Latest Blogs
Why HE: the reasons those from under-represented backgrounds choose university-level study
By FACE / January 28, 2023
Context In a previous post, I considered the reasons level 3 students at a further education (FE) college in...
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Tame Your Advice Monster and Release Your Inner Coach
By FACE / January 28, 2023
The advice monsters I’m going to start by telling you a truth that you may be a little uncomfortable...
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Keeping it personal: supporting under-represented groups to succeed in HE
By FACE / December 14, 2022
Our work with under-represented groups at the University of Hertfordshire is founded on a personalised, student-centred approach which recognises and...
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Fair Access and Participation to Critical Thinking
By FACE / December 14, 2022
‘Critical thinking.’ Two significant buzzwords in the Higher and Further Education sector, but are we paying enough attention to them?...
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Understanding Widening Participation in Northern Ireland
By FACE / November 20, 2022
At the end of October 2022 the Understanding Widening Participation in Northern Ireland (NI) report was published. Authored by CFE...
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Lifelong learning…an alternative student?
By FACE / November 20, 2022
Nowadays the concept of a traditional student is changing, slowly. While the majority of students entering higher education are 18-19...
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Are universities doing enough to attract learners over the age of 60?
By FACE / November 20, 2022
At a recent university community open event I met a spritely octogenarian who was filled with curiosity about the new...
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FACE 2023 a time for energic, thoughtful reflection and collaboration
By FACE / October 21, 2022
At the time of writing this the shortest serving Prime Minister in our history has just resigned from office, there...
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Why not HE: the reasons those from under-represented backgrounds decide against university
By FACE / October 17, 2022
Efforts to widen higher education access have tended to focus on the provision of information and support to those...
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Lifelong Learning: can policy impact on the hardest-to-reach learners?
By FACE / October 17, 2022
‘The characteristic feature of Lifelong Learning is flexibility’ (Lifelong Education Commission, 2021, p.50) I was attending a regular institutional policy...
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APP Evaluation or: How I learned to stop worrying and love failure
By FACE / September 21, 2022
I love evaluation because I’m always interested in how we might be able to improve things for people, whether that’s...
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Show FACE your Grit
By FACE / September 19, 2022
It was during a coffee break, under a gazebo, on the lawn outside the FACE conference at the University of...
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New Access and Participation Plans: How can we take advantage of the time we have?
By FACE / September 19, 2022
As the dust settles on the mass variation process for Access and Participation Plans (APPs) our collective minds across the...
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Creative, Collaborative, and Cost-effective: The New Era of Widening Participation Evaluation
By FACE / June 19, 2022
Evaluation is a critical tool needed for improvement. As educators, we encourage pupils to evaluate their learning and reflect on...
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Redefining access to higher education?
By FACE / June 19, 2022
At QAA’s Access to HE conference in May 2022 Shakira Martin, Head of Student Experience at Rose Bruford College and...
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Faith and Belonging
By FACE / June 19, 2022
We want every student to feel that they are part of our community, accepted for whoever they are, whatever their...
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A SIG is born: Reflections on the establishment of the APP Special Interest Group
By FACE / May 22, 2022
Back in the Spring of 2021 I found myself pondering over my institution’s Access and Participation Plan (APP) monitoring return...
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Induction for a post-Covid generation
By FACE / May 22, 2022
Part of my role as Director of Student Participation and Success for the University of Hertfordshire’s Law School is to...
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How creative ideas can attract funding to support Social Mobility
By FACE / May 22, 2022
Are you aware there are a range of funding opportunities available to potentially support widening participation and student success initiatives...
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The case for value for money in widening participations: have we been here before?
By FACE / April 28, 2022
When it comes to evaluating the success of access and participation interventions the Office for Students (OfS, 2022a, n.p.) has...
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