Access and participation: The plan, why it matters and how you’re already part of it
10 Jun 2026
Helping more students succeed: the Access and Participation Plan sets bold targets and builds on work you’re already doing to create a more inclusive experience.
Ahmed Alhabib arrived unsure of who he was or what he wanted to become. He was carrying financial pressures that, without support, would have restricted his ability to find out. Then he came across the Cowrie Foundation Scholarship.
“The scholarship fundamentally changed my university life,” he says. With his financial worries lifted, Ahmed threw himself into his studies – seeking additional time with professors, exploring the city and its communities, and finding belonging through societies. He is now considering postgraduate study. That transformation is exactly what the Access and Participation Plan (APP) exists to make possible.
About the plan
The Access and Participation Plan (APP) is a formal commitment to the Office for Students on how equal opportunity will be promoted for students from underrepresented and disadvantaged backgrounds. It runs from September 2025 to August 2029.
Unlike previous iterations, which focused primarily on ‘access’ - widening the routes into higher education for students who face barriers getting here - the plan now places equal weight on ‘participation’: ensuring students have a genuine and equal chance to ‘succeed’ once they arrive, by reducing unexplained awarding gaps.
Objectives
The scale of the gaps in the data is significant. On access, students from the most socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds currently make up 19% of intake - a figure the plan commits to raising to 25% by 2028/29. On participation, those same students are 13.6 percentage points less likely to achieve a first or 2:1 than their more affluent peers; the plan targets closing that gap to 5.2 percentage points during the period of this APP. The plan also sets objectives covering ethnicity, disability, and care experience.
What this means for colleagues
Some of what the plan covers - how teaching, student support, and the wider experience are designed - is work that's already happening, but in almost all target areas there is a need to change practice and make strategic, targeted interventions to redress the balance.
Some practice will evolve over the coming years, through cross-institutional workstreams led by Associate Vice Presidents in areas such as academic advising, curriculum design, and inclusive assessment. The plan provides a shared framework for joining this activity up, setting targets, and evidencing its impact.
Strong practice in access and student success is central to the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) submission, meaning colleagues already leading this work are directly strengthening the institutional position without any additional effort.
Get involved
- Access and Participation Plan Hub: helps you to understand APP priorities and targets, access practical resources and guidance, and support programme delivery and design
- Access and Success Community of Practice: launching later this year, a space for colleagues to connect with other practitioners and share what’s working
- Share your research: the Monitoring and Evaluation team are keen to find out more about research and evaluation taking place related to APP objectives. If you are working in this space they would love to hear from you and explore how they can help amplify your work
Hear Ahmed’s full story on YouTube.
Further details of specific priorities and plans will be shared in the coming months.
Mellisa Jacobi, Head of Access and Student Success
Rob Appleby, Associate Vice-President (Students)