HELOA National Conference

More info and register >

Event overview

Advance notice.  This page will update programme and speaker details and booking information later in the year. One of HELOA’s core goals is to share best practice across the HE sector.  If you would like to be considered to present a session at National Conference 2026, please complete their Expression of Interest form.  See the website for sub themes. You can view presentation slides and notes from sessions at National Conference 2025.  These are available to access here.  

FACE Forward Summit: From Manifesto to Movement: Reimagining Equity in Action

More info and register >

Event overview

Lively annual session for FACE (Forum for Access and Continuing Education) members which will take place at the University of Warwick.  Step into a day of design, dialogue, and purposeful action – where bold ideas are translated into collective commitments. Expect keynote provocations, student panels, and hands-on Action Labs that move equity from theory to practice.  Contribute your voice in the FACE Manifesto Studio – via audio booth and visual wall – and help shape the sector’s next chapter. You can use this form to sign up to the summit. More details to follow.  Places are limited so book early to avoid disappointment.  

Contextual offers: supporting the student experience, NERUPI

More info and register >

Event overview

Contextual offers have increasingly become part of the HE landscape and are now widely viewed to be a vital way to make admissions processes fairer.  This session will consider the effectiveness of contextual offers in both widening access and providing students with opportunities to succeed in their studies.  It will also consider the challenges and stigma students with contextual offers encounter, and ways support these students in progressing to and through higher education.  You will hear from: Professor Vikki Boliver, Professor of Sociology at Durham University: Contextual admissions supporting equitable access and achievement.  This presentation summarises the small but growing evidence base, including a statistical analysis of data for Durham University, which indicates that contextualised admissions practices are helping to widen access, and can do so without setting contextually admitted students up to fail. Dr Charlotte Bagnall, Senior Lecturer at Manchester University: Contextual offers and the student experience.  Students from two UK Universities were interviewed to explore their university transitions experiences with a contextual offer. Findings suggest that students felt that their offer had given them opportunities they would not have had; raised their ambitions and expectations; but also negatively impacted their self-belief as many students worried about their academic abilities. Students also discussed how their contextual offer had negatively impacted their sense of belonging, both academically and socially, at university, leading to feelings of difference and lower self-efficacy; however, these feelings were ameliorated by knowing others with contextual offers. Finally, students felt that there was a need for greater awareness of contextual offers to reduce stigma and ensure that others could benefit from them. Implications for practice will be discussed. Examples from practice: Claire Bristow, Mature Student Recruitment Officer at Bristol University: Helping mature students apply with confidence which will highlight the admissions process for Access to HE (A2HE) students, explaining the Guaranteed Interview and Offer policy for Access applicants – the new outreach initiative for mature students and the transition support provided once students enter the university Jack Fox, Head of Student Recruitment and Widening Participation at Queen Mary, University of London: Contextual offer policy and support provided for students at Queen Mary. The session will include a panel discussion to include Ellie Rowley, Fair Access Programme Lead, UCAS. For NERUPI Members only, you should check here.  Your institution is likely a NERUPI member.  

Roma, Gypsies and Travellers in Higher Education

More info and register >

Event overview

 Society for Research in higher Education, London. Gypsies, Roma, and Travellers in the United Kingdom (UK) are under-represented in higher education (HE).  The Census 2021 for England and Wales indicates that out of all ethnic groups, Gypsies and Irish Travellers are least likely to have a level 4 qualification or above, with 11% of Gypsies and Irish Travellers reporting this qualification.  This is substantially below the average for England and Wales (34%), whilst the percentage for Roma is 32%. Evidence of inequalities is apparent in HE in England for these communities including potential awarding gaps and low undergraduate continuation rates with many students feeling ‘outsiders’ in HE spaces. This is often compounded by experiences of anti-Gypsyism and anti-Roma racism.  Moreover, Roma, Gypsies and Travellers are often invisible within university spaces, discursive practices, and initiatives including university anti-racism policies, Race Equality Charters and Access and Participation Plans – despite the Office for Students in England identifying the communities as having a decreased ‘equality of opportunity’ in HE and initiatives such as the Gypsy, Traveller, Roma, Showmen and Boater (GTRSB) into Higher Education Pledge.  This session will explore some of the recent research and support discussion around how Roma, Gypsies and Travellers can best be supported in HE.