The UK's only independent think tank devoted to higher education.

widening access

  • Raising institutional aspirations for supporting Gypsy, Traveller, Roma, Showmen and Boater students in higher education

    7 December 2022 by Natalie Forster

    This blog was kindly contributed by Dr Natalie Forster, Research Fellow in Applied Health and Social Care at Northumbria University. The idea of ‘raising aspirations’ has long been recognised as problematic in the field of widening participation. A focus on aspiration can blame members of under-represented groups themselves for their low…

  • Higher Education Has Not Been the Great Leveller Blair Envisaged

    1 March 2022 by David Woolley and Kathy Charles

    This blog was contributed by David Woolley, Director of Student and Community Engagement, and Kathy Charles, Executive Dean of Learning and Teaching at Nottingham Trent University. The latest UCAS application figures confirm a trend that has been increasingly apparent in recent years. Despite everything, the demand for higher education, especially amongst…