Widening access

We are committed to investing in education that is accessible to learners from all backgrounds and all of our actions contribute to delivering the targets and recommendations outlined in A Blueprint for Fairness.

We use our investments to do this in a number of ways:

1. Core funds for colleges and universities.
2. Access programmes to directly assist school pupils in getting into colleges and universities (Schools for Higher Education Programme and Access to High Demand Professions) and a programme to assist adult returners (Scottish Widening Access Programme).
3. Strategic programmes to enable bridges and support into the university sector.
4. Our strategy for articulation.
5. Our National Ambition for Care-experienced Students.
6. Supporting policy for groups underrepresented or under-achieving in comparison to their peers such as carers, veterans, BSL learners and estranged students.
7. Funding and policy support for mental health.
8. Funding to address inequalities in gender, race, and disabilities.

SFC Report on Widening Access

This report presents data relating to the Commission on Widening Access targets, and on Scottish-domiciled entrants to higher and further education in Scotland by socio-economic deprivation, gender, ethnicity, disability, care experience and age.

Current and previous editions are available on our Statistics publication schedule.