BNU joins national project to reduce equality gaps and advance student outcomes in higher education
In January 2025, BNU was selected to collaborate in a national project with The Centre for Transforming Access and Student Outcomes in Higher Education (TASO). Funded by the Office for Students, TASO is an independent hub for the higher education sector that provides evidence and resources to help reduce equality gaps.
The purpose of the project is to better understand how to develop a whole provider approach to develop a Theory of Change (ToC) that reduces risks to equality of opportunity in higher education and to eliminate equality gaps for disadvantaged or underrepresented groups, get a good degree and progress into further study or employment.
BNU gained approval from the Office for Students for its Access and Participation Plan 2025-2029 which sets out our commitments for equality of opportunity for success for all learners. This plan requires a joined-up approach institutionally and our APP includes information about our whole provider approach and the impact that will be achieved.
BNU was delighted to be selected by TASO for the project. Professor Liz Thomas (University of York), an expert on whole provider approaches, has been working with BNU and the other 5 universities to further develop a Theory of Change for a whole provider approach. This has involved workshops and meetings to explore BNU’s whole provider approach within the Access and Participation Plan and how it might be strengthened further. Workshops have also been facilitated by Professor Mike Hill, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Participants in the workshop have included those leading on Access and Participation Plan, the Students’ Union, and students.
Professor Paul Morgan, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Education), commented: “I’d like to thank TASO and Professor Liz Thomas for their support and expertise during this project. Together with my colleagues, we’ve enjoyed deepening our learning about designing effective whole-provider approaches to eliminating awarding gaps and achieving equity. We are looking forward to extending the project further over the next few months and to see publication of the case study to help inform the sector what effective whole-provider approaches ‘look like’. Ultimately, this is about ensuring that our plans will lead to the intended impact throughout the implementation of the Access and Participation Plan."
Tristan Tipping, Chief Executive of Bucks Students' Union: "We’re delighted to be supporting Paul and the wider institution in this project and value the collaborative approach. BNU has made a huge commitment to harness the student voice throughout all our work and Bucks SU will do whatever we can to support that. There’s a lot of good practice we can share as an institution as this project unfolds and I’m sure there’s also a great deal to learn along the way."
Professor Liz Thomas has shared how the project will benefit the sector: “I’m excited to be collaborating with TASO and six partner higher education providers on a really important project that has the potential to significantly advance our understanding and implementation of whole-provider approaches to inclusion and equity. We’re focusing on developing a deeper understanding of their whole-provider approaches, and specifically, we’re working with each institution to develop a bespoke theory of change.
"The project will provide the sector with concrete examples of how providers can effectively embed inclusion across all aspects of their operations, and it will enhance our conceptualisation of a whole-provider approach. This will also provide a practical framework for implementation, evaluation, and ultimately, measuring the impact of a whole-provider approach on student experiences, outcomes and equity.“
At the end of the project, TASO will publish the whole provider approach as case studies for the sector to refer to. Another benefit of the project is to support BNU’s drive to build internal evaluation expertise and further understanding of designing a high quality theory of change that drives long term impact for student success and eliminates awarding gaps.
BNU’s recent launch of the Pedagogy and Innovation Hub is a great example of our work on internal evaluation and external dissemination and collaboration will drive improvement and reduce awarding gaps.
Further information about the whole-provider project can be found here.