Widening participation

Disadvantaged young people are significantly under-represented at top universities, making up only 5% of the intake. We're calling on the government to protect widening participation funding so that we can close the university access gap.

Our Youth Jobs Gap research shows that only 26% of young people eligible for free school meals go to university, compared to 45% of their better-off peers.

What is widening participation?

The term 'widening participation' refers to the support that is provided to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to enable them to access higher education, do well, and graduate. Widening participation aims to ensure that universities reflect social diversity.

What is Impetus doing to widen participation?

We work with charities like The Access Project and IntoUniversity to improve university access for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Many organisations like these rely on widening participation funding. Currently, the government requires universities to set aside a proportion of their fee income for widening participation programmes.

Our widening participation recommendations for government

Impetus is calling on the government to protect widening participation funding to close the university access gap.

Together with a number of third sector organisations we've formed the Fair Access Coalition and issued a statement on widening participation, ahead of this year’s spending review and in response to the Augur review:

  1. Irrespective of what tuition fee regime is implemented, we call on the government to protect widening participation funding, while building the momentum around spending it effectively.
  2. We urge the government to avoid adding complexity to the higher education funding landscape and to ensure that all students have the information, advice and guidance they need to make good choices in higher education.
  3. We urge the government to increase the amount of maintenance support available to young people, for instance by restoring maintenance grants, so that university is affordable for everyone.
  4. We urge the government not to impose a cap on student numbers. When student places are restricted, disadvantaged students suffer most.

We’ve published our full submission to the Augar review, and you can read the Impetus submission to the Spending Review, which includes our recommendations for the government’s response to Augar.

We're also calling on government to help ensure recent social mobility gains are not sent into reverse – which is a danger of tuition fee cuts.

Read about Impetus' other policy and research areas including:

Find out more

Youth Jobs Gap: Higher Education

Higher Education is one of the most topical issues in politics, with the UK government’s post-18 education and funding review (the Augur review) due to report back imminently. For the first time, this Youth Jobs Gap report analyses the Longitudinal Educational Outcomes (LEO) data, showing the clearest picture of disadvantaged young people and their access to higher education to date, including differences between different regions in England.

May 2019

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22/02/2019

Cutting university tuition fees could be dangerous for social mobility

The Government’s review of post-18 education and funding is expected to report shortly. It has been widely speculated that the advisory panel led by Philip Augar could recommend sweeping changes, including a cut to tuition fees. Together with the Russell Group and a coalition of social mobility charities, we've released a joint statement on the dangers of a university funding cut.
Read our blog

01/06/2018

Now is not the time to give up on widening participation

A lot of progress has been made on widening participation in higher education. But this may now be under threat. We need to maintain funding and ensure it is directed to what works – our Director of Public Affairs explains how.
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Funding for the future

With the government’s review of post-18 education ongoing, and most of the debate seemingly centring on tuition fees, we must remember that widening participation work is essential to helping more disadvantaged young people access higher education.

June 2018

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23/06/2017

Delivering university access for all – what the evidence says

The new universities’ regulator Professor Sir Michael Barber prioritised improved access to university in his speech, but how do we deliver access for all regardless of background? In this joint blog, three leading charities, experienced in opening opportunities for disadvantaged young people, provide their assessment.
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Closing the gap in university access: a response to the DfE Green Paper ‘Schools that work for everyone’

Disadvantaged young people are half as likely to university compared to their better off peers. This briefing explores how universities can help improve school attainment and widen access to university.

December 2016

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