David Game publishes 2024–2025 Access and Participation Progress Report

Posted on 26/03/26

At David Game Higher Education (DGHE), widening access to higher education is a core part of our mission. We believe in supporting students from all backgrounds to succeed. Our Access and Participation Plan (APP) sets out how we work to remove barriers and support underrepresented learners throughout their studies.

We are pleased to publish our latest progress report, covering the academic year 2024–2025, which shows strong results across access, continuation and attainment.

👉 Read the full report here.

Strong progress on widening participation

Since implementing our current APP in 2023, we have made significant progress in attracting and supporting students from groups that are underrepresented in higher education.

In 2024–2025:

• – 43.7% of entrants were from minority ethnic backgrounds, which exceeds our 2027-28 target of 20% (up from only 7.7% in 2021-22).

 

• – 9.3% of entrants identified as disabled, exceeding our 2024-25 milestone of 7%, with additional students identifying during their studies after receiving free assessments through our Advice and Wellbeing Services (AWS). However, only 5.9% identified at entry, which we attribute to mature students being less aware of neurodiversity or what counts as a disability before studying with us.

 

• – The continuation gap between White and minority ethnic students fell to 5.3 percentage points, beating our milestone target of 10pp.

 

• – 52.2% of mature students achieved Merit or Distinction, well above our target of 39%.

 

• – The gap in attainment between students from the most and least deprived areas has actually reversed compared to previous years, with students from lower income households attaining better grades.

 

These results reflect our focus on practical support including student services and bursaries, inclusive admissions, and flexible study options designed for mature learners and students returning to education.

Supporting access, success and progression

To achieve our access and participation targets, we invested in more outreach and practical support to help students succeed in their studies. We support our students by reducing financial barriers, providing strong academic and wellbeing support, and making study more flexible for mature and busy learners.

Examples of the activities we delivered in 2024–2025 include:

• – More bursaries and hardship funding for students facing financial difficulty

 

• – Increased Advice and Wellbeing Services (AWS), tutoring, English language and IT skills support

 

• – Embedding careers, employability and inclusive teaching practices across our courses

 

• – Outreach work with schools, community groups and local organisations in East London

 

• – Public workshops and taster sessions encouraging mature learners to return to education

 

• – Targeted local marketing to reach underrepresented communities

 

• – Staff training on inclusive teaching and student support

 

• – Online and flexible learning options to support students with work or family commitments

 

• – Delivery of courses in additional locations to reduce travel barriers

 

These activities form part of our Access and Participation Plan and are designed to help students access higher education, continue their studies from one year to the next, attain better grades and progress into graduate work, while eliminating gaps for students from underrepresented backgrounds.

Full details of the activities delivered during the year can be found in the report HERE.