The Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills visited UWS on Wednesday 22 January to find out more about the University’s work in creating educational opportunities for all.

Jenny Gilruth MSP met with staff and students at our Paisley campus and heard directly from them about the University’s Student Success model, which provides a personalised approach to student development.

The model, using learner analytics, ensures that expert staff proactively identify and engage with students who need additional support. The tailored support, which can be academic or non-academic, provides students with a personalised plan to assist them.

Ms Gilruth also learnt more about the University’s Foundation Academy, which has supported over 2,000 senior phase pupils in the transition to university so far. The programme, which is in its third year, takes an on-campus and in-school blended approach, allowing senior pupils to study at university level and gain 20 credits at SCQF level 7, equivalent to one Scottish Higher (Grade B).

Ms Gilruth said: “The visit today to UWS was really fantastic and I learned more about how the University supports school pupils on the transition into higher education. The Foundation Academy is a unique approach UWS has used to help support that transition from school into university.

“The Student Success model has also been absolutely fascinating to hear about. We know there's a wide variety of things that can hamper students’ progress whilst at university and it has been interesting to look at some of the specifics in terms of travel and cost of living, and how the University has been able to map that data and help support individual students to secure better retention rates.

We know we need to support our students, particularly post-pandemic, so it's been fantastic to hear about the work that's going on at UWS to do just that.

Jenny Gilruth MSP

Professor James Miller, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of UWS, said: “It was a pleasure to welcome the Cabinet Secretary to UWS, to demonstrate the profoundly transformative impact of the work we do to support students.

“As Scotland's leading university for widening access, with 44.8% of our undergraduate students being the first in their family to attend university, we firmly believe that ability, not background, is what matters when it comes to achieving academic success.

“Our staff champion and empower students from diverse and non-traditional backgrounds to access higher education through various initiatives such as the UWS Foundation Academy, strong articulation links with college students and our Student Success Model.

We’re incredibly proud of the work we do around widening participation and it was fantastic to share that with Ms Gilruth and talk about how we could further build on that success in years to come.

Professor James Miller, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of UWS

UWS has been Scotland’s leading university for widening access to higher education for 10 years in a row.

The University is ranked first in Scottish Social Mobility Index 2024, first in Scotland for social inclusion, and first in Scotland for the number of students from state schools (Times/Sunday Times Social Inclusion Rankings 2024).

At UWS, 29 percent of Scottish undergraduates are from SIMD20 areas (SFC 2024 figures) and 44.8 percent of students are the first in their family to attend university.