Access and participation plans set out how higher education providers will improve equality of opportunity for underrepresented groups to access, succeed in and progress from higher education.
If providers want to charge higher level tuition fees, their plans must be approved by the OfS's Director for Fair Access and Participation.
Find an access and participation plan or access agreement
Who needs an access and participation plan?
A university or college must have an access and participation plan if:
- they are registered with the OfS in the 'Approved (fee cap)' category
- they want to charge above the basic tuition fee cap.
Providers which are registered – or plan to register – with the OfS but don't need to have an access and participation plan must still produce and publish an access and participation statement.
We provide guidance on how to submit a plan.
What should plans cover?
Plans should include:
- the provider’s ambition for change
- what it plans to do to achieve that change
- the targets it has set
- the investment it will make to deliver the plan.
How long do plans last?
The Higher Education and Research Act states that the maximum period is five years, but they can be approved for less.
We may require a provider to submit a new plan before the end of the period of its current plan if it is not making the progress we expect.
Our intention is that all providers will need to submit a new plan to start in 2024-25. This takes account of revised guidance, which will be published in Spring 2023.
How are access and participation plans changing?
We introduced new priorities for access and participation in early 2022. To address these priorities, universities and colleges will need to make some changes to their access and participation plans.
The table below sets out key timelines:
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Date
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Action
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March 2022
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- OfS publish guidance on the monitoring of 2020-21 access and participation plans.
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April 2022
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- OfS publishes advice on variations to plans for the 2023-24 academic year.
- OfS updates the access and participation dashboard.
- Providers consider their progress against targets as part of monitoring of their 2020-21 access and participation plans.
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May to July 2022
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- Providers submit variation requests for the 2023-24 academic year.
- Providers respond to OfS requests for monitoring information in relation to performance against their 2020-21 access and participation plans.
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July to October 2022
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- OfS assessment of variation requests.
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Autumn 2022
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- OfS launches consultation for future A&P plan cycle 2024-25 onwards.
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Winter 2022-23
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- OfS communicates access and participation plan roll over decisions for 2023-24 to providers.
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Spring 2023
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- OfS publishes guidance on future access and participation plans for 2024-25 onwards
- Providers to submit new access and participation plans for 2024-25 onwards.
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How are plans monitored?
We monitor access and participation plans to make sure that the providers honour the commitments they make to students, and take action if they do not.
Find out more about how we monitor plans.
How can students get involved?
We encourage students to get involved in their university or college's access and participation plan at every stage from drafting through to delivery and monitoring.
Find out more about how students can help to tackle inequality.
