Widening Participation Conference 2025

Thursday 3rd July 2025
9:30 am - 4:30pm
Virtual Conference

The Widening Participation Conference 2025 will explore the latest insights and innovations for higher education providers in designing, delivering and evaluating interventions to drive enhanced equality of opportunity outcomes for students.

The Conference will offer solutions on:

  • Successfully delivering new Access and Participation Plans

  • Managing risks to equality of opportunity

  • Developing evaluation capabilities to improve interventions

  • Delivering widening participation impact amid financial constraints

  • Designing innovative approaches to outreach, partnership and collaboration

  • Supporting enhanced student success outcomes

Why attend the conference?

Learn how providers are delivering on their new Access and Participation Plans

Gain the latest expert insights on managing and evaluating your interventions

Map out the next steps for managing risks to equality of opportunity in your institution

Agenda

09:30 am

Chair’s Welcome Address

Clare Allison
Head of Outreach & Widening Participation
University of Kent (CONFIRMED)

09:40 am

Equality of Opportunity: The Next Steps on Delivering Outcomes through Access and Participation Plans

  • The completion of wave 3 Access and Participation Plans and learning points from the renewed submissions

  • Enhancing the quality of evaluation: How is the sector building its understanding of interventions?

  • Delivering on Access and Participation Plans against a backdrop of financial sustainability challenges – what does the OfS expect?

  • Exploring the future of collaborative outreach activity and opportunities for enhanced regional partnership

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

10:10 am

Enhancing the Evidence Base for Interventions: TASO Update

  • Developing the Higher Education Evaluation Library (HEEL) to drive evidence and evaluation sharing

  • The next steps in developing the evidence ecosystem and supporting evaluation capabilities across the sector

  • Building toolkits for delivery: How do we translate an evidence base into well designed interventions?

Dr Omar Khan
CEO
TASO (CONFIRMED)

10:40 am

Break and Networking Stream

11:00 am

Reducing the Access Gap at Durham University: Access and Participation Plan Case Study

This case study will explore how Durham University developed an ambitious approach to its new Access and Participation Plan, in a region where only 30% of 18-year-olds progress to higher education and where just 7% of the population comes from a Global Ethnic Majority background. This session will examine how Durham intends to reduce the access gap to 2.7:1 by 2028-29, with a focus on:

  • Intervention design

  • Evidence and evaluation

  • Goal setting and performance management

  • Managing investment in the A&P Plan

  • Student partnership working

Dr Monika Nangia
Academic Registrar and Director of Student & Academic Services
Durham University (CONFIRMED)

11:30 am

Student Engagement and Attendance: Rethinking our Interventions

  • Understanding the barriers on engagement and attendance for widening participation students

  • What evidence exists on interventions for attendance driving enhanced outcomes?

  • Rethinking the approach to engagement in a newly merged institution

Sarah Wood
Head of Student Inclusion and Engagement
City St George's, University of London (CONFIRMED)

12:00 pm

Breaking the Biggest Barrier to Success: Financial Literacy, Decision Making and Support

  • Why student financial wellbeing is core to student success

  • The vital tools needed to deliver impactful support on financial literacy and decision making

  • Embedding student financial interventions across the student journey

Vivi Friedgut
Founder and CEO
Blackbullion (CONFIRMED)

12:40 pm

Break and Networking Streams

1:30 pm

Building an Understanding of University Life for Children on Child Protection Plans – Insights from an Equality of Opportunity Innovation Fund Project

  • The development of a project to support children on child protection plans, a group typical absent from access interventions

  • Building an understanding of higher education opportunities with a focus on attainment and self-efficacy

  • Designing tailored advice and guidance that builds confidence in exploring routes into higher education

  • Exploring how the interventions have been developed and how the project will monitor long term outcomes

  • Assessing how the project will develop an evidence base for the sector

Susie Whigham
Interim CEO
The Brilliant Club (CONFIRMED)

2:00 pm

In Conversation: Delivering Real A&P Impact Amid Financial Uncertainty

  • Leading access and participation interventions in the context of financial constraints

  • Making decisions on spending and investment to ensure delivery matches an Access and Participation Plan

  • Managing risks to the success of A&P Plans and knowing when to open variation discussions

  • Sticking to the core principles: early intervention, partnership and evaluation

Karla Juerges
Widening Access and Participation Manager
De Montfort University (CONFIRMED)

Kimberley Simms
Head of Widening Access and Community Engagement
Nottingham Trent University (CONFIRMED)

Liz Routhorn
Head of Widening Participation and Outreach
London Metropolitan University (CONFIRMED)

2:40 pm

Enhancing Evaluation Capabilities to Improve Interventions

This session will examine the evaluation infrastructure needed to support the effective monitoring and analysis of new interventions.

Through a case-study “walkthrough” the session will assess what an approach to continuous improvement on evaluation looks like and the next steps in building a robust evidence base that delivers on objectives for new Access and Participation Plans.

Tamara Thiele
Widening Participation Evaluation and Evidence Manager
University of Warwick (CONFIRMED)

Judith Ajebon
Widening Participation Evaluation and Evidence Officer
University of Warwick (CONFIRMED)

3:10 pm

Break and Networking Stream

3:30 pm

Care Experienced Students: Pathways into and through HE

Professor Leon Feinstein
Professor of Education and Children’s Social Care, University of Oxford
Director, The Rees Centre (CONFIRMED)

3:50 pm

Can AI Drive Transformative Change on Access?

  • How can machine learning support widening participation activity and open up new capabilities?

  • Can AI become a new leveller in driving access?

  • What practical steps can universities take to leverage AI in opening up new routes into higher education?

Professor Ross Renton
Principal
ARU Peterborough (CONFIRMED)

4:10 pm

Designing a Widening Access Curriculum

This case study session will explore an innovative approach to curriculum redesign at the University of Sheffield. Through a project of horizon scanning and targeted research on underrepresented groups, it will explore how an evidence-led curriculum design model was utilised to address clear barriers to access and participation.

Megan Rostern-Thomson
Interim Head of Access Programmes and Engagement & Access Manager (Educational Partners and Summer Schools)
The University of Sheffield (CONFIRMED)

4:30 pm

Conference Close

*Programme subject to change

Audience

This event is designed for those engaged in widening participation, access and outreach. Those in attendance will include:

  • Directors of Student Recruitment and Admissions

  • Directors of Widening Participation

  • Heads of Access

  • Heads of Outreach

  • Heads of Student Success

  • Heads of Widening Participation

  • Access and Outreach Managers

  • Access and Outreach Officers

  • Access Projects Managers

  • Evaluation and Reporting Managers

  • Widening Participation Managers

  • Widening Participation Officers

Secure Your Ticket

HE and Public Sector

£195 + VAT

Private Sector

£395 + VAT

HE Team of 3+

Discounts Available

For group discounts and enquiries about your registration please contact us on enquiries@heprofessional.co.uk