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What is Widening Participation?

Widening Participation (WP) is Warwick’s commitment to ensuring that UK students from all backgrounds can make informed decisions about their futures and access, thrive in and succeed at university. We support students from pre-university all the way through to graduation.

Who does WP support?

We support students who are from the UK/Home fee status and identify with at least one of the following:

• Receive the Warwick Bursary or other means tested financial support
• Were eligible for Free School Meals in secondary school
• Have a household income below £42,875
• Have a household postcode in an area with a high level of disadvantage (you – you’d be eligible if your postcode falls into deciles 1-4)
• Have experience in local authority care (e.g. foster home, residential children’s home, or kinship care)
• Have caring responsibilities, including physical, practical or emotional care
• Estranged from, and not supported by, both of their parents (this might be their birth, step or adoptive parents, and sometimes their wider family members)
• Are a mature student who started university over the age of 21
• Have a disability
• Neither parent attended university and gained a degree – excluding if they were/are a mature student

We also support students who have been granted refugee status, are under humanitarian protection or are currently seeking asylum in the UK.

What support exists for WP students?

There is a range of additional support and opportunities for students from a WP background. Some of these include:

• Joining the university’s WP Student Network, a student-led community for those from a WP background, running a range of events and activities.
• Your department or faculty may also have WP-specific networks, so check with them to see what’s available.
• If you participated in one of our post-16 programmes (Warwick Scholars Access, Pathways to Professions, or Realising Opportunities) or are a care leaver, sanctuary scholar or estranged from your parents when you join Warwick, you may be considered a Warwick Scholar and have access to a range of university-wide activities, exclusive experiences and opportunities throughout your studies. You can learn more about the Warwick Scholars Undergraduate Programme here.
• If you are an independent student because you are estranged from both of your parents or you are a care leaver, our WP Lifecycle Team can help – get in touch at lifecycleteam@warwick.ac.uk to learn more about the support available to you.
• Paid part-time mentor and ambassador roles working with the WP team supporting a range of programmes in local schools, on campus and online.
• If you are interested in carrying out research projects relating to widening participation, social mobility, diversity, inclusion, and inequality, check out the Social Mobility Student Research Hub – they take applications for new research every year.

Get in touch

Additional opportunities pop up throughout the year that often prioritise students from a WP background – just keep an eye out for criteria that emphasise any of the eligibility listed above. Past examples have included:

• Additional bursaries and financial support, such as student mobility funds to access international experiences
• Research opportunities specifically ring-fenced for WP students
• Internships, work experience, and other careers-related events
• Sharing your experiences to help make the university a more inclusive place, such as through focus groups and student forums