Introduction: Driving access and success for all

University of Nottingham (UoN) has a long-standing commitment to widening access and making higher education available to anyone with the academic potential to succeed. This is reflected in our university values of ambition, inclusion, openness, fairness, and respect which inform all we do. We are proud of our collaborative work across the institution, the sector, and the local community, supporting students from all backgrounds to access, succeed in and progress from higher education (HE).

We believe the experience at UoN has the potential to profoundly transform students' lives. By bringing together students from all 'walks of life', along with our commitment to global engagement and well-established links to our two international campuses in China and Malaysia, invaluable perspectives and stories are shared which challenge assumptions and broaden worldviews within our student body.

Our ambitious Access and Participation Plan (APP) addresses the risks to equality of opportunity that we have identified and prioritised. The plan builds upon the achievements and lessons learnt from our previous APP; it focuses on areas where progress is still to be made while maintaining areas where our performance has been strong.

Our efforts and resources will be targeted to address UoN's greatest equality of opportunity risks; the plan recognises that the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated educational disadvantage and that the cost-of-living crisis has created even greater polarisation between the most and least disadvantaged students’ progression and success within HE.

UoN will use the Equality of Opportunity Risk Register (EORR) along with assessment tools to inform agile, responsive actions towards improving equality and inclusion, as driven by the APP. We welcome the self-reflection and review process facilitated by the APP to set ambitious goals for supporting all students.

Five faculties, multi-campus, one shared ambition

UoN is a member of the Russell Group and is a global research university. We offer education to over 54,000 students annually from diverse backgrounds and cultures. Our students come from campuses in the UK (38,000), and our campuses in China and Malaysia (16,000). UoN provides opportunities across wide-ranging academic programmes run by five faculties (Arts, Science, Engineering, Medicine and Health Sciences, and Social Science) to build professional abilities, spark creativity, and promote new perspectives. We employ over 8,000 staff globally and deliver meaningful learning experiences leading to highly valued qualifications and membership of our 280,000+ strong alumni network.

Strategic aim: to promote an equitable student experience through targeted lifecycle support

Working with students and staff, we aim to promote an inclusive and equitable learning environment by proactively addressing barriers and gaps in access, success, and progression for underrepresented and disadvantaged groups across the entire student lifecycle.

Our key objectives are to increase successful application rates from Free School Meal (FSM)-eligible students, reduce awarding gaps between ethnicities and for FSM-eligible and mature learners, improve continuation rates for Black and mature learners, and enhance outcomes for students with declared mental health conditions or from mixed ethnic backgrounds.

To achieve these goals, we will implement a multifaceted approach of evidence-based strategies focused on providing tailored academic support, personal wellbeing assistance, financial aid, and tackling structural obstacles at each stage of the student experience.

Rigorous evaluation will assess the impact of initiatives to ensure meaningful progress on strategic priorities such as closing of ethnicity awarding gaps, supporting mature student success, and enabling equal achievements for FSM-eligible cohorts.

Risks to equality of opportunity