3.48 Fair access landscape

This project aims to map and evaluate Scotland’s current fair access landscape, providing both a comprehensive baseline and a framework for future policy and practice. It will systematically identify and describe existing initiatives, programmes, and partnerships supporting widening access across universities, colleges, government agencies, and third sector organisations, focusing on their target audiences, geographic reach, and available evaluation evidence. By analysing this mapped activity, the research will highlight areas of duplication and under-provision, offering actionable insights for resource allocation and innovation. The project will also consolidate available evidence on “what works” in widening access, linking initiatives to outcomes and coding them by intervention type and service user group to support policy development and sector learning.