Our Widening Participation Approach

At Lancaster University we are highly committed to supporting social mobility and widening participation (WP).

Founded on a principle of excellence in teaching and research and supporting our local community and widening access, we believe in the importance of creating a culture of inclusivity and in the importance of providing all students, regardless of their background or individual barriers, with the opportunity to succeed in higher education and beyond.

The University offers a programme of WP interventions at every stage of the student journey to support and empower both our current students and the students of tomorrow to aim higher and to fulfil their potential. Lancaster’s range of scholarships and bursaries for students from a WP background provides vital targeted additional financial support for these students during their studies.

The data from HESA demonstrates that we continue to perform strongly against our WP benchmarks. The percentage of students entering Lancaster from a state school has remained above our benchmark for many years and the percentage of students studying at Lancaster from low participation neighbourhoods (LPN) has steadily increased. The percentage of Lancaster students entering graduate level employment or further study 6 months after graduation remains high.