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We are the top university for widening participation

We are England’s leading university for widening participation, according to new official figures.

º£½ÇÖ±²¥ comes top in three of four key Performance Indicators published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). The Performance Indicators were introduced with government support to track how well universities were doing in attracting students from areas with a low participation rate into higher education and to encourage universities to enrol more state school students.

According to today’s figures from HESA, º£½ÇÖ±²¥ had the highest percentage of students from state schools or colleges among England’s universities. It also topped the national table for both the percentages of young undergraduates coming from low participation neighbourhoods and for the percentage of mature full-time undergraduates with no previous higher education who come from low participation areas.

º£½ÇÖ±²¥ was joint third among English universities for the percentage of students from Social Classes 4 to 7.

Professor Leni Oglesby, Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor, said: ‘We believe wholeheartedly in encouraging more people to benefit from higher education and our track record is now second to none in England. We’re obviously delighted to be the most successful university in England in terms of widening participation.’

The Performance Indicators relate to what happened in the 2005/06 academic year and reflect a slight downturn in students not progressing in certain subject areas. This was noted by the University before the Performance Indicators were published and action taken to address the matter. ‘We’re confident our figures for student completion will be back on track by next year,’ said Professor Oglesby.

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