I was appointed Commissioner for Fair Access in January 2023, succeeding Professor Sir Peter Scott. I am also Professor of Social Justice at Glasgow Caledonian University and Co-Director of the Scottish Poverty and Inequality Research Unit.
John McKendrick
John was appointed Scotland’s second Commissioner for Fair Access in January 2023, succeeding Professor Sir Peter Scott. Appointing a Commissioner was one the recommendations of the Commission for Widening Access.
The Commissioner is independent of the Scottish Government. The main responsibility is to write an Annual Report to the Government on progress towards meeting targets for fair access, recommended by the Commission and agreed by Ministers. The aim is that by 2030 one-fifth of entrants to higher education should come from the 20-per-cent most deprived communities in Scotland. The Commissioner is also responsible for overseeing the work of the Scottish Framework for Fair Access. The Commissioner’s role acts as a focus for efforts by colleges and universities to promote fair access, working closely with the Government, the Scottish Funding Council, Universities Scotland, Colleges Scotland, NUS Scotland, University and College Union and other stakeholders.
Responsibilities and functions
The Commissioner provides impartial policy advice to the Scottish Government and other organisations and works across the entire education system to:
develop best practice
improve the evidence base
hold to account all those with a role in advancing fair access to higher education.
The Commissioner holds a non-statutory role. He is not an ombudsman or regulator and is not able to take forward individual cases.
The functions of the Commissioner for Fair Access are to:
lead cohesive and system wide efforts to drive fair access in Scotland; acting as an advocate for access for disadvantaged learners and holding to account those with a role to play in achieving equal access, including ministers and the Scottish Funding Council (SFC)
co-ordinate and prioritise the development of a more substantial evidence base on the issues most pertinent to fair access, including the commissioning and publication of independent research and the development of a framework for fair access
publish an annual report to ministers outlining the Commissioner's views on progress towards equal access in Scotland to inform development of effective policy at national, regional and institutional level.
John’s thoughts on widening access and the role of Commissioner
The idea that education provides opportunity for all to fully realise their potential has been, is, and should always be, central to its purpose in Scotland. Widening participation to higher education is the pinnacle of that goal.
Progress has been made toward meeting the ambitious 2030 target to widen participation, and universities, colleges and schools should be commended for meeting the targets ahead of schedule.
However, the world in which we live has changed. The Covid pandemic and now the cost-of-living crisis have intensified the problems that present for many, but particularly for those already facing most disadvantage. Therefore, we now need to upscale our efforts to widen participation in Higher Education. This is essential if Scotland is to prosper as a high-skill economy, and to do so as an inclusive society.
It is a great honour to be appointed Commissioner for Fair Access. I relish the opportunity of working with those committed to tackling inequalities in participation.
About Peter Scott, Scotland’s first Commissioner for Fair Access
“I have been Professor of Higher Education studies at University College London’s Institute of Education since 2011.
“Between 1998 and 2011 I was Vice-Chancellor of Kingston University, also in London, which recruited its students from diverse backgrounds with many coming from minority ethnic communities. During that time I was also member of the board of the Higher Education Funding Council in England and chaired two of its strategic committees (including from widening participation). Before moving to Kingston I was Pro Vice-Chancellor for external affairs at the University of Leeds, and Professor of Education.
“My earlier career was spent as a journalist, and I was Editor of the Times Higher Education Supplement (now The Times Higher) before I moved to Leeds.
“I have always believed passionately in the need for wider participation and fair access - and have both promoted it as a Vice-Chancellor and Funding Council board member, and made it a theme of much of my research and writing. A list of my publication can be found on ResearchGate. Fair access also features prominently in my most recent book Retreat or Resolution? Tackling the Crisis of Mass Higher Education.”
Scottish Framework for Fair Access
The Scottish Framework for Fair Access, launched in May 2019, has been developed to help access practitioners plan and evaluate new ways of helping people from disadvantaged backgrounds access higher education.
It has been designed for use by schools, colleges, universities and the third sector, and provides evidence and advice and highlights best practice by identifying activities that are making the most impact.
There are two elements to the Framework.
The first is the Framework for Fair Access toolkit website which provides evidence on activities universities and others can undertake to support access into and through higher education.
The second element of the framework is the establishment of Scotland's Community of Access and Participation Practitioners (SCAPP) - a forum to share and develop best practice in access support across Scotland.
The framework was developed in response to recommendations contained in a 2016 report by the Commission on Widening Access: a Blueprint for Fairness.