This academic year Ulster University achieved the prestigious 'University of the Year 2024’ Award at the Times Higher Education Awards.

Annually Ulster delivers a range of WAP interventions for students. These are supported by staff in the Widening Access and Participation (WAP) team and are guided via its statutory WAP Plan which is approved by Government. WAP is embedded within the University’s People, Place and Partnership Strategy. The university monitors many demographics that may indicate WAP including household income, disability status, care experience and carer responsibilities in line with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Regionally Ulster has the largest number of WAP students in Northern Ireland (NI) across its three main campuses at Belfast, Coleraine and Derry~Londonderry. During 2024-25, 37.4% of undergraduate students were from the most deprived quintiles of NI.

During this oral session, key findings about the range of WAP interventions delivered by WAP Policy and Community Partnerships team during 2024-25 will be shared alongside new plans for 2025-26. For each area outlined below, the presenter will showcase evidence about: the scale, the impact, what worked well, what was effective and what was challenging. Opportunities for the audience to compare and share practice will also be built in.

Key 2024-25 interventions delivered by the team that will be shared in more detail included:
- Financial Support:
A large range of 3000+ Widening Access, Care Experience, Step Up and WAP Travel Bursaries were delivered, alongside Accommodation Vouchers, Fee Waivers, an Emergency Carer's Crisis fund and Discretionary Fund.
- Community Scholarships:
104 Community Scholars were supported. 28 were new scholars and 26 graduated in summer 2025 from a range of disciplines. A further new 27 will be offered for 2025-26.
- Peer Mentoring:
Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) are offered annually. 65 talented student mentors gained academic credit, skills and gave back to those starting their learning journey. New plans for faculty ownership will be shared.
- Care Experience Support:
98 care experienced students ticked the box. Each received a £1000 bursary, bespoke and dedicated support from FEWP and some also received further NIO Step Up funding to help with costs of travel, food and textbooks.
- Fostering Aspirations:
A Fostering Aspirations Residential Summer School for a small group of young care experienced students took place in July 2025.
- Science Shop:
9 Science projects in Law, Sports, Public Relations, Digital Communication, Textile, Art, Design and Fashion, Interactive Media and Business were delivered.
- Access Ambassadors:
Community projects including: Mental Health in the Community, We Can: Women's Empowerment, Capacity and Action, Bridging Pathways: A Taster Day and Parents Education as Autism Therapists were delivered.
- Virtual Campus:
Drone-animated images and room scans to provide images of the campus and rooms to help students with Autism Spectrum Disorder or those who suffer from anxiety or mobility issues to familiarise themselves with spaces.
- WAP Research and Analytics:
A range of new agile interactive data dashboards for WAP benchmarking, targeting, planning, reviewing and evaluation purposes have been developed.

A ‘Taking Boys Seriously’ project delivered a conference in May and established a Boys Impact hub, which is underpinned by principles it developed and disseminated previously.

Keywords: WAP Policy, WAP Community Partnerships, WAP interventions, Bursaries, Scholarships, Care leavers, WAP Research and Analytics.