By Lucy Haire, Director of Sector Engagement, UPP
If you could have just one wish granted to improve widening access and participation in higher education, what would it be?
Answers to this question will surely vary depending on your situation, experience and perspective. Perhaps you would ask for more funding for an outreach programme or a major schools’ intervention plan to raise academic attainment. You might look to improve your evaluation capacity for widening access initiatives or seek regional collaboration on plans. You might request changes to the Access and Participation Plan criteria. You could request free university tuition and generous maintenance grants for those with the least personal funding. Perhaps you would be even more radical and welcome Tim Blackman’s idea of the comprehensive university where every university is required to take students from the full range of academic backgrounds just as many comprehensive schools do. This could really shake things up.
The government is currently grappling with the topic of widening access to higher education through its Higher Education Access and Participation Task and Finish Group which aims to produce a range of practical suggestions and policy asks in a year’s time. I have the honour of serving on its specialist team which examines barriers to access and notions of belonging. The UPP Foundation undertook its own Inquiry last year and put forward policy asks, some of which have featured in recent government policy.
The UPP Foundation is guided by the principles of student inclusion and belonging, and we proudly support several specific projects that promote these themes. We co-fund a student-led tutoring project headquartered at Exeter University, which undertakes small-group teaching in local schools. We also support an Energy Advice Centre headquartered at London Southbank University, which is now taking root at other higher education institutions as well, including Reading University, where students are leading the charge to help their peers reduce energy costs and carbon footprints. Additionally, along with the Foundation’s main funder, student accommodation provider UPP, we fund free accommodation for care-experienced students at Nottingham Trent University and as well as a Henley Business School summer school that encourages school pupils, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to consider careers in the property industry.
UPP is committed to flying the flag for the residential student experience and encouraging the sector to articulate the significant value of students immersing themselves in a campus experience. While we recognise the need for a diverse higher education sector and also that university and family finances are squeezed, we know that outcomes for residential students are strong when compared with those who commute to university.
Have you decided what your one key wish would be to improve widening access? Perhaps you have already turned your wish into action and are making a difference. If so, we would love to hear about it. The UPP Foundation is proud to support this year’s NEON Widening Access Awards. Submit your entries before Friday 27 March 2026.