Access and Participation Plan (APP)

The Widening Access team is committed to supporting all students from widening participation backgrounds throughout their programme of activities. In addition to our Progress to Success activities, the Widening Access team also runs supplementary activities for specific targeted widening participation cohorts in line with the University of Derby’s Access and Participation Plan (APP).

The OfS (Office for Students) has made it a requirement of all higher education providers who charge above the basic tuition fee rate, and who want to be registered as a provider and have degree awarding powers, to complete an APP. The APP sets out how higher education providers will improve equality of opportunity for underrepresented groups to access, succeed in and progress from higher education. Targets within the APP relate to unexplained gaps in continuation, degree outcomes, and progression between different groups of students.

For the period 2020/21 to 2024/25 the University of Derby’s key targets are:

• Eliminate unexplained gaps in continuation, degree outcomes and progression between white and black students  
• Eliminate the unexplained gaps in continuation and degree outcomes between students from IMD quintiles 1 and 5
• Eliminate the gap in degree outcomes between disabled and non-disabled students

To achieve these targets, we encourage you to invite our APP target groups: BAME and disabled students, to participate in our activities.