Rebecca Curran-Scarlett, Senior Policy & Information Officer at Lead Scotland shares the lived experience of disabled people in the university admissions process and why the Guarantee of Fairness and Guide for Disabled learners is so important in their application journey to university. In 2019, we launched a campaign to make access to university fairer for…
Tag: Widening access
New student data from HESA shows sudden, sharp falls in international students coming to Scotland’s universities
New data on university students out today for academic year 2023/24 confirms the fall in international numbers as experienced by universities across Scotland and the UK. In total, the number of international (non-EU) students coming to Scotland in 2023/24, compared to the previous year, dropped by just short of 10,000 (9,380). The sharpest fall amongst…
Our 40 Faces campaign & reaffirming our commitment to widening access
This week, the Cabinet Secretary for Education Jenny Gilruth, the Commissioner for Fair Access and representatives from across higher education came together at a special event to celebrate Universities Scotland’s “40 Faces” campaign. Universities Scotland’s Senior Public Affairs and Communications Officer Lauren Wards explains why progress towards Scotland’s ambitious widening access target cannot be made…
40 Faces campaign, a letter to the Education, Children and Young People’s Committee
Following the launch of our ’40 Faces’ campaign on 15 April, we wrote to Sue Webber MSP as the Convener of the Scottish Parliament’s Education, Children and Young People’s Committee. The campaign calls on stakeholders to refocus their efforts towards the ambitious access goals set for 2030 by the Commission for Widening Access in the…
University students from underrepresented backgrounds highlight importance of the access agenda and the need to achieve the 2030 access goals
Universities Scotland, which represents Scotland’s 19 universities and higher education institutions, has today (Monday, 15 April) unveiled a new campaign on widening access, called “40 Faces”. The campaign gives a platform for 40 non-traditional students and graduates to share their experience of university and set out their perspectives on what is key to achieving Scotland’s…
Briefing on widening access: Scottish Government debate
Ahead of the Scottish Government led debate on widening access this week, we have prepared a brief that has went to MSPs which outlines our key asks for the widening access agenda. This is to ensure universities are able to meet the 2030 target of 20% of students from the most 20% deprived areas attend…
Joint Articulation: what is it and what are the priorities?
Last week, the Commissioner for Fair Access, Professor John H. McKendrick published his first annual report on widening access to HE. In it, he champions an alliance between colleges and universities as a means to achieving the access targets. Colleges and universities have been working closely together on progression routes at both national and regional…
Fair access to university: Commissioner’s report for 2024
Today the Commissioner for Fair Access, Professor John McKendrick has published his independent report Higher education – renewing the alliance for fair access. This is the sixth fair access report commissioned by the Scottish Government. Professor John McKendrick considers how the framework for promoting fair access can be strengthened with twenty recommendations to help achieve…
Widening access success as record number of students enter university
Interim targets on widening access met Increased numbers of widening access, care experienced and disabled students entering university An increase in the proportion of students coming to university from college Universities Scotland has welcomed the release of the Report on Widening Access 2021-22 by the Scottish Funding Council. Commenting on the report, Alastair Sim, Director…
Erasmus+ and the replacement schemes in place across the UK
We were given the opportunity to provide evidence to the Education, Children and Young People Committee on their inquiry into Erasmus+ and the replacement schemes in place across the UK. In our evidence we highlight: Scotland’s students, staff and universities would benefit significantly from the introduction of a two-way mobility scheme in Scotland, that would complement…