We know that certain groups of students do not experience the same equality of opportunity in higher education as their peers at every stage of the student journey. Our widening participation strategic aim is to create a diverse and fully inclusive learning environment, enabling students to succeed regardless of background or barriers. Through our work we will address inequalities at every stage of the student lifecycle and acknowledge and address institutional and systemic barriers within higher education that prevent equality of opportunity.

The aims of WP have been core to the University’s values since its inception in the 1960s. Lancaster University has a long-established history as a high-quality university that is open to all, where background should never be a barrier to success. Our values of respect for each other by being open and fair and promoting diversity, building strong communities by working effectively together in a supportive way and creating positive change by being ambitious in our learning, expertise, and action, all underpin this.

Access and Participation Plans

All universities must develop an Access and Participation Plan (formally known as an Access Agreement) detailing the fees they wish to charge, details of their financial support packages, details of their outreach activities, and targets and milestones for widening participation.

Access and Participation Plans are renewed and formally approved each year by the Office for Students.

You can also read a summary of our most recent Access and Participation Plan.

Widening Participation criteria

To be eligible to take part in our widening participation activities and initiatives, we ask that you meet at least two of our widening participation criteria. These are:

• People from a low income background (i.e. household income of £30,000 or less)
• People from lower socio-economic groups or from neighbourhoods where higher education participation is low (IMD Q1/TUNDRA Q1)
• People who are first in their family to progress to higher education (i.e. parents/guardians have not attended university. This does not include siblings or other close family relations)
• People who are (or were) entitled to free school meals or Pupil Premium or the 16-19 Bursary
• People from Asian, Black and mixed ethnic groups
• People with a long-term illness, health condition and/or disability
• People with a mental health condition
• People who are neurodivergent (including Specific Learning Difficulties, Austistic Spectrum Condition, and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)
• Care leavers or people with care experience
• People with caring responsibilities
• People estranged from their families
• People from Gypsy, Roma, Traveller, Irish Traveller, Showman and Boater communities
• Refugees or asylum seekers
• Children from military families
• Mature students (those aged 21 and over)

We also ask that you are a UK student or are attending a UK school in order to take part in our widening participation activities.

Please note: Some projects have additional requirements for you to take part.

We may ask that you meet specific criteria from the above list to take part in a tailored activity, and some of our activities may require you to meet certain academic criteria.

Projects that require you to meet additional criteria will include this information on the webpage or as part of the application process. All WP projects will specify the age group that can apply. Most of our widening access activities are designed for students in Year 8 to Year 13.

If you have any questions regarding our widening participation criteria or wish to check for any additional requirements for a project you are interested in, please get in touch on outreach@lancaster.ac.uk.

Office for Students Fee Summary

Information on the maximum fees charged by Lancaster can be found below.

For information on the programme you are interested in, please see the fees and funding section of the programme page. Please also see the scholarships and bursaries pages for information on financial support that students may receive.

Fee details are in the format supplied by the UK government’s non-departmental public body, The Office for Students.

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