The Office for Students is planning to shift the timetable for higher education providers in England to submit new access and participation plans (APPs), with most being given an extra year to do so.
In a possible hint of the English regulator’s promised more reconciliatory approach to working with the sector, John Blake, the director for fair access and participation, has written to institutions informing them of the likely changes being made after a consultation.
Mr Blake is in the midst of a major reboot of the way universities are expected to ensure that as many people as possible participate and succeed in higher education, which will eventually see the publication of a “national risk register” that identifies sector-wide circumstances that might hold back progress.
It had originally been intended that universities would have to formulate new APPs based on how to mitigate the risks in this register – and site-specific issues – and submit them to the OfS in 2023.
