John R. D. Blicharski

On completing an HND in Biolo­gical Sciences at the University of Abertay John Blicharski articulated directly into Year 3 of a Biochemistry Degree (with Honours) in his old school town of St. Andrews.

He returned north of the Tay to complete a PhD in Pharmacology at the University of Dundee before realising that it was time to follow the family tradition and teach some of what he had learned.

Following a Diploma in Medical Education (also Dundee) he spent four years from 1991 helping doctors develop their learning within Medical Education at the Uni­versity of Dundee. Whilst there completing a Master’s Degree in Education (with Honours) one of his lecturers – the late Professor Elisabeth Gerver – suggested he apply for a role in main stream education that she was keen to develop. It was a single moment of opportunity that led to a career that in turn led to every summer being spent on campus (1995–2019) or online (2020 + 2021) with widening participation students – a choice of vocation over vacation, it might be said.

Since being appointed to this role in 1995, the author headed up Access developments at the University of Dundee under a variety of structures and titles including Director of the Wider Access Study Centre, becoming a Senior Lecturer and subsequently a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, then in late 2021 becoming an Honorary Professor. He led a hand-picked talented Access to High Demand Professions (AHDP) team that gained national recognition in a complex area during the most challenging of pandemic times.

The author’s personal and professional development has always been strongly influenced by his scientific training and the need to ensure each and every approach is firmly evidence based and continuously tested as being fit for purpose. A wise person, their name lost in time, once said that because of the political dimension, 'widening participation' and 'widening access' would always be about ‘proving a good thing to be good’. In other words, not just doing good but proving it makes a positive difference through clear, often longitudinal, evidence that required meticulous planning and lots of analysis and understanding. This approach underpinned the development of a raft of provision the author introduced over the years as detailed below. It demonstrates the growth and evolution of provision as needs changed and demand identified. It hopefully also demonstrates changing perspectives and how change can be managed.

The ‘S’ prefix for year groups relates to the stage of Secondary School of the intended audience. S1 = First year of Secondary School, and so on:

1995 – introduction of an effective campus-based largescale post-pilot Access Summer School aimed for the first time at specifically preparing and qualifying students for entry to undergraduate degrees at the University of Dundee. The course at this point was full-time and 10 weeks long but has constantly evolved.

1997 – introduction of the ASPIRE Course. A four-week academic pre­paratory course running immediately before the start of each semester for around 100 candidates deemed likely to benefit from enhanced preparation for degree-level study. The course was withdrawn in 2006, the target audience having reduced due to alternative options offered by the growing College sector.

1998 – introduction of Discovering Degrees for Schools programme for S3 contextually targeted pupils, enabling hundreds of pupils to each spend their first school day on campus, shadowing mock lectures, workshops and prac­tical classes, accompanied by their teachers (who themselves gained much from time on campus).

2000 – introduction of Discovering Degrees for Adults using the same format as the Schools version. As with the ASPIRE Course, the Adults ver­

sion of the course was withdrawn in 2006, the target audience having reduced due to alternative options offered by the College sector.

2008 – Discover Learning at Dundee (DLAD). A year-long alternative to Access Summer School was devised and introduced, removing the need for eligible candidates to wait up to a year for the June start date of Access Summer School, enabling them to study online, all year. The introduction was part of the then ‘lifelong learning’ drive and had a particular focus on adults returning to study.

2010 – launch of Reach and ACES projects (nationally supporting access to high demand professions (AHDP) medicine, dentistry, law, architecture, art and design) primarily for eligible S4–S6 pupils. The author was a founding member of the establishing group 2011 – introduction of the City Campus project aimed at S5 and S6 pupils wishing to study Advanced Highers otherwise unavailable in their Secondary School which was developed with the author.

2015 – due to the limited number of Scottish / EU undergraduate placesavailable as a result of free tuition in Scotland, entry to Access and Online Summer Schools switched from being ‘open Access’ where candidates could apply to the programmes, to ‘by invitation only’, where only those offered the courses as part of their UCAS offer would be admitted to it. High demand meant that candidates were at risk of completing these courses without having an undergraduate place to enter at the end, hence the essential adaptation. At the same time, largely to reduce opportunity cost to learners (many of whom have part-time jobs) the course length was reduced to six and a half weeks, with only four of these (for Access Summer School) being on campus, the remainder being online. This una­voidable development introduced the ‘Access application paradox’. Access candidates lacking entry qualifications are arguably the least likely to apply to university – why would they if they think they cannot get in? And yet, if they do not apply they are ineligible for a place at the end of the course. This paradox remains today.

2016 – Online Summer School. An effective online alternative to Access Summer School was introduced to enable those needing ‘lighter touch’ sup­port to complete the entire preparatory and qualifying course online over the summer. In effect, the ‘DLAD’ modules (see 2008 above) were from this point available throughout the year (having not previously been offered during summer months when Access Summer School ran). By 2020 the revised combined approach of the two courses prepared and qualified ~200 con­textually flagged candidates for entry each year for degree entry and boosted subsequent progression of this group. These courses provide the earliest pos­sible supported intervention point for them.

2017 – the Transformation Trust, subsequently The Talent Foundry picked the University of Dundee as the only Scottish partner to host eligible local S1

and S2 pupils to give them their first real exposure to a university.

2020 – start of the first joint widening participation PhD student at the University of Dundee, jointly supervised by the author.

2021 – the AHDP Project was shortlisted for the annual Herald Access Awards and the Access Summer School won a silver Heist award for UK Best WP Initiative 2021. Also the first year that entry to all University of Dundee degrees could be secured via Access and Online Summer Schools. The Uni­versity of Dundee bestowed the author with the rank of Honorary Professor of Access and Participation in October 2021.

2022 – after thirty years of academic service the author sought early retirement, partly to publish a book on all he had learned.

Hopefully the above journey provides some context about the author and the breadth of development and experience that plays out in this book. The development of the provision has been provided in the level of detail given so that many of the lessons learned can be shared with you.

Prof John R. D. Blicharski

HND BSc(Hons) PhD DipMedEd MEd(Hons) FHEA

Honorary Professor of Access and Participation