White working-class boys: The challenges of translating widening participation policy into practice

This paper constitutes a practitioner-focused response to categorisation issues raised by the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) topic briefing on developing widening participation interventions for white British students from low socioeconomic status groups. The briefing aims to share examples of effective practice and resources to support universities in developing increasingly evidence-led policy and practice, primarily in relation to male students. We audited access agreements to explore how this target group was understood by institutions, highlighting diverse and sometimes inconsistent definitions. We then reviewed relevant academic and policy literature, and the evidence underpinning the OFFA guidance, to explore the extent to which an explicit focus on this group is appropriate or possible, and to consider the implications for widening participation practice. The paper seeks to highlight issues relevant to developing access targets relating to this group, as well as exploring issues around intersectionality, the use of data proxies for disadvantage and the use of large administrative datasets in widening participation practice.