Widening Participation Conference: Is widening participation to higher education enough?

This is the fifth biennial widening participation (WP) conference hosted by The Open University and held at Hilton Hotel, Kents Hill Milton Keynes on April 26th-27th 2018.  It comes at a time of considerable growth in readership of the University’s Journal Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning and when the institution’s links with policy and sector advisors (ie. the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) and Universities UK (UUK) are stronger than ever. The conference is renowned for its friendly mix of researchers and practitioners who come together to share ideas and expand their networks.

Conference themes

1. Digital inclusion

2. Progression - the social mobility conundrum and access to postgraduate studies

3. Skills gaps

4. Ethical dilemmas of targeting widening participation students – policy and practice

Keynote Speakers:

• Chris Millward: Director of Fair Access and Participation, Office for Students

• Henry Seaton: Head of Education and Employability for the English Football League Trust

• Pete Winkelman: Chairman of MK Dons football club – Conference dinner speaker

• John D'Arcy: Director, Open University in Northern Ireland

• Shona Littlejohn, Depute Director, Open University in Scotland

• Michael Hill, Head of Retention and Success, GSM London

• Huw Morris: Director Skills, Higher Education and Lifelong Learning, Welsh Government

• Professor Jacqueline Stevenson: Head of Research, Sheffield Hallam University