The Office for Students (OfS) launched a call for evidence in June 2025 seeking views on how best to create new regional access partnerships that bring together all higher education providers in a region with Access and Participation Plans (APPs).
Within the proposals, the OfS also set out plans to deliver a reformed national collaborative outreach programme that will succeed Uni Connect.
The call for evidence ran from 5 June 2025 to 18 July 2025.
Our response
In our response we welcome the OfS's consideration of a new model for collaborative access work. We agree that providers working in partnership to address local needs has the potential to be an impactful and efficient way to address risks to equality of opportunity in accessing higher education provision.
We also support the proposed regional approach and positioning of partnerships to engage locally to target activity that meets industry needs and creates pathways for those from all backgrounds into higher level jobs.
We emphasise that the new model must be driven by industry needs, aligning with the evolving work of Skills England. It should also be underpinned by a shared understanding of learner needs, considering the diverse groups who face barriers in accessing higher education.
In our response we set out a vision for what a successful regional model could look like, with a governance structure comprised of individuals with the necessary expertise. We advocate for a project-based approach that enables institutions to engage in collaborative activity and be accountable for specific targets, according to their strengths and expertise. This collaboration would then be reflected in individual Access and Participation Plans (APPs) alongside other individual targets and intervention strategies.
We reiterate the importance of specific consideration for smaller institutions and how they can be supported to engage, through a funding model that recognises the higher costs of their participation and ensures sufficient central regional resource for coordination and evaluation activity.
We also highlight that the model needs to make provision for providers with multiple sites, those who deliver online, and those whose courses do not align with an identified skills need in their region. We suggest that providers operating in multiple regions should choose a 'lead' region to participate in, with flexibility to engage in other regions where there is alignment with their strengths and expertise. National online providers should be offered similar flexibility.
Read our full response using the download link below.