These are past events
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Overview
Our annual conference on access, participation and student success returns on Thursday 7 November 2024. Join us as we bring together leading experts to discuss the current and future challenges for the sector.
Register now to either join us in-person in London or gain access to a livestream of the plenary sessions (Online attendees will be able to attend breakout sessions, however the full range of breakout sessions will not be available).
Why should you attend?
This one-day conference will provide informative, timely content from the most pertinent speakers on the topic, as well as a wide range of opportunities to network, discuss, and make connections with colleagues within the sector.
You will also be able to access the recordings of the plenary sessions after the event.
Here's what our past attendees had to say:
- "The whole day was really useful and I took away so many valuable things! In particular, the care leaver breakout session, the ethnicity awarding gap session and the cost of living session were particularly valuable."
- "I found it valuable to hear from so many different speakers from universities and settings that were not London/South East centric. All the sessions I attended used data in valuable ways."
- "I appreciated the range of speakers, sessions and networking opportunities."
Have any questions? Please contact us at [email protected] or 020 7419 5459.
We allow delegates to cancel their bookings up to one month before the event and receive a refund. If this applies to you, please contact us at the email above.
If you want to stay up to date with our events, news and publications, you can sign up for our newsletters.
Agenda
Speakers
Dr Malik Al Nasir
Co-founder
Dr. Malik Al Nasir is an author, poet and academic from Liverpool. His memoir ‘Letters to Gil’ is a compelling account of his childhood experiences in a brutal UK Local Authority care system, which at eighteen, left him traumatised, semi-literate, homeless, and destitute. A chance meeting with poet and activist Gil Scott-Heron was to prove life changing, setting him on a path to success which saw him graduate from all three of Liverpool’s universities.
Malik is currently reading for a PhD in history at University of Cambridge on a full ESRC widening participation studentship. His research into the enslaving of his ancestors by Liverpool firm Sandbach Tinne & Co. in Demerara, has attracted global media attention and he has won several prestigious awards including; the ‘Sydney Smith Memorial Prize’ for ‘outstanding achievement’ at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge (2022), the University of Cambridge ‘Vice Chancellor's Award for Global Social Impact’ (2023) and the Cambridge Society for Applied Research CSAR Awards (2024). He jointly received the 2023 Cambridge Student Award for ‘widening access and participation’ and was also awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) in 2024 by his alma mater, Liverpool Hope University.
Malik is a co-founder of “Black Academia – Lifting the Barriers” and co-author and editor of the Black Academia policy reports and the policy briefing which are launched in Parliament on 16th Oct 2024 in partnership with the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) Race Equality in Education.
John Blake
Director for Fair Access and Participation
John Blake is the Director for Fair Access and Participation. He oversees the Office for Students' activity on equality of opportunity in universities and colleges, helping to ensure that all students, especially the most disadvantaged, benefit from higher education. He is also responsible for student insight, information and engagement; OfS policies on distributing £1.4bn of state funding to higher education institutions, and OfS's work on lifelong learning, including flexible and diverse pathways into and through higher education.
John took up his position at the Office for Students in January 2022. Prior to joining OfS, he was a senior leader and researcher in the schools sector, leading on public affairs and curriculum research and design for Ark, policy and strategy for Now Teach and History initial teacher education for the Harris Federation. He has also worked as Head of Education and Social Reform for the think tank, Policy Exchange, was a founder governor of Oak National Academy, and served as an advisor to the government on reforms to initial teacher training and continuing professional development.
Alexandra Davis
Outreach Ambassador and Tutor
Alex has been a University of Kent student since 2016, and is currently a part-time PhD Student in Classical Studies. Prior to this they completed MA Ancient History (part-time), following an undergraduate degree in Classical Studies. Alex is a mature student and first in their family to go to university.
Their journey began with an Access to HE Diploma at Canterbury College which is where they met Kent's Outreach and Widening Participation Department. Kent OWP inspired them to apply to University, and to apply to become a Student Ambassador.
Alex now holds roles as an Outreach Ambassador, Lead Ambassador, Outreach Tutor, A-Level Mentor, Adult Learning Mentor, Postgraduate Outreach Tutor, and works in the University of Kent OWP office one day per week. Alex also lectures in the Department of Classical and Archaeological Studies.
In 2023, Alex was voted NEON Student of the Year in 2023 for their Outreach work, which was a great achievement for both them, and for the University of Kent.
Martin Edmonson
Chief Executive Officer
Martin has more than 20 years’ experience working across university employability and early careers. After starting out in recruitment and higher education, Martin founded and led the social enterprise Gradcore for 18 years before joining AGCAS. He has served as a Director of the ISE, advised governments on policy, writes for a range of publications, and speaks at conferences around the world on student employment and employability.
Rowan Fisher
Head of Student Experience and Skills Policy
Rowan Fisher is Head of Student Experience and Skills Policy and has been working at Universities UK since 2020. As a membership organisation UUK acts as the collective voice for 141 universities. He leads UUK's policy work on supporting access to higher education, enhancing the student experience and supporting universities to meet the skills needs. He enjoys engaging with enthusiastic policy minds across the sector and government to drive change and celebrate the importance of higher education.
Vivi Friedgut
Founder and CEO
Vivi Friedgut is a tech innovator and founder/CEO of Blackbullion, the financial wellbeing solution equipping young people with money skills for life. Blackbullion’s award-winning platform can be accessed by over 1.2 million students at partner institutions worldwide. The Blackbullion ecosystem empowers students to develop financial knowledge and confidence, be guided by their goals towards better money management and habits using the Blackbullion app as well as access university funding and corporate scholarships through the nation’s largest funding hub. Vivi is a former wealth manager, a regular public speaker and author and was recently named FinTech Magazine’s Top100 Women.
Robyn Johnson
Senior Research & Impact Officer
Robyn Johnson is the Senior Research and Impact Officer at Making The Leap. Her role involves using mixed methods to support the organisation’s Research & Advocacy efforts. Robyn has an interest in qualitative research to study lived experiences of systemic inequalities. As part of her Master’s Degree, she conducted qualitative research and policy analyses across areas of national and international education. Before her role at Making The Leap, Robyn taught Social Sciences in secondary and further education, serving as lead for sociology at a college in the Channel Islands.
Alaya Holloway
Director
Alaya Holloway was the first person in her immediate family to pursue a Bachelor's degree - (BA)Hons in law. Alaya is now leading a Prince's Trust award winning social enterprise called FirstGens, supporting students who are the first person in their family to navigate university. Her work in increasing participation and empowering students to reach their potential has earned her the prestigious Princess Diana Award, the highest recognition for outstanding contributions to social action for those under 25. Alaya regularly speaks on topics relating to inclusion and student success in the UK. She sits on the advisory group of Common Purpose, offering advice and support in building inclusive outreach and delivery methods, to widen participation of young adults.
Dr Joanna Jenkinson
Director
Dr Joanna Jenkinson is GW4 Director, with responsibility for leading and managing the GW4 Alliance, and developing and delivering its overall strategy.
Prior to taking on the role of GW4 Director, Dr Jenkinson was Head of Infection and Immunity at the Medical Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation, where she led the UKRI/DHSC/NIHR rapid response and rolling calls for COVID-19 research. She worked for the MRC for 13 years and held a range of roles including Head of Capacity and Skills, with responsibility for all MRC PhD and fellowships schemes. In this role, she led on the development of the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship scheme and developed the evidence and business case for this £900m initiative.
Dr Omar Khan
CEO
Dr Omar Khan joined TASO in June 2020. Omar has led TASO’s transition into an independent charity, developing its team and strategy to widen participation in higher education and eliminate equality gaps between students. His research and professional background has focused on equality and social mobility, particularly in education and the labour market, and he regularly speaks on these topics in the UK and globally.
Omar holds several board advisory positions, including chair of the board of trustees of Trust for London, trustee of the Political Studies Association and the Barrow Cadbury Trust. Omar has previously been a board or advisory group member at the University of East London, the Financial Inclusion Commission, the Department for Work and Pensions, the 2021 REF and 2014 REF assessments, and a 2012 Clore Social Leadership Fellow.
Omar joined TASO from race equality think tank the Runnymede Trust, where he had been Director since 2014, growing the organisation and increasing its profile. He completed a doctorate in political science from the University of Oxford in 2008.
Professor Annabel Kiernan
Pro Vice Chancellor (Academic)
Professor Annabel Kiernan is Pro Vice-Chancellor, Academic where her focus is delivering on the University’s strategic priorities, specifically around next generation education and experience.
Annabel joined Staffordshire University in May 2021. She previously worked at Nottingham Trent University, Sheffield Hallam University, University of the West of Scotland and at Manchester Metropolitan University. She has a PhD in policy making theory from the University of Warwick.
She is committed to improving access and inclusion in education, innovative teaching, and the student experience, whilst helping to raise the profile of Staffordshire University nationally through workstreams with the Purpose Coalition, Million Plus, Universities UK and the Department for Education.
Professor Anne-Marie Kilday
Vice Chancellor and Professor of Criminal History
Professor Anne-Marie Kilday is Vice Chancellor and Professor of Criminal History at the University of Northampton and joined the University on 1 August 2022. She writes and researches on various aspects of criminal history, particularly focusing on violent behaviour and gendered criminality. Professor Kilday started her academic career in Scotland working at the University of Strathclyde and then the University of Glasgow. She joined Oxford Brookes University in 2000 as a Lecturer in Early Modern History and progressed her career at the University securing various promotions from Principal Lecturer through to Dean.
She was promoted into the senior leadership team becoming the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Transfer and Impact in 2012 and then became Pro Vice-Chancellor Student Experience & University Community, with institutional responsibility for all aspects of both student and staff experience in 2018 and continued in that role until she left for the University of Northampton.
Martin Lowe
Head of Policy
Martin is the Head of Policy at the University of Central Lancashire. Martin drives the development and delivery of policy-informed strategy, ensuring that intelligence from policy analysis informs strategic decision-making and the assessment of institutional performance in relation to the developing Higher Education sector. Martin leads the University’s policy function, in understanding, reacting and contributing to regulatory, governmental and social direction. Prior to working at the University, Martin has worked at the University of Nottingham, Edge Hill University and the University of Liverpool.
Dr Aranee Manoharan
Senior Associate Director, King's Careers & Employability AND AGCAS Board Director (Social Mobility, Widening Participation, an
Aranee is Senior Associate Director for Careers & Employability at King’s College London. With experience across the areas of teaching, student experience, and educational development, as well as EDI, she specialises in taking a whole student lifecycle approach to improving student outcomes. An Advance HE Senior Fellow, she has significant experience working with academic and professional services teams to design and implement inclusive curricula using high impact pedagogies and assessments that supports the development of future-fit graduates.
A committed advocate for equity and inclusion, Aranee serves on a number of advisory groups, including the Institute for Student Employers (ISE) EDI Working Group; Royal Society of Biology HUBS Awarding Gap Network; Advance HE’s Race Equality Charter Governance Committee; and as a Board Director for AGCAS, where she leads the social mobility, widening participation, and regional inequality portfolio. Aranee is also the Director of AM Coaching & Consulting, a consultancy specialising in establishing inclusive working, learning, and research cultures.
Lee Elliot Major
Professor of Social Mobility, Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Lee Elliot Major is Britain’s first Professor of Social Mobility, based at the University of Exeter. He was previously Chief Executive of the Sutton Trust, the UK’s leading social mobility foundation.
His work is dedicated to improving the lives of children and young people from under-resourced or poorer backgrounds. He works closely with school and university leaders, global employers and Governments in the UK and across the world to develop practical ways of improving educational and life prospects.
His latest book Equity in Education argues for a new approach and language for disadvantage and challenges deficit discourses in education. On its release the book was immediately ranked among Amazon’s ‘Hot New Releases in Education’. His Penguin book Social Mobility and Its Enemies has attracted attention across the world. Lee is one of the most prominent public voices in national education debates and is invited to speak about the topic across the world.
He was awarded an OBE in the 2019 Queen’s Honours. He is the first in his family to go to university and once worked as a bin-man.
He has served on several government advisory bodies and currently sits on the Department for Education’s Schools Strategy & Delivery Advisory Group.
He holds several academic posts including Associate Member, Nuffield College, University of Oxford, and Associate, London School of Economics, Centre for Economic Performance. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and serves on the Strategic Advisory Network of the Economic and Social Research Council.
Emma Maslin
Senior Policy and Research Officer
Emma is the Senior Policy and Research Officer at AMOSSHE, the Student Services organisation. Emma supports members on policy and research initiatives, interpreting and summarising higher education policy and research from a Student Services perspective, and conducting new research on sector challenges and benchmarking. Emma is also in the final stages of her UKRI-funded PhD at Durham University which explores commuter students’ experiences in Higher Education. Prior to her PhD, Emma worked in Student Services creating and managing programmes of support for commuter students, mature students and student parents.
John McKendrick
Commissioner for Fair Access
John H McKendrick was appointed Commissioner for Fair Access (to higher education) by the Scottish Government in January 2023. He is also co-Director of the Scottish Poverty and Inequality Research Unit in the Glasgow School for Business and Society at Glasgow Caledonian University. He is primarily concerned to inform the work of practitioners and campaigners beyond the academy who seek to tackle poverty in Scotland. He was co-editor of Poverty in Scotland 2021: Towards a 2030 Without Poverty? (CPAG)). He has published many reports, briefings papers and addressed a wide range of Third sector and local government events on issues pertaining to the eradication and amelioration of poverty in Scotland. He sits on the group of National Partners offering advice and support to local authorities and local health boards in relation to the preparation of their Local Child Poverty Action Reports. He is an external member of the Scottish Government’s Child Poverty Programme Board and Education Scotland’s Scottish Attainment Challenge Programme Board.
Derrick Mensah
Senior Student Experience Officer
Derrick Mensah is the Senior Student Experience Officer (Community & Engagement) at the King's Business School, King’s College London. Responsible for induction, student engagement, community and belonging as well as the student mentoring programme, his primary mission is to help students connect, develop their confidence, skills, and find their ideal pathway to success.
Passionate about student experience and student engagement, his aim to develop and evidence robust and accessible systems that increases student engagement and subsequently maximises student experience. He believes it is imperative to ensure each student has a fulfilling authentic experience through positive engagement and adds that students need community but more importantly, they need connections within that community which subsequently helps develop belonging, further enabling more engagement and consequently good outcomes. Effective induction can provide the foundations needed for positive engagement and belonging.
Alijah Muhammad Taha
Vice President Postgraduates
Raised in a country where democracy is stifled and speaking freely comes with risks, I have experienced firsthand the consequences of standing up for basic rights. Today, I proudly represent postgraduate students at Warwick, channelling my resilience into advocacy within a vibrant yet challenging environment. My commitment to enhancing the postgraduate experience stems from my journey—fighting for voices that are often unheard and ensuring inclusive, supportive academic spaces. Driven by a dedication to bridge gaps in representation, I work tirelessly to create a community where postgraduate students feel valued, supported, and equipped to succeed.
Gareth Pryce
Head of Engagement
Gareth Pryce is Head of Engagement for the societal change charity Making The Leap. Gareth has worked in a variety of roles for over 20 years at Making The Leap and holds a Masters in Cultural Diaspora Ethnicity. A central focus of the charities mission is to ensure that no young person is left behind, and that the futures of our young people are not determined by the success of their parents. Through innovative workshops and bespoke support, Making the Leap assist young people to be all they can be.
Ellie Rowley
Fair Access Programme Lead
Ellie joined UCAS in October 2021 to lead the Fair Access Programme, supporting students from underrepresented backgrounds to access the post-secondary education, apprenticeship, or training option that is right for them. Her role includes working collaboratively with the widening participation and fair access sector to identify opportunities and develop services for UCAS to add value to the support already given to disadvantaged and underrepresented students.
Dr Jo Saxton
Chief Executive
Dr Jo Saxton became the Chief Executive of UCAS on 15 January 2024, and was previously Chief Regulator of Ofqual from 2021 until 2024. Jo has a decade of experience in leadership of multi-academy trusts and has served an education advisor to government since 2009. Jo began her career in academia and holds qualifications from universities in England and the USA.
Susie Whigham
Chief Programmes and Communities Officer
As Chief Programmes and Communities Officer at The Brilliant Club, Susie leads on the development and delivery of the charity’s programmes, which aim to support underrepresented students access and succeed at university. Susie has been committed to tackling educational disadvantage throughout her career. As part of Teach First, Susie taught English in a London secondary school and set up a charity to support pupils to run fundraising campaigns. She subsequently worked as a Literacy Consultant for the DfE’s National Strategies programme. As Executive Director of Services at School-Home Support, Susie oversaw a range of programmes tackling the barriers to learning within the home, including the Parent Support Advisor initiative.
Dr Adrian Wright
Associate Dean, School of Business
Dr Adrian Wright is an Associate Dean in the School of Business and Director of the Institute for Research into Organisations, Work and Employment at the University of Central Lancashire. Adrian has held various leadership roles relating to students and teaching, business development, partners, research and knowledge exchange. His research is focused on fair, equitable, ‘good’ and sustainable work. He has undertaken research across many occupations and workplaces exploring workforce experiences. Additionally, he is a significant contributor to higher education policy discourse, engaging to help shape the future of education and employment. He is also a regular commentator in local, national and international media on topics around work and employment. Adrian is a Fellow of the RSA and an Academic Fellow of the CIPD.
Who should attend?
This conference will be useful for all university staff who have responsibility for or play a part in student access, participation and success. Possible titles are suggested below, but we encourage anyone interested in the topic to attend:
- Access, outreach and widening participation professionals, e.g. officers, managers, heads of departments and directors
- Pro-Vice Chancellors and Deans of Education/Students
- Other colleagues responsible for areas such as strategic planning; student services; student experience; equality, diversity and inclusion
Sponsorship
We have a range of sponsorship opportunities available at our events. Please contact Magda Graszka, Senior Events Manager, for more information: [email protected]