunteer Provider: Lessons Learnt

 
  • Identifying areas of risk and aligning monitoring with the Equality of Opportunity Risk Register

  • Lessons to learn from Wave 1 submissions in 2023 and forming an approach for 2024

 

Richard Mendez
Director of Access, Skills & Apprenticeships
University of Chester (CONFIRMED)

 

Sara Lawton
Access and Participation Manager (Data and Reporting)
University of Chester (CONFIRMED)


12:10 pm

Evaluation and Review: Are Our Interventions Working?

This panel brings together leaders in evaluation to examine approaches to review and monitoring. Panellists will consider:

  • Evaluation tools and evidence types when building an APP

  • How evaluation can be successfully embedded into programme design to examine ‘what works’

  • Self-assessment of evaluation practices and the route to building evaluation capabilities

  • Measuring outcomes against objectives and monitoring the impact of an intervention

  • Overcoming common barriers to successful evaluation: how do we create a meaningful answer on the value of an intervention?

 

Dr Julian Crockford
Student Experience Evaluator and Researcher
Sheffield Hallam University (CONFIRMED)

 

Paul Blagburn
Head of Widening Participation
University of Warwick (CONFIRMED)

 

Jonathan Schulte
LSE Evaluations Manager
London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) (CONFIRMED)

 

Sarah Harder-Collins
Head of Participation and Success
University of Winchester (CONFIRMED)


1:10 pm

Lunch and Networking


 

Stream A


2:10pm

Wave 1 Insights from the University of Derby

 

Professor Neil Fowler
Professor and Associate Provost Learning and Teaching
University of Derby (CONFIRMED)


2:40 pm

The Cost-of-Living Conundrum: Supporting Participation and Inclusion Amid Crisis

 

Professor Graeme Atherton
Director
National Education Opportunities Network (NEON) (CONFIRMED)


 

Stream B


2:10 pm

The Fair Access Agenda in Scotland – Interventions, Monitoring and Evidence

 

Professor John McKendrick
Commissioner for Fair Access
Scottish Government (CONFIRMED)


2:40 pm

Learning Points on Summer Schools: Insights from Wales

 

Alexandra Roberts
Senior Student Recruitment Officer
University of South Wales (CONFIRMED)


3:10 pm

Networking and Refreshments


Conference Close

3:30 pm


* Programme subject to change


 

Audience

  • Directors of Student Recruitment

  • Pro Vice Chancellors

  • Widening Participation Managers

  • Outreach Officers

  • Student Recruitment Managers

  • Heads of Widening Participation and Access

  • Access Managers

  • Directors of Admissions

  • Associate Deans

  • Heads of Equality and Inclusion

  • Heads of Outreach


Pricing

Public Sector
£395 + VAT

Attend Widening Participation Conference

Private Sector
£595 + VAT

Attend Widening Participation Conference

HE Professional
£395 + VAT

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