We are excited to share the news with all students that the University Access & Participation Plan has been approved for 2025-2030 and this included for the first time, an independent Student Submission, to make sure your views and lived experiences were heard.
So what is an Access & Participation Plan, and how does this impact me?
The Access & Participation Plan is a formal document every university must complete with the Office for Students, to highlight specifically how they will support students from a range of backgrounds to thrive at university.
This is important to us at Arden because over 75% of our students come from widening participation backgrounds including having parent/caring responsibilities, being first in their family to attend Higher Education or having to significantly commute to attend their campus. Therefore, the plan aims to address and mitigate any barriers in how students might succeed during their studies at the University.
As previously mentioned, in addition to the plan for the first time we were able to include an independent Student Submission. This report summarises authentic and real student experiences into the proposed plans, ensuring students feedback is at the heart of what currently happens and how we can improve it. This was led by the Students’ Association, working with different student feedback sources and a dedicated Student Panel, to ensure we champion the different student perspectives at Arden.
What does the Access & Participation Plan include and how can I benefit from it?
The plan includes a range of new ideas and existing services, so students can engage with their time at university to the best of their ability and have equal opportunities in doing so. It focuses on what we want to change, how we will do that, what targets we will set and what investment will be made.
Some of the new initiatives are:
Providing a consistent point of contact for any student with a care experienced background, who are estranged from their family or are unaccompanied young asylum seekers.
Direct funding support available for students
In addition to this, there are a range of existing and new support funds, for students to get direct funding to help support with ongoing cost pressures. Here is a breakdown of all of the financial support on offer and where to apply
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Financial Support Fund - designed to support students in hardship in managing their cost of living expenses such as: rent, food, travel, childcare, energy bills and priority debt repayment plans.
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Digital Fund (UK students only) - for students who do not have access to a working laptop. If successful; this funding can provide a pre-approved laptop and a £180 contribution for broadband.
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DSA200 Laptop Contribution (UK students who have a DSA2 Entitlement Letter ONLY) - for students who have been awarded ‘Disabled Students Allowance’ and recommended specific equipment (costing £200) according to their DSA2 Entitlement Letter.
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Graduation Fund – designed to support our graduates with the cost of attending their graduation.
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Commuter Bursary – designed to support students with a contribution towards their travel to/from campus if they're in financial hardship, live more then 10 miles from campus.
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Berlin Hardship Fund (For students based onsite at the Berlin Campus ONLY) - for students based in Berlin and who are experiencing financial hardship. This can support with food, travel, rent, energy, and debt/arrears.
How were students involved in the Student Submission?
The Student Submission utilised a range of different feedback that students have already provided to the University and Students’ Association such as the Arden Student Survey, Unitu posts, feedback from Student Representatives and so much more. We also were able to use interim insight from your responses in the Cost of Living Survey, to advocate for work on reducing cost pressures at the University. This all helped provide a wealth of understanding of what impacts your experience and how we can continue to work with the University to make your experience better.
In addition, we created a specific student panel for the Access & Participation Student Submission, which was ongoing from January 2024. This panel consisted of 8 engaged students who meet one or more of the learner characteristics that are most likely to be impacted by the risks to equality of opportunity, as well as representing both modes of study offered at Arden (blended learning and distance learning). Panel sessions consisted of; outlining the definitions of each risk area, discussing the current landscape at Arden, and providing opportunities for the student panellists to discuss their experiences and positive changes they would like to see.
Sharing experiences from our student panellists
“Being on the APP panel has been a great learning experience. Working with both students and staff has taught me how important it is to listen to different perspectives and work together to make real changes. This experience has encouraged me to get more involved in other panels and activities that affect the student body. It has shown me how powerful it can be when we come together to make our university a better place, and I’m excited to continue being part of that.”
“I loved my time with the APP student panel. It was so useful to find out how other students were experiencing their time at Arden as well as finding out some of what goes on in the background of Arden. It has given me a deeper understanding of the processes and difficulties behind the scenes of student life”.
What else is the Students’ Association working on for and with students?
The role of the Arden University Students’ Association is to unequivocally represent the interests and experiences of all our students across our distance-learning and blended-learning (campus-based) programmes. This includes representing you at all levels within the University, locally and nationally, advocating for positive change for you, and capturing effective insight to represent your opinion to the University to drive positive change.
We will soon be updating all students about the next steps from our Cost of Living survey, and we are currently running a Student Voice Project to transform how you can make change and are represented at the University.
There is must that we learnt from writing the Student Submission for Access & Participation, particularly on how we understand the broad lived experiences of all our students, and how that might impact your success at Arden. If you are interested in getting involved in future opportunities, research, or making a positive change, please get in touch studentvoice@arden.ac.uk
Where can i read the student submission in full?
You are able to read the student submission in full by downloading the resource through our website.