The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(June 2024) |
Widening participation (WP) in higher education can be a component of government education policy. It consists of an attempt to increase not only the numbers of young people entering higher education, but also improve equality of opportunity for students from all backgrounds. [1] Widening participation is one of the strategic objectives of the UK's Office for Students (OfS). [1] The Office for Students is pursuing this policy through a number of measures, including the payment of financial incentives to universities. [1] This policy is linked to the previous Labour government's target of increasing participation in higher education to 50% by 2010.[ citation needed ]
The issue of widening participation became a political issue after the Laura Spence Affair which hit the headlines in 2000, and after the University of Bristol admissions controversy in 2003, which concerned alleged biases against and in favour of state schools, respectively.[ citation needed ]
London Metropolitan University, commonly known as London Met, is a public research university in London, England. The University of North London and London Guildhall University merged in 2002 to create the university. The University's roots go back to 1848.
The Russell Group is a self-selected association of twenty-four public research universities in the United Kingdom. The group is headquartered in Cambridge and was established in 1994 to represent its members' interests, principally to government and Parliament. It was incorporated in 2007. Its members are often perceived as being the UK's best universities, but this has been disputed.
The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom, which was responsible for the distribution of funding for higher education to universities and further education colleges in England since 1992. It ceased to exist as of 1 April 2018, when its duties were divided between the newly created Office for Students and Research England.
The Office for Fair Access (OFFA) was an independent public body in England that supported the Director of Fair Access to Higher Education in his or her work that was intended to safeguard and promote fair access to higher education. It approved and monitored higher education institutions in England through 'access agreements'.
Advance HE is a British charity and professional membership scheme promoting excellence in higher education. It advocates evidence-based teaching methods and awards fellowships as professional recognition for university teachers. Founded in 2003, the Higher Education Academy was responsible for the UK Professional Standards Framework for higher education practitioners and merged to form Advance HE on 21 March 2018.
Aimhigher was an umbrella term to describe initiatives aimed at widening participation in UK higher education, particularly among students from non-traditional backgrounds, minority groups and disabled persons.
The National Student Survey is an annual survey, launched in 2005, of all final year undergraduate degree students at institutions in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom. The survey is designed to assess undergraduate students' opinions of the quality of their degree programmes, with seven different scores published including an "overall satisfaction" mark.
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The Education and Inspections Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. According to the government the Act "is intended to represent a major step forward in the Government’s aim of ensuring that all children in all schools get the education they need to enable them to fulfil their potential".
The Millennium Research Program of the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation was launched in 2001 to assist the Foundation in carrying out its mandate to improve access to post-secondary education in Canada and provide students with the educational opportunities they need to prepare themselves for the future. The Research Program advances the study of barriers to post-secondary education and the impact of policies and programs designed to alleviate them. It ensures that policy-making and public discussion about opportunities in higher education in Canada can be informed by rigorous analysis and empirical evidence.
University Alliance (UA) is an association of British universities formed in 2006 as the Alliance of Non-Aligned Universities, adopting its current name in 2007.
The University of Bristol admissions controversy refers to a historic dispute over the admissions process for the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom which occurred in 2003. The 2003 incident was caused by concerns over bias in the admissions system that were perceived as favouritism towards state school students after the rejection of some students with strong academic records who attended private schools. The university's widening participation policy allowed the awarding of slightly lower offers to promising applicants from schools with lower academic achievement. Controversy surrounding this policy resulted in a brief boycott of the university by some independent schools and intense media debate about the fairness of the admissions policy as well as praise and criticism of the policy and the boycott from politicians, student leaders and education groups. The boycott was lifted after two months when the Independent School's Council expressed satisfaction with the fairness of the admissions system. Two years later a survey of independent schools concluded that: "It is likely that rejections which may have seemed discriminatory to parents and schools have in fact, been due to a large rise in suitably qualified applicants" and independent evidence was compiled suggesting that claims of bias were wildly exaggerated. The controversy has now been superseded by the reality that all British universities have active "widening participation" policies designed to increase university applications from lower-achieving schools which tend, de facto, to be state schools.
The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) was a UK government department created on 28 June 2007 to take over some of the functions of the Department of Education and Skills and of the Department of Trade and Industry. Its head office was based at Kingsgate House, 66-74 Victoria Street, London SW1, which has now been demolished. In June 2009 it was merged into the newly formed Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. It was responsible for adult learning, some parts of further education, higher education, skills, science and innovation.
Tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) are a category of higher education, minority-serving institutions in the United States defined in the Higher Education Act of 1965. Each qualifies for funding under the Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities Assistance Act of 1978 or the Navajo Community College Act ; or is cited in section 532 of the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994.
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Michael John Worton is a British scholar of French. He was Vice-Provost (International) of University College London (UCL), appointed 1998. He held this appointment concurrently with the university's Fielden Professorship of French Language and Literature. He retired at the end of September 2013.
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