GuildHE response to widening participation report

26 February 2009

Responding to a report from the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee on Widening Participation in Higher Education, Alice Hynes, Chief Executive of GuildHE, said:

"This report underlines the crucial role played by teaching-led institutions in reaching out to sections of the population that continue to be under-represented in higher education generally.

"The most recent performance indicators show that many of the newest universities, university colleges and specialist institutions represented by GuildHE are among the best in the country for widening participation. They are also improving at a faster rate than any other type of institution.

"We agree with the Committee that much more needs to be done to attract students from under-represented groups. GuildHE institutions are already taking the kind of action recommended in the report, and are getting good results. We believe that much of this success is down to providing a high level of student support and giving students individual attention, as well as working closely with local schools.

"Recent moves to discover how institutions use the widening participation money they are allocated are also welcome. But we believe this information should be used to reward those institutions that are shown to be making real progress, rather than to channel even more funding towards those universities that are failing to deliver in this area."

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