London Higher has been driving the access, success and progression agenda for underrepresented learners across the capital for many years through its widening participation programme, AccessHE. The team adopts a full student lifecycle approach to the development and delivery of impactful initiatives in partnership with universities, schools, colleges, local authorities and other sector partners.
Drawing on this extensive experience and collaborative network, London Higher has responded to the Office for Students’ call for evidence on regional access partnerships (RAPs) to replace Uni Connect in 2026.
London Higher recommends:
- The London region should be served by a single regional access partnership that provides wide geographical coverage whilst promoting bottom-up, locally responsive collaborative activity.
- The regional access partnerships must be sector-led, embedded in place and strategically aligned with the skills and opportunity priorities of devolved administrations.
- Provider collaboration should be appropriately incentivised.
- London’s focus must be on reducing the complexity of the tertiary system for prospective students and for providers.
London remains a region where higher education access issues are complex and pressing, with intra-regional inequalities that are high and growing. London Higher stands ready to play a key role in shaping regional access partnerships for the capital in order to address these challenges.
