What is ‘widening access’ to higher education? A review of approaches adopted by HEIs and colleges in Wales to ‘widening access’ to HE

Despite major expansion of higher education (HE) in the UK over recent decades individuals from the least socially advantaged backgrounds continue to enter HE at lower rates than their more advantaged counterparts (Christie et al, 2005; Croll and Attwood 2013), and when they do, they enter less prestigious HEIs (Ball et al 2002, Reay et al 2001; Boliver 2013; Jerrim2013). These patterns of inequalities exist in Wales, mirroring the pattern in the wider UK (Rees and Taylor, 2006).