Widening access

We’re committed to helping students reach their full potential and welcome people from all backgrounds. We believe that everyone has the ability to succeed and encourage engagement from everyone, including those who think university isn’t for them.

Our Widening Access Team are here to help. We work with students from schools and colleges, and their teachers and lecturers, advisers and carers, to support them on their journey into university.

Are you a widening access student?

Widening access students come from a range of different backgrounds and situations. If one or more of the statements below applies to you, there’s a lot of help and support available:

• from a priority postcode area (sometimes known as SIMD or MD20 / MD40)
• involved in a Schools for Higher Education Programme
• from a low progression school
• a care experienced student
• a young or adult carer
• an estranged student
• a mature student
• from the armed forces community

We also offer support to college students studying a HNC or HND, or through pathways such as the SWAP access course (Scottish Wider Access Programme).

If you are a refugee or asylum seeker, contact our Widening Access team for more information on the support available to you.

What is a priority postcode?

This is a Scottish government initiative, often referred to as a MD20 or MD40 postcode. To find out if you live in a priority postcode region, look at your postcode in the postcode checker by typing in your postcode on the left-hand side, then hover over the pin on the map. The information you need will come up in the box on the right-hand side. SIMD area ’Quintile 1’ means SIMD20 and ‘Quintile 2’ means MD40.

You’re eligible for a minimum offer of entry to a degree programme if you live in a MD20 postcode, and an adjusted entry offer if you live in a MD40 postcode.

Widening access and entry requirements

We consider a wide range of qualifications, and we know that that not everyone has an equal opportunity to demonstrate their full potential. We use our Fair Access Policy to consider each applicant’s potential as well as their achievements, by looking at what they have achieved in relation to their individual circumstances.

We guarantee to make a minimum entry offer if you are:

• a care experienced student
• from a MD20 priority postcode area

Currently our minimum entry offer is BBBC at higher, with a B in any required subjects. The exception to this is our Actuarial Science programmes, which are ABBC with an A in Mathematics.

Students from the other widening access groups are eligible for an adjusted offer.  Eligibility for an adjusted offer means we can be more flexible with the offer we make.  For instance, we may reduce our standard entry requirements for Highers by one or two grades, double count Highers and Advanced Highers or exercise greater flexibility if admissions conditions are not met once results are released.

Our widening access team can give you more information about the kind of offer you could receive - wp@hw.ac.uk.

Find out more on the support we can offer

We run dedicated information, advice and guidance sessions at all of our on-campus events, including Open Days and Offer Holder Days. Look out for the ‘widening access zone’ at each event.

If you’d like to come to one of our on-campus events but aren’t sure how, or are worried you can’t afford to, get in touch and we’ll help where we can.