• Education home
• About the Department
• Undergraduate study
• Postgraduate study
• Teacher training/PGCE
• Research
  • Centre for Advanced Studies in Language and Education
  • Centre for Research on Education and Social Justice
    • Welcome to CRESJ
    • Study with us
    • Research people
    • Research themes
  • Psychology in Education Research Centre
  • University of York Science Education Group
  • Publications
  • Visiting Researchers
  • Independent Research Fellowships
  • Education Researchers for Open Science (EROS)
  • University research themes
  • PhD Studies in progress
  • Information on GDPR
  • Financial information for participation in research
  • Language-Driven Pedagogy
• Equality and Diversity
• Our staff
• Meet our students
• International students
• Student wellbeing
• For alumni
• News and events
• Intranet
• Contact us

Developing a whole provider approach to widening access and student success: The experience of small & specialist higher education providers

Posted on 3 December 2024

Widening access and participation for students from under-represented groups and ensuring equitable success are key priorities in the English higher education policy arena, including within the regulatory frameworks established by the Office for Students (OfS).

 In 2023 the OfS introduced a new framework for Access and Participation Plans (APPs). As part of evidencing a holistic institutional strategy, Higher Education Providers (HEPs) are required to set out a ‘Whole Provider Approach’ (WPA) to achieve equitable access, success, and progression. This involves working across the student lifecycle towards institutional transformation (Thomas 2017) and is facilitated by an ‘enabling environment’ (Thomas 2024). 

The APP represents a significant piece of regulatory work for each HEP, typically affecting several thousand students and drawing up significant staff capacity and expertise. Small and Specialist Higher Education Providers (SSHEPs) do not have the same resources with which to tackle the requirements in comparison to their larger sector counterparts. This study considers the experience of such institutions in using a ‘Whole Provider Approach’ to navigate and complete the APP process. The resulting report highlights not only the value of a WPA for HEPs to conceptualise and plan change, and to promote institutional and sector transformation. But it also emphasises the need for greater support for small and specialist HEPs to enable them to meet the regulatory requirements - and implement effective change.