Lucy Cavendish College on widening participation and why its admissions policy is changing

In 2017-18, English higher education providers recruited twice as many students from the most advantaged backgrounds compared to the least advantaged. This ratio increases to approximately five times as many for the most selective universities.

On 9th September, 40 universities published their Access and Participation Plans - these will enable them to meet the targets set by the Office for Students (OfS). The key role of the plans is to improve access for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and to tackle gaps in participation across the student lifecycle that could ultimately affect attainment.

Since the publication of those plans, the subject of widening participation has been a hot topic of conversation, and Cambridge has made the headlines on numerous occasions as it continues to evidence its very genuine commitment to this agenda. It recently published provisional data showing that one in four students at Cambridge will be from under-represented or disadvantaged backgrounds in the 2019/20 intake, while over two-thirds of UK undergraduates will be from state schools.

Director of Admissions Dr Sam Lucy acknowledges: “It is deeply encouraging to see that our actions to provide educational opportunity for all those who have the potential to study here are paying off".

Expansion and development

All of the colleges at Cambridge are committed to ambitious plans to meet the longer-term requirements of widening participation, and to ensure that the agenda does not become exclusive or restrictive in other ways.

Professor Dame Madeleine Atkins is President at Lucy Cavendish College and says:

“We must be in a position to accept more students by maximising the space we have – building more accommodation and expanding the numbers that our colleges take. Unless plans are in place to accommodate more students, there is a very real risk of penalising those from more affluent backgrounds. Expansion plans must become a central part of the widening participation agenda, and it’s a real challenge for us all to find creative ways to fulfil those plans. We must take seriously the longer-term requirements if we really want to achieve equality of opportunity.”

Changes to admissions and outreach

Over time, the groups we define as ‘under-represented’ change and admissions policies must change to provide new opportunities. Lucy Cavendish College recently announced plans to accept both men and women from all ages from October 2021, having previously been a college for women aged 21 and over.

Dr Victoria Harvey, Admissions Director at Lucy Cavendish College explains:

“Where previously, for example, mature women were greatly under-represented, and when Lucy Cavendish was founded, opportunities for mature women were sorely lacking. But now women are more likely to start University straight after school, so our remit is evolving to modern society’s challenges. Our priority remains with underrepresented groups; by admitting people from all genders and age groups, we can address widening participation at subject level, as well as more broadly.

If admissions policies are changing, it follows that outreach activity needs to change to become more targeted and pro-active in the form of school visits, open days and events. So we’re also focusing our efforts on working with third parties and charities like the The Access Project, Generating Genius, Intouniversity, The Brilliant Club, The Elephant Group, The Princes Trust, and Target Oxbridge to identify talent and mentoring needs. We also reach out to all students by offering free ‘Academic Enrichment Days’ that have been designed to help students develop the academic skills required for entry at the University of Cambridge.”

The OfS reports that across English higher education providers there are still wide gaps in access and outcomes between the most and least advantaged groups. Cambridge does relatively well on this front and attrition rates are low but data from across the sector shows that young students from disadvantaged areas are more likely to drop out of University courses, less likely to gain a First or 2.1, or find the same level of graduate employment compared to their more advantaged peers. So if we want to offer a truly supportive and equal opportunity we must also provide comprehensive access schemes, co-curricular programmes and extra-curricular opportunities which enable students to maximise their personal and academic potential for the best attainment and progression outcomes. The University of Cambridge is introducing a transition scheme that includes bridging programmes at many of the colleges and an additional transition year before a degree, to raise the attainment of disadvantaged students who have academic potential but may have been unable to access high entry requirements.

Victoria concludes:

“We now offer a bridging week to all students that aims to help them transition to studying at University and to living in College. We also provide a comprehensive programme of optional skills workshops throughout the year so they have access to a range of support that they can use as and when.”

For further information please contact comms@lucy.cam.ac.uk