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Career ZoneEventsWP Networking Event November 2025WP Criteria

Widening Participation (WP) Criteria

The University of Exeter believes in the principle that everyone with the potential to benefit from higher education should have equal opportunity to do so. We are committed to widen participation in higher education; raise attainment; and put students on a level playing field to ensure they enjoy the best possible outcomes at university and as graduates. The definition of a WP student we use is below.

You Must:

  1. Be a Home-fee paying student.
  2. Plus, at least one of the following applies to you:
  • Access to Exeter Bursary recipient*
  • Mature student (21 or over on point of entry to university)
  • Disabled student
  • Care Leaver or care experienced*
  • Carer
  • Participated in a Fair Access programme before coming to university e.g. Exeter Scholars, Realising Opportunities, Pathways to Law
  • Estranged student*
  • Refugee or asylum seeker
  • Home in a 'Low Participation Neighbourhood’ (POLAR Q1&2) and from a State School*
  • Home in a 'Low Participation Neighbourhood’ (TUNDRA MSOA Q1&2) and from a State School*
  • Home in an area of deprivation (IMD Q1&2) and from a State School*
  • Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic student and Home in a 'Low Participation Neighbourhood’ (POLAR Q1&2) and from a State School*
  • Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic student and Home in a 'Low Participation Neighbourhood’ (TUNDRA MSOA Q1&2) and from a State School*
  • Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic student and ‘Access to Exeter’ bursary recipient
  • Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic student and Mature
  • Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic student and Disabled

 

Further Definitions:

*Bursary: An ‘Access to Exeter’ bursary from the University of Exeter where your household income is under £30k.

*Care Leaver: Young people (up to the age of 25) who have been looked after by the local authority for more than 13 weeks since they were 14, including some time at age 16 or 17.

*Care Experienced: Anyone who has been or is currently in care or from a looked after background at any stage of their life, no matter how short. This care may have been provided in one of many different settings, such as in residential care, foster care, kinship care or looked after at home with a supervision requirement.

*Estranged student: in receipt of the Estranged Student Bursary.

*Home in a 'Low Participation Neighbourhood', or area of deprivation, (defined by home postcode before coming to university): You can check to see if your home was in a neighbourhood where a low percentage of young people progress to higher education, or in an area of deprivation, by entering the postcode on the Office for Students webpage. To do this scroll down to the ‘Area-based measures postcode look-up’ box, enter the postcode and press ‘view detailed results.’ If your postcode results show any of the following, then your postcode is eligible:

  • POLAR Quintile 1 or 2
  • TUNDRA MSOA Quintile 1 or 2
  • IMD Quintile 1 or 2