Surrey Widening Access Conference
When: Wednesday 11 June 2025 (10:00 – 15:30)
Where: University of Surrey, Stag Hill Campus, Guildford, GU2 7XH
The Widening Participation Team at the University of Surrey is hosting our first conference, a collaborative approach to supporting under-represented learners from across Surrey to access higher education. We are inviting local professionals and community leaders from education, public, private, charity and voluntary sectors, alongside elected representatives, who are investors in young people.
This event is FREE for delegates to attend and will take place from 10:00 until 15:30 with expert-led workshops on supporting learners to access higher education from the following under-represented groups:
- Care experienced
- GRTSB communities
- Refugees & asylum seekers
- Service children
- Student finance
- Young carers
We are delighted to have confirmed Richard McCann as our keynote speaker.
On a morning in October 1975, Richard McCann woke to discover his mother was missing. He was just five years old. She was the first victim of the notorious serial killer, Peter Sutcliffe. Richard was raised in poverty by his often drunk and violent father on a tough council estate in Leeds, England, and was on the at-risk register before he could even walk and talk. What followed was foster parents and time in a care home, and he left school with no qualifications, stumbling from one mistake to the other until he eventually found himself with no prospects after a spell in prison.
By learning to accept full responsibility for his life, he went from no-hoper to Sunday Times Bestselling Author and internationally renowned award-winning motivational speaker. His first book, ‘Just a Boy’, sold almost half a million copies in the UK alone and has been translated into more than 10 different languages.
Learning to think positively is a skill that every young person will find invaluable throughout their life. Richard’s story demonstrates what can be achieved with a Growth Mindset and his presentations and interactive workshops will help your students, staff and parents discover their true potential.
Richard will be presenting at the opening and close as a two-part keynote address.
Each of our workshops are 45 minutes and delivered by experts working within widening participation and research. Each workshop will consist of 20-25 minutes presentation before opening the session up for debate and discussion around further developing provision and networks across Surrey.
The UCAS Fair Access Programme was launched in October 2021 to build on existing work to support widening access and participation, and to add further value to the work already underway across the sector. This workshop will cast a lens on on higher education application data amongst widening participation eligible applicants from across the region, including a particular focus on Free School Meal data.
The Student Loans Company oversee the repayment process of student loans once students graduate. This workshop will inform of the processes and support available for widening participation eligible students in terms of their finance.
The SCiP Alliance bring together practitioners, researchers, policymakers and funders to form policy and support for Service children’s education and progression. This workshop will introduce an HE toolkit for practitioners and schools for supporting Service children.
Refugee Education UK want all refugee children and young people to be able to access the level of education that’s right for them – from primary school through to university. This workshop will showcase best practice in supporting refugees and asylum seekers in accessing higher education.
Action for Carers Surrey help unpaid carers of all ages, right across Surrey, with information, support and advice. This workshop will detail how practitioners and schools can further assist young carers in accessing Post-16 and 18 educational opportunities.
COSMOS Ltd are experts for Insight and Engagement programmes in Education and Social Care. This workshop will present their recent publication ‘The educational experiences of the Traveller
community and impact of Traveller-focused initiatives: a qualitative study’ and learnings from the Lincolnshire Traveller Initiative.
The University of Surrey’s Widening Participation Team work with under-represented learners and their supporters to encourage educational engagement, support the development of aspirations, expectations and attainment and empower individuals to access higher education. This workshop will be focused on provision for care experienced students, including financial support, as part of the University’s Care Leaver Covenant.
We will be chairing a panel of our University of Surrey alumni. Each panel member will have previously accessed higher education as a widening participation student and they will be sharing their own experiences of the application process in addition to life as a student and their pathway since graduation.
We invite professionals and community leaders whose role/ responsibilities involve supporting learners, from across Surrey, that represent one or more of the following:
- They are from low income families (e.g. eligible for Free School Meals/ 16-19 bursary).
- They have experience of living in care (including living with foster carers under local authority care; in a residential children’s home; looked after at home under a supervision order; living with friends or relatives in kinship care).
- They have care responsibilities (e.g. they provide unpaid care for a family member or friend with an illness, disability, mental health condition or addiction who could not cope without their support).
- They are a refugee or asylum seeker (including those given Humanitarian Protection, Limited Leave to Remain or Discretionary Leave to Remain in UK and Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children).
- They are from a Gypsy, Roma, Traveller community or identify as a Showperson or Boater.
- They are from a family where a parent is either in active or inactive military service.
You can register for your FREE place by completing our online form.
Lunch and parking is provided for all delegates following submission of the online form. For any questions about the Surrey Widening Access Conference, please contact wp@surrey.ac.uk