1. Introduction
Our Vision
"be acknowledged as a reputable and ambitious higher education provider. We are focused on delivering a high-quality teaching and learning experience to individuals who might not otherwise have the chance to study, learn and succeed at the university level."
Our Mission
"deliver a teaching and learning environment that facilitates VCAD students to achieve their goals, reach their potential, gain industry-aligned skills and graduate as confident, creative, and responsible citizens."
2. Understanding the Landscape
3. Regulatory and Strategic Alignment
Condition A2 – OfS Expectations
Equality of Opportunities and Risks Register (EORR)
Arts University Plymouth's Access and Participation Plan
Ravensbourne University's Access and Participation Plan
Equality of Opportunity Policy of VCAD
Student feedback gathered through VCAD's representative and governance structures
Sector evidence from HESA, the OfS, and the UCAS 2025 cycle applicant data, including the House of Commons Library Research Briefing on Higher Education Student Numbers (February 2025)
As a franchise provider, VCAD works in close and ongoing partnership with its partner institutions. The College maintains regular communication with AUP and RUL to ensure alignment of approaches, sharing of good practice, and fulfilment of mutual obligations regarding access and participation.
4. Risk Assessment: Equality of Opportunity
Gaps in academic preparedness, study skills, and confidence on entry, particularly for students returning to education after a prolonged period away from formal study.
Limited understanding of higher education expectations, assessment requirements, academic regulations, and available support services.
Lower levels of academic self-efficacy, confidence, and sense of belonging, which may affect engagement, continuation, and attainment.
Financial pressures arising from living costs, travel expenses, and competing financial responsibilities, increasing the risk of withdrawal or reduced engagement.
Time constraints associated with employment, caring responsibilities, and family commitments limit opportunities for participation and engagement.
Digital access and digital skills barriers, including limited access to appropriate technology, connectivity, or confidence in using digital learning platforms.
Barriers to accessing disability-related support and reasonable adjustments, including limited awareness of available support before enrolment.
Mental health and wellbeing challenges that may adversely affect participation, engagement, continuation, and academic success.
Limited access to professional networks, industry connections, and employability opportunities that support progression to graduate-level employment and further study.
5. Access — Expanding Opportunity and Entry into Higher Education
Access at VCAD means actively dismantling the structural, informational, and cultural barriers that prevent individuals from entering higher education — not simply opening a door, but ensuring people can see it, reach it, and walk through it with confidence.
5.1 Outreach and Community Engagement
Participation in UCAS Discovery Days at London ExCeL, primarily engaging Year 12 and 13 students exploring progression into arts, design, and creative business programmes.
Attendance at the London Job Show in Stratford, engaging mature learners and career changers considering higher education routes — broadening VCAD's reach beyond traditional student recruitment channels.
Participation in public exhibitions, festivals, and creative showcases that position VCAD as a visible hub for artistic innovation and civic engagement within the communities it serves.
Open Days enabling prospective students to visit campus, meet academic and professional staff, experience the learning environment, and attend admissions interviews — building confidence and providing clarity about programme expectations.
Active promotion of all events and application routes via VCAD's social media platforms, ensuring information reaches a wide and geographically diverse audience.
5.2 Admissions: Enabling Fair and Flexible Entry
Non-standard and Recognition of Prior Experiential Learning (RPEL) entry routes are actively supported. The College applies the Recognition of Prior Experiential Learning policies of its degree-awarding partners (AUP and RUL), enabling applicants with significant professional experience to demonstrate their readiness for higher education through a range of recognised entry routes. The outcomes of students admitted through non-standard entry routes are monitored through the College's quality assurance and enhancement processes. Pre-application guidance is offered to all prospective students, particularly mature learners, helping them assess whether a programme suits their qualifications, goals, and personal circumstances before committing to an application.
Comprehensive Course Discovery information is provided through the College website, prospectus, and direct enquiry channels — covering course content, entry requirements, financial implications (including student loans and grants), academic expectations, and available professional services.
A free in-house English Language assessment is available to all applicants, supported by preparation videos and guidance materials. The assessment supports the College in determining applicants' readiness to engage successfully with higher education study and identifying any additional language support requirements. Results are ordinarily communicated within 48 hours, enabling a prompt and transparent process.
Pre-application information about disability-related support, reasonable adjustments, and available services is provided to all prospective students — including those with disabilities, long-term conditions, neurodivergence, or temporary impairments — enabling genuinely informed decision-making before enrolment.
Where operationally feasible, feedback is provided to unsuccessful applicants, ensuring they understand what steps might support a future application.
VCAD's blended-learning delivery model is clearly communicated as a central feature of its offer: combining structured on-campus attendance with guided independent study. For example, Fashion Design students attend two fixed full days on campus per week. This model removes a significant practical barrier for students balancing study with employment or caring responsibilities.
6. Creativity — Supporting Participation, Engagement, and Academic Success
6.1 Induction and Transition into Higher Education
All new students participate in a structured induction programme, spread across the first weeks of study. Rather than presenting information as a single large-scale event, VCAD's induction is designed to help students discover information progressively — covering academic expectations, key policies, available support services, and the resources they will need throughout their studies.
A re-induction is delivered at the start of each academic year following the summer break, re-familiarising returning students with institutional processes, support services, key dates, and academic expectations. The programme also supports students in preparing for the academic skills, behaviours, and expectations associated with progression to the next level of study.
6.2 Student Information and Support
The Student Information and Support Team operates as the primary point of contact for all students, providing accessible, frontline guidance through face-to-face services on campus and via email and telephone. This visible and approachable service is particularly valuable for students who may be unfamiliar with higher education systems and processes, including mature learners, first-generation students, and those from underrepresented backgrounds.
The team provides guidance across a broad range of academic and administrative matters — from enrolment and timetabling to student status letters and understanding institutional processes — and ensures that where a student's needs require specialist input, they are referred promptly to the appropriate service.
The VCAD Student Portal serves as a central, accessible information hub, providing up-to-date guidance, announcements, key process information, and clear signposting to support services. Students can access essential information independently, at a time and pace that suits them, helping to reduce barriers to accessing information and support throughout the student lifecycle.
Student Success Tutors are being introduced as part of the College's developing approach to student engagement, retention, and success. The role is intended to provide a consistent point of contact for students, facilitate communication between academic and professional services teams, and support the early identification of barriers to engagement, continuation, and achievement.
6.3 Workshops and Skills Development
The Academic Skills and Mentoring team delivers workshops in academic English, academic writing, study skills, and referencing — building the confidence and capability of students who may not have engaged with formal study for some time, or who are approaching higher education from non-traditional educational backgrounds. This provision is particularly valuable for mature learners, students returning to education, and those entering higher education through non-traditional routes.
The Careers and Employability team offers workshops focused on professional development, including guidance on building a LinkedIn profile, networking effectively, and identifying prospective employers. This provision is complemented by individual career guidance and resources that support application preparation, interview readiness, and informed career decision-making.
Health and Wellbeing workshops provide students with practical strategies to manage wellbeing, build resilience, organise their time effectively, and engage confidently with the demands of higher education study.
Student Engagement Workshops build core digital and soft skills, supporting students to navigate Moodle, submit assessments, and use Microsoft 365 applications confidently. This may also include sessions on digital literacy, professional use of technology, and emerging technologies relevant to higher education and employment.
A reading and enrichment week is incorporated into the academic calendar — providing dedicated time for study skills development, wellbeing support, and careers-related activities, including stress management workshops, English language support, academic writing sessions, and CV workshops — without the pressure of core academic delivery.
6.4 Inclusive Learning Environment
Teaching is delivered on campus through an active, workshop-based model — combining content delivery, guided discussion, group work, and project-based activities. This is complemented by structured materials for off-campus guided study within the blended-learning model, reinforcing and extending in-class learning.
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles are being progressively embedded within learning, teaching, and assessment practices to create flexible learning environments that accommodate diverse learner needs and preferences. Staff are introduced to UDL through ongoing team development activities, with academic leadership oversight.
English language support is embedded at Levels 3 and 4, acknowledging that academic language conventions can be a significant barrier for students returning to study or studying in their second language.
Students have access to the library and learning resources provided through the College and its awarding partners, alongside digital media labs, computer labs, and specialist equipment relevant to their programme of study. This includes sewing machines and fashion equipment for fashion-related programmes, as well as photographic equipment for media and photography students. All students have access to Microsoft Office, and from Level 4 onwards, creative students receive the full Adobe Creative Suite.
Laptop loan schemes (on-campus) and on-campus internet access are available to address digital poverty, ensuring that access to hardware and connectivity does not determine a student's ability to engage with their studies. The College recognises that access to technology can present a barrier to participation and therefore seeks to ensure that students have equitable access to the digital resources required to engage successfully with their studies.
6.5 Disability Support and Reasonable Adjustments
Reasonable Adjustment Plans and Temporary Learning Support Plans are developed in collaboration with individual students. Support plans are tailored to individual needs, documented appropriately, and communicated to relevant academic staff to ensure consistent implementation across all modules.
The College provides clear information regarding disability support and reasonable adjustments before enrolment. It maintains a confidential and supportive process through which students can disclose disabilities or support needs at any stage of their studies. Students are signposted to the Health and Wellbeing Team, and information is handled sensitively in accordance with data protection and equality principles. Staff members can also submit a referral form on a student's behalf, with the wellbeing team following up directly with the student.
Curriculum accessibility is monitored on an ongoing basis, and the College's approach is reviewed periodically to ensure it remains responsive to the evolving profile of the student body.
6.6 Financial Support and Hardship
Students are guided through the financial support options available to them, including government grants, student loans, institutional support, and budgeting resources.
Where students experience financial difficulty during their studies, they are signposted to appropriate internal and external sources of assistance. The College seeks to identify and address financial barriers at an early stage, supporting students in remaining engaged in their studies and, wherever possible, continuing their studies.
Financial support information is clearly accessible through the Student Portal and through direct engagement with Student Information and Support staff.
7. Impact — Supporting Completion, Progression, and Graduate Outcomes
Impact at VCAD means students completing their qualifications, progressing into employment or further study, and contributing meaningfully to their fields and communities. The College's responsibility to its students does not end at graduation — it extends into the professional lives they build beyond it.
7.1 Retention and Completion
A holistic risk-tracking framework draws data from multiple engagement sources — including VLE activity, attendance, assignment submissions, and assessment outcomes — enabling the early identification of students who may benefit from additional academic, pastoral, or wellbeing support.
The Academic Progress and Success Team take a proactive approach to supporting students with submissions and resubmissions, helping to identify and address barriers to academic engagement before they escalate into more significant challenges.
Where disruption to study is unavoidable — whether for personal, financial, or health-related reasons — the College handles these situations sensitively, with clear processes that maximise the student's opportunity to continue or return to study.
Student engagement events throughout the academic year — including 'Dragon's Den' style pitch competitions and employer-linked careers fairs — are used to maintain motivation and connect students with their post-graduation goals during the later stages of their programmes. These activities are intended not only to support continuation and completion but also to strengthen students' motivation, confidence, sense of belonging, and connection to future career goals.
One-to-one CV and LinkedIn profile support is available to all students, delivered in person and online, supporting readiness for graduate-level employment.
7.2 Progression and Employability
A dedicated Careers and Employability Lead develops and maintains relationships with employers and industry partners to provide students with access to professional networks, industry insight, employer engagement activities, and opportunities to develop career-related skills and experience.
CareerQuest — VCAD's careers and employability initiative — delivers employer-linked talks and guest speaker sessions featuring professionals from relevant industries, designed to motivate students and provide insight into graduate career pathways.
Connections with organisations, including Clifford Chance and other sector-relevant partners, provide students with access to professional environments and graduate career insight. These relationships continue to develop. These activities are intended to strengthen the social and professional capital available to students by increasing exposure to professional environments, industry expectations, and potential career pathways.
As graduate numbers grow, VCAD intends to establish an alumni network to support professional mentoring, peer networking, and ongoing engagement between graduates and current students. For students considering postgraduate study or professional qualifications, the College provides information and guidance on available routes, ensuring that ambition beyond undergraduate level is actively encouraged and supported.
Opportunities for students to participate in exhibitions, creative showcases, and public-facing events enable them to demonstrate their work and potential to future employers, collaborators, and the broader creative community.
8. Student Voice and Partnership
9. Monitoring and Continuous Improvement
Staff development is an ongoing institutional priority. The College will continue to invest in training and development to maintain high-quality teaching, inclusive practice, and effective student support, with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles embedded in induction and ongoing team development overseen by the academic team.
Students and student representatives are engaged in self-evaluation, policy development, and institutional governance, ensuring that the student voice is a genuine influence on how the College develops.
VCAD maintains close working relationships with AUP and RUL to ensure alignment with their Access and Participation Plans, share good practice, and fulfil its obligations as a franchise provider.
Relevant committees allocate appropriate financial resources to support the effective implementation of this Statement. A designated senior member of the management team is responsible for implementing and monitoring this Statement on an ongoing basis, with reporting to the Academic Committee and the Board of Governors.
The annual review of this Statement will consider institutional performance data, student feedback, engagement with support services, emerging sector evidence, and feedback from students and staff. Where appropriate, interventions will be revised, enhanced, or replaced to ensure the continued promotion of equality of opportunity across the student lifecycle.