The term ‘widening participation’ in relation to attainment refers to the drive to improve academic outcomes at university for students from disadvantaged backgrounds or from groups traditionally under-represented in Higher Education. This means that we investigate any differences in degree outcomes and academic performance between different groups of students and put measures in place to address them.
The OfS has challenged all HEIs to reduce and eliminate any gaps in attainment between different minority groups and the wider population, within the next 5-10 years. To this end St Mary’s, like every other university, is required to produce an Access and Participation Plan, which outlines our targets, strategies and the actions we will take and as such, is our main vehicle for demonstrating how we will develop, improve and sustain our practice in this area.