Students talking and working together around a table.

Am I eligible?

We ask that students taking part in our outreach activities meet our eligibility criteria to be considered for a place.

Widening Participation criteria

To be eligible to take part in our widening participation activities and initiatives, we ask that you meet at least two of our widening participation criteria. These are:

  • People from a low income background (i.e. household income of £30,000 or less)
  • People from lower socio-economic groups or from neighbourhoods where higher education participation is low (IMD Q1)
  • People who are first in their family to progress to higher education (i.e. parents/guardians have not attended university. This does not include siblings or other close family relations.)
  • People who are (or were) entitled to free school meals or Pupil Premium
  • People from Asian, Black and mixed-ethnic groups
  • People with a long-term illness, health condition and/or disability
  • People with a mental health condition
  • People who are neurodivergent (including Specific Learning Difficulties, Autistic Spectrum Condition, and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)
  • People who are D/deaf, hard of hearing, B/blind or Deaf-Blind.
  • be living in, or have lived in, local authority care, and/or people who are care-experienced, a care leaver, or currently in care
  • People with caring responsibilities, or Young Carers
  • People estranged from their families
  • People from Gypsy, Roma, Traveller, Irish Traveller, Showman and Boater communities
  • Refugees or asylum seekers
  • Children from military families
  • People from schools with a lower than national average attainment or progression to Higher Education scores.

We also ask that you are a UK student or are attending a UK school in order to take part in our widening participation activities.

Please note: Some projects have additional requirements for you to take part.

We may ask that you meet specific criteria from the above list to take part in a tailored activity, and some of our activities may require you to meet certain academic criteria.

Projects that require you to meet additional criteria will include this information on the webpage or as part of the application process. All WP projects will specify the age group that can apply. Most of our widening access activities are designed for students in Year 8 to Year 13.

If you have any questions regarding our widening participation criteria or wish to check for any additional requirements for a project you are interested in, please get in touch on wp@lancaster.ac.uk.

The tool below allows you to identify if you live in an area we prioritise for our programmes based on your postcode. Further information can be found on our Eligibility Criteria.

*Postcode e.g. LA1 4YW

Your postcode shows you do live in one of our target areas and you would be eligible under this criteria.

This postcode does not fall within one of our target areas and you would not be eligible under this criteria but may still meet others on the list.

There was a problem with this postcode.

If this is valid postcode please contact us on outreach@lancaster.ac.uk to allow us to check.