Widening Participation

“Transition into university and the first-year experience are hugely significant for student success, confidence, belonging and wellbeing” Student Minds, The Hub (2023).

The Ignite Your Spark programme at the University of Suffolk has been designed to support students who may face additional barriers, with the transition into University and throughout their first year. For more information, click here.

All Higher Education Institutions in the UK are required to register with the Office for Students (OfS) in order for their students to be eligible for tuition and maintenance support. As one of our conditions of registration with the OfS, we are required to publish our Access and Participation Plan (previously Access Agreement). This document sets out how the University of Suffolk will increase participation of students normally under-represented in Higher Education and how we will support our students to succeed on their course and progress into employment and further study. 

• Access and Participation Plan 2025/26-2028/29
• Access and Participation Plan Summary 2025/26-2028/29 (PDF)
• Access and Participation Plan Summary 2025/26-2028/29 (Word document)
• Access and Participation Plan, Accessible Summary, 2020/21 - 2024/25
• Access and Participation Plan 2020/21 - 2024/25
• Access Participation Plan 2022-2025
• Summary of 2024-25 Course Fees
• Summary of 2023-24 Course Fees
• Summary of 2022-23 Course Fees
• Summary of 2021-22 Course Fees
• Access and Participation Plan Monitoring Outcome 2019-20
• Access and Participation Plan 2019-20
• Access Agreement 2018-19
• Widening Participation and Transparency Data

The University's Student Recruitment and Outreach team deliver a range of activities to raise aspirations and increase access to the University of Suffolk, including:

• On-campus Conferences and academic taster events
• Residential Summer School
• Family Awareness Days
• Presentations and workshops in schools and colleges across the East of England
• For more information, see our Student Recruitment pages.

The University was created to provide Higher Education to our local community and we welcome students from a range of backgrounds and experience.

• Information for mature students
• Studying part-time
• Access to Higher Education Conference

The University of Suffolk is a partner in the Network for East Anglia Collaborative Outreach (NEACO), a project funded as part of the National Collaborative Outreach Programme to deliver outreach in areas where participation of young people in higher education is low, and lower than expected based on GCSE attainment. The other partners in NEACO are: University of Cambridge, Anglia Ruskin University, University of East Anglia, Norwich University of the Arts, and the eight FE Colleges in East Anglia. The project has a team of Higher Education Champions based in schools and colleges across East Anglia, providing a range of outreach activities directly with students, and working closely with the university partners to provide students with positive HE experiences.

The University also works collaboratively with other universities, our Partner Colleges, and a range of external organisations and stakeholders to increase access to university amongst under-represented students. Our activities include working with young people with little previous experience of HE, Care Leavers, Young Carers, Mature students, and students with disabilities. More information is available on our Widening Participation pages.

We are proud of our excellent employment rate and work closely with our students to develop their skills for employment and postgraduate study. Many of our degrees have opportunities for employer engagement and placements. Our graduates benefit from becoming members of our Alumni Association, providing a range of benefits including continued access to the Careers and Employability team, and a loyalty reduction on selected postgraduate course fees.

The University of Suffolk is embedded in its local community, and we aim to provide a course portfolio that meets the needs of employers now and for the future. We work closely with a range of employers to provide Higher and Degree Apprenticeships, giving students the opportunity to apply their learning to their workplace, developing their knowledge and skills to benefit their business. We offer Higher and Degree Apprenticeships across a range of areas, including Health, Business, IT and for the public sector.