Regional access partnerships – call for evidence
We’re seeking your views on how best to create new regional access partnerships that bring together all higher education providers in a region with access and participation plans, to assess the local risks to equality of opportunity and coordinate efforts to address them.
- Date:
- 5 June 2025
What we’re proposing
Among the proposals for this call for evidence, we envisage a reformed national collaborative access programme which will succeed Uni Connect and form the infrastructure and leadership of the new regional partnerships. These regional partnerships would work together to improve equality of opportunity, with higher education providers in each region agreeing and coordinating targeted efforts which would be captured in the access and participation plans (APPs) of individual providers. Work done by providers would be supplemented by targeted interventions and delivery funded by the OfS through the access programme.
By integrating geographic regions with the access and participation plan process and a funded collaborative national programme, we aim to build opportunities for greater collaboration and coordination by:
- channelling effort in the sector more effectively and preventing divergence and competition from limiting impact.
- pooling regional resources and expertise to improve the combined impact on risks to equality of opportunity.
- creating mechanisms for accurately identifying and agreeing the most prominent risks to regional equality of opportunity.
- allowing evaluation and evidence to be shared so that it continually informs activity.
- using OfS funding to support some student groups that face risks to equality of opportunity where these groups are smallest or hardest to reach.
- ensuring learners and schools receive a coherent and targeted offer of information, advice, and experiences of higher education.
We hope to establish the new regional partnerships by September 2026 so that they can provide the foundation for a reformed collaborative outreach programme that will succeed Uni Connect. This vision is set out in Developing a theory of change for a future national collaborative outreach programme.
With the evidence gathered through this call, we intend to develop policy on how regional collaborations can inform future APPs. We intend for APPs submitted to the OfS from May 2027 onwards, and starting coverage in 2028-29, to feature collaborative interventions established in the new regions. We are gathering evidence at an early stage in developing this policy, all proposals included in this document are subject to change, and we welcome all evidence and opinions on them.
The proposals for us to deliver a reformed national collaborative outreach programme and regional access partnerships depend on the outcomes from the current government spending review and subsequent ministerial decisions. Find out more about the spending review.
Why we are proposing changes
The current Uni Connect programme plays an important role in addressing risks to equality of opportunity in accessing higher education by:
- contributing to reducing the gap in higher education participation between the most and least represented groups.
- equipping young learners from underrepresented groups to make an informed choice about their options in relation to the full range of routes into and through higher education.
- supporting a strategic local infrastructure of universities, colleges and other partners that can cut through competitive barriers and offer an efficient and low-burden route for schools and colleges to engage with higher education outreach.
- contributing to a stronger evidence base around ‘what works’ in higher education outreach and strengthening evaluation practice across the sector.
Operating through partnerships made up of higher education providers in set geographic areas, the collaborative approach addresses outreach 'cold spots' and ensures levels of continuity and impartiality. Through encouraging these local strategic networks, Uni Connect can facilitate efficient engagement with higher education activities that support access.
APPs set out how an individual higher education provider will support students from disadvantaged backgrounds to access, succeed in, and progress from higher education. APPs contain the intervention strategies and activities that each provider will implement to address risks to equality of opportunity, and they include measures for evaluating the impact of these efforts. Providers are encouraged to collaborate with local organisations, charities, schools and each other. Both Uni Connect and APPs are intended to create a framework for coordinated action, preventing duplication of effort and ensuring that disadvantaged learners receive comprehensive support.
Partnerships and collaboration between higher education providers play an important role in promoting equality of opportunity, and can lead to sharing of best practice and resources. The review we published of collaborative support for improving equality of opportunity in access to higher education highlighted several opportunities to enable greater sector collaboration and coordination around this. The 29 current Uni Connect partnership areas do not align with existing regional structures and do not include all higher education providers.
The proposals are designed to rationalise the number, size and shape of regions and align them with existing regional structures such as combined authorities and local skills improvement plans. We intend to establish powerful new collaborations that offer the opportunity for all higher education providers to work together with a refreshed access programme. If higher education providers have the regional structures in place, and are empowered to coordinate their intervention strategies to address agreed local challenges, the positive impact on equality of opportunity could be increased.
What is not covered by this call for evidence
The regional collaborations proposed are in relation to equality of opportunity activity and are not intended to affect the business or operational autonomy of individual higher education providers.
We expect collaboration and regional partnership work to be on activity to reduce risks to equality of opportunity specifically in accessing higher education. Sector work to improve equality of opportunity in relation to participation and progression from higher education does not form part of the collaboration proposals in this call for evidence.
Our proposals are limited to facilitating collaboration and the inclusion of partnership work within APPs. This document does not propose material changes to the current access and participation plan guidance – only the inclusion of regional collaboration and the mechanisms to support planning for this.
We will be working with the Department for Education on reviewing and reforming the Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG) to ensure future funding best supports disadvantaged and underrepresented learners, as set out in the SPG guidance letter for 2025-26. This call for evidence does not include wider reforms to the SPG.
Who should respond
We are particularly interested in hearing from the following groups in response to this call for evidence:
- Higher education providers and their equality of opportunity teams
- Uni Connect partnerships
- Colleges
- Schools
- Third sector organisations operating in the higher education sector
- Local employers
- Local and combined authorities
- Sector organisations with an interest in equal access to higher education
We welcome responses from anyone with an interest in equality of opportunity in relation to higher education.
Region proposals
In designing the initial proposals for regions (see Annex A), we’ve considered several factors.
The review of collaborative support for improving equality of opportunity in access to higher education suggested aligning regions with existing local infrastructure, and we know that a key partner in all current Uni Connect partnerships is local government. Therefore, one of the main considerations when developing these proposals was combined authorities, either those currently in operation or those likely to come into existence soon. Devolution means that combined authorities are likely to be important partners in local skills and equality matters. We want to position new regional partnerships to engage in important local cross sector activity such as Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs). We used combined authority areas as an initial framework for possible areas, but also considered the following factors in the process:
- number of higher education providers in the proposed region
- number of current Uni Connect partnerships operating in the proposed area
- number of schools in the proposed region
- number of colleges in the proposed region
- local authority arrangements where combined authorities are not in action
We put several combined authority areas together in some proposed regions to ensure comparable numbers of providers, schools and colleges. The proposals set out in this document are at an early stage, and we expect these to change following specific feedback through this call for evidence. We’re aware that we don’t have a full picture on the best regional alignments, and may be missing information on local context for collaboration, so we are seeking input at an early stage of policy development.
The implementation of regional access partnerships is dependent on the outcomes of the current government spending review and subsequent ministerial decisions, but it is important for us to engage with you at this early stage to begin developing the policy.
Questions for your attention
These questions have been framed in a way that helps us to analyse the responses and keep defined topics or proposals separate, but there’s no requirement to answer all questions when submitting a response to this call for evidence.
If you or your organisation have no experience or views on a topic, you’re welcome to leave the response empty.
Some prompts to consider:
- Which existing regional structures does your organisation engage with most? (e.g. local authorities, combined authorities etc.)
- What are the opportunities for your organisation if working in defined regions to improve access to higher education?
- What should the regional groupings be called? (e.g. Regional access partnerships, Equality of opportunity partnerships etc.)
Some prompts to consider:
- What are the barriers for your organisation to working in the defined regions to improve access to higher education?
- Should the Greater London region be broken down further? What should the areas in London be?
- Which region would your organisation fit well in and why? Does this differ from the proposals?
Some prompts to consider:
- How could regional partnerships be governed or organised?
- How could regional partnerships work together to identify the best ways to target their effort?
- How could each region be coordinated or led?
This is a free text field for you to add your views.
Some prompts to consider:
- How best could the OfS support collaboration?
- What structures would need to be preserved or in place for your organisation to collaborate effectively?
Some prompts to consider:
- What would it look like to include regional collaboration on access in your APP?
- What are your views on APP submissions to the OfS being done in waves according to region?
- What are your views on shared accountability for collaborative targets or delivery of other collaborative provisions in APPs? How could this be managed?
This is a free text field for you to add your views.
Annexes
Annex A contains:
- a map displaying the early proposals for 15 regional access partnerships
- a table detailing the number of schools, colleges, higher education providers with an access and participation plan in each region, as well as which current Uni Connect partnerships operate in each proposed region.
Map of the regions1
Table 1: proposed regions
Table 1 shows how many higher education providers with an access and participation plan are within each of the proposed regions.
Data was accurate at the time of writing. If you notice errors, please include corrections in responses to the call for evidence.
- Each provider's registered address was used to locate which local authority it was in and therefore which of the proposed regions.
- The number of schools and colleges has been compiled using the Department for Education schools database. Schools included were tagged as academies, free schools or local authority-maintained schools. Schools categorised as special schools were not counted.
| Region | Areas | Current Uni Connect partnerships | Higher education providers | Schools | Colleges |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. North East | County Durham Darlington Gateshead Hartlepool Middlesbrough Newcastle upon Tyne North Tyneside Northumberland Redcar and Cleveland South Tyneside Stockton-on-Tees Sunderland |
North East Uni Connect Partnership (NEUCP) | 11 | 186 | 11 |
| 2. Lancashire and Cumbria | Blackburn with Darwen Blackpool Cumberland Lancashire Westmorland and Furness |
Future U Hello Future |
13 | 168 | 12 |
| 3. East and North Yorkshire and Lincolnshire | East Riding of Yorkshire Hull Lincolnshire North East Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire North Yorkshire York |
Humber Outreach Programme (HOP) Inspiring Choices LiNC Higher |
15 | 207 | 16 |
| 4. West and South Yorkshire | Barnsley Bradford Calderdale Doncaster Kirklees Leeds Rotherham Sheffield Wakefield |
Higher Education Progression Partnership South Yorkshire (HeppSY) Go Higher West Yorkshire |
22 | 276 | 15 |
| 5. Merseyside | Halton Knowsley Liverpool Sefton St Helens Wirral |
Shaping Futures | 11 | 111 | 7 |
| 6. Greater Manchester | Bolton Bury Manchester Oldham Rochdale Salford Stockport Tameside Trafford Wigan |
Greater Manchester Higher | 15 | 234 | 16 |
| 7. North Midlands | Cheshire East Cheshire West and Chester Derby City Derbyshire Nottingham City Nottinghamshire Staffordshire Stoke-on-trent Warrington |
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Collaborative Outreach Partnership (DANCOP) Higher Horizons |
12 | 346 | 12 |
| 8. West Midlands | Birmingham Coventry Dudley Herefordshire Sandwell Shropshire Solihull Telford and the Wrekin Walsall Warwickshire Wolverhampton Worcestershire |
Aim Higher West Midlands Aspire to HE Higher Horizons Think Higher |
20 | 405 | 19 |
| 9. South Midlands | Bedford Central Bedfordshire Hertfordshire Leicester City Leicestershire Luton Milton Keynes North Northamptonshire Rutland West Northamptonshire |
Pathways Aspire Higher |
12 | 346 | 15 |
| 10. East Anglia | Cambridgeshire Essex Norfolk Peterborough Southend-on-sea Suffolk Thurrock |
Network for East Anglian Collaborative Outreach (NEACO) Make Happen |
13 | 344 | 14 |
| 11. Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire | Bracknell Forest Buckinghamshire Oxfordshire Reading Slough West Berkshire Windsor and Maidenhead Wokingham |
Study Higher | 8 | 181 | 9 |
| 12. West of England | Bath and North East Somerset Bristol Gloucestershire North Somerset Somerset South Gloucestershire Swindon Wiltshire |
Future Quest GROWS Wessex Inspiration Network (WIN) Next Steps South West (NSSW) Study Higher |
16 | 245 | 14 |
| 13. London | All London Boroughs and the City of London | London Uni Connect | 84 | 653 | 34 |
| 14. South East | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Brighton & Hove East Sussex Hampshire Isle of Wight Kent Medway Portsmouth Southampton Surrey West Sussex |
Sussex Learning Network (SLN) Southern Universities Network (SUN) Higher Education Outreach Network (HEON) Kent and Medway Collaborative Outreach Programme (KaMCOP) |
30 | 448 | 26 |
| 15. South West | Cornwall Devon County Dorset Isles of Scilly Plymouth Torbay |
Next Steps South West Southern Universities Network (SUN) |
14 | 194 | 8 |
1 Map modified from an original by Nilfanion and Dr Greg on Wikimedia Commons, used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Unported license. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2010.
Annex B shows which higher education providers with an access and participation plan are within each of the regions.
- Each provider's registered address was used to locate which local authority it was in and therefore which of the proposed regions.
- Data was accurate at the time of writing. If you feel there is a higher education provider missing from these lists, or you do not think a provider should appear on the list, please include this in your response to the call for evidence as part of question 2.
North East
- University of Newcastle upon Tyne
- Doctoral College Limited
- University of Northumbria at Newcastle
- NCG
- The Northern School of Art
- Teesside University
- Middlesbrough College
- Bishop Auckland College
- New College Durham
- University of Durham
- University of Sunderland
Lancashire and Cumbria
- Blackburn College
- Blackpool and The Fylde College
- University Academy 92 Limited
- The University of Lancaster
- Edge Hill University
- Burnley College
- Nelson and Colne College
- University of Lancashire
- Myerscough College
- Furness College
- The University of Cumbria
East and North Yorkshire and Lincolnshire
- Bishop Burton College
- Hull College
- The University of Hull
- Askham Bryan College
- Northern College of Acupuncture
- University of York
- York College
- York St John University
- Lincoln College
- University of Lincoln
- Bishop Grosseteste University
- Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education
- Boston College
- Craven College
- Grantham College
West and South Yorkshire
- Bradford College
- The University of Bradford
- Calderdale College
- Kirklees College
- The University of Huddersfield
- Leeds Arts University
- Leeds Beckett University
- Leeds Trinity University
- The University of Leeds
- Northern School of Contemporary Dance
- Kaplan Open Learning (Essex) Limited
- Leeds City College
- Leeds College of Music
- Wakefield College
- Backstage Academy (training) Ltd
- School-Led Development Trust
- Barnsley College
- DN Colleges Group
- RNN Group
- Sheffield College, the
- Sheffield Hallam University
- The University of Sheffield
Merseyside
- Riverside College Halton
- The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts
- The City of Liverpool College
- Liverpool Hope University
- Liverpool John Moores University
- The University of Liverpool
- Sysco Business Skills Academy Ltd
- Liverpool Media Academy Limited
- Hugh Baird College
- St Helens College
- Wirral Metropolitan College
Greater Manchester
- The University of Bolton
- Bury College
- The Oldham College
- Manchester Metropolitan University
- Nazarene Theological College
- The University of Manchester
- Royal Northern College of Music
- Assemblies of God Incorporated
- Futureworks Training Limited
- LTE Group
- University Campus of Football Business Limited
- Salford City College
- The University of Salford
- The Trafford College Group
- Wigan and Leigh College
North Midlands
- Derby College
- University of Derby
- Cliff College
- Nottingham College
- Nottingham Trent University
- The University of Nottingham
- Reaseheath College
- University of Chester
- Staffordshire University
- Chesterfield College
- West Nottinghamshire College
- University of Keele
West Midlands
- University College Birmingham
- Birmingham Metropolitan College
- The University of Birmingham
- Birmingham City University
- Aston University
- Newman University
- Coventry University
- The University of Warwick
- Solihull College
- Walsall College
- University of Wolverhampton
- Shrewsbury Colleges Group
- Arden University Limited
- Harper Adams University
- University of Worcester
- Arden University Limited
- Warwickshire College
- Hereford College of Arts
- New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering (NMITE)
- Heart of Worcestershire College
- South and City College Birmingham
South Midlands
- Bedford College
- De Montfort University
- The University of Leicester
- Moulton College
- The University of Northampton
- University of Bedfordshire
- Milton Keynes College
- The Open University
- Loughborough College
- Loughborough University
- BMC (Brooksby Melton College)
- University of Hertfordshire Higher Education Corporation
East Anglia
- University of Cambridge
- University Centre Peterborough
- West Suffolk College
- City College Norwich
- Norwich University of the Arts
- The University of East Anglia
- Anglia Ruskin University
- Writtle University College
- Colchester Institute
- The University of Essex
- University of Suffolk
- South Essex College of Further and Higher Education
- Results Consortium Limited
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire
- Buckinghamshire New University
- The University of Reading
- University College of Estate Management
- Activate Learning
- Oxford Brookes University
- The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford
- SAE Education Limited
- The College of Health Ltd
West of England
- Bath Spa University
- Bath College
- The University of Bath
- Weston College of Further and Higher Education
- Bridgwater and Taunton College
- Strode College
- Yeovil College
- University of Bristol
- University of the West of England, Bristol
- University of Gloucestershire
- New College Swindon
- The Royal Agricultural University
- South Gloucestershire and Stroud College
- Hartpury University
- Gloucestershire College
- Westminster Theological Centre
Greater London
- Waltham International College Limited
- Caspian Schoool of Academics Ltd
- Middlesex University Higher Education Corporation
- Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance
- ICMP Management Limited
- BCNO Limited
- Contemporary Dance Trust Limited
- Bloomsbury Institute Limited
- University of the Arts, London
- Birkbeck College
- The Royal Veterinary College
- The School of Oriental and African Studies
- University College London
- The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
- The Royal Academy of Music
- Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
- Amity Global Education Ltd
- CNM The College Of Naturopathic Medicine Limited
- Pearson College Limited
- NCH at Northeastern Limited
- Spurgeon's College
- The University of West London
- London School of Science & Technology Limited
- The Chicken Shed Theatre Trust
- Cecos Computing International Limited
- Ravensbourne University London
- University of Greenwich
- GSM London Limited
- Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance
- Point Blank Limited
- Lamda Limited
- Christ the Redeemer College
- National Centre for Circus Arts
- City, University of London
- London Metropolitan University
- Inter-Ed UK Limited
- Court Theatre Training Company Ltd
- British Academy of Jewellery Limited
- Collective Acting Studio Ltd.
- Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine
- Royal College of Art, The
- Royal College of Music
- South Thames Colleges Group
- Kingston University
- Goldsmiths' College
- University of East London
- Applied Business Academy
- Albion Business College Limited
- Mont Rose College of Management and Sciences Limited
- London School of Management Education Limited
- Nelson College London Limited
- Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance
- St Mary's University, Twickenham
- The Art Academy
- Central School of Ballet Charitable Trust Ltd
- London South Bank University
- Morley College Limited
- TEDI-London
- ICON College of Technology and Management Ltd
- New City College
- Queen Mary University of London
- Central Film School London Ltd
- Brit College Limited
- Global Banking School Limited
- The London School of Architecture
- The London Interdisciplinary School Ltd
- Waltham Forest College
- Roehampton University
- St. George's Hospital Medical School
- King's College London
- The London School of Economics and Political Science
- The University of Westminster
- Courtauld Institute of Art
- RTC Education Ltd
- Ada National College For Digital Skills
- Raindance Educational Services Limited
- SP Jain London School of Management Limited
- Corndel Education Limited
- Brunel University London
- London School of Theology
- Harrow, Richmond & Uxbridge Colleges
- Guildhall School of Music & Drama
- David Game College Ltd
- LIBF Limited
South East
- AECC University College
- The Arts University Bournemouth
- The Bournemouth and Poole College
- Bournemouth University Higher Education Corporation
- Moorlands College
- Mid-Kent College
- University of Portsmouth Higher Education Corporation
- Highbury College Portsmouth
- Solent University
- University of Southampton
- University of Brighton
- University of Sussex
- BIMM Limited
- The University of Chichester
- Chichester College
- East Sussex College Group
- Plumpton College
- North East Surrey College of Technology (NESCOT)
- The University of Surrey
- The University of Law Limited
- ACM Guildford Ltd
- East Surrey College
- University for the Creative Arts
- Waverley Abbey College
- Canterbury Christ Church University
- The University of Kent
- Farnborough College of Technology
- University of Winchester
- Sparsholt College
- Royal Holloway and Bedford New College
South West
- Plymouth College of Art
- City College Plymouth
- University of Plymouth
- University of St Mark & St John
- Marine Learning Alliance Ltd
- dBs Music Holdings Ltd
- South Devon College
- Cornwall College
- Truro and Penwith College
- Falmouth University
- Weymouth College
- Petroc
- Exeter College
- University of Exeter
Last updated 06 June 2025 + show all updates
06 June 2025 - Added 'Higher Horizons' to West Midlands region in Annex A. Added 'South and City College Birmingham' to Annex B.
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