Based on current data, descriptive case studies and theoretical perspectives, Exploring Widening Access for Mature Age Students considers international techniques and approaches to non-traditional and mature students in Further and Higher Education.
The book provides quantitative and qualitative information regarding contemporary ways of thinking about, and institutional responses to, widening access for mature students (WAMS). It gives an up-to-date assessment of the current climate, bringing together international voices to meet the growing and urgent requirement for working age adults to remain employable as occupational competencies evolve, and describes and enumerates approaches which are in operation to attract, educate and retain students with non-traditional entry requirements. Focused on the results of an international survey and a qualitative benchmarking exercise undertaken by ten institutions from the Global North and South, this volume offers advice and examples for best practice to those working to support wider access to Further and Higher Education for WAMS.
This book provides current information and support to any education professionals who wish to understand what can be done to meet the challenge of what the future of work will look like.
Edited by:
David Baker (Director David Baker Consulting UK),
Lucy Ellis (Senior Associate,
David Baker Consulting,
UK),
Nazim Uddin (Director,
Nelson College London,
UK)
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Weight: 580g
ISBN: 9781032888835
ISBN 10: 1032888830
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 30 September 2025
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Preface Introduction to Exploring Widening Access for Mature Age Students: International Data, Experiences and Practices - David Baker, Lucy Ellis & Nazim Uddin SECTION ONE: FINDINGS 1. Summary and Synthesis of Outcomes and Findings - David Baker, Lucy Ellis & Nazim Uddin SECTION TWO: INTERNATIONAL DATA AND BENCHMARKING 2. International Data on Mature Age Students: Availability and Content - Kensa Broadhurst and Lucy Ellis 3. Widening Access Mature Students in Higher Education: UK and Australia Survey - Stephen Billett & Leah Le 4. International Benchmarking Exercise on Widening Access for Mature Students: Report and Benchmarking Statements - Stephen Billett, David Baker, Lucy Ellis, Leah Le, Nazim Uddin SECTION THREE: ENGAGEMENT AND PARTICIPATION 5. Mature Students and Coping Resources - Mary-Jo Appaqaq 6. Mature Learners and Higher Education: A Perspective from University of Jos, Nigeria - Naandye Dabugat 7. Life Experiences of Migrant Student Mothers as Agents of change within Higher Education in the United Kingdom - Ron Cambridge 8. Grown up Conversations: Understanding the experience of Mature Students in Creative Arts Higher Education - Tim Gundry 9. Life Experience & Knowledge Construction: Mature Students as Returners to Higher Education - Nick Papé, Rahaman Hasan and Nazim Uddin 10. Widening Access: Indigenous Australian Mature-Aged Students in Higher Education - Thu D Pham, Angela Baeza, Peter Anderson & Levon Blue 11. Pathways that enable equity in higher education: An overview of the Open Foundation programme at the University of Newcastle, Australia and the experiences of mature-age, first-in-family, regional, and online students - Cathy Stone and Anna Bennett 12. Cultural Advances in the classroom: Practice, Marketing and Global Domesticity for WAMS - Rebekah Okpoti SECTION FOUR – CURRICULUM AND PEDAGOGIC PRACTICES 13. Social Media: The Bridge Between Education & the Workplace for Mature Students - Bruce McLauchlan 14. The Transformational Role of Tutoring at the Autonomous University of Chihuahua - César Eduardo Gutierrez Jurado, Ivonne Medina-Chávez & Fidel González-Quiñones 15. A Community of Inquiry Study - Mature Students’ Experience - Damien Homer 16. Supporting Mature Students Longitudinally across the academic lifecycle - Gemma Standen 17. Representational Realities: Understanding the 21+ Performing Arts Student Journey in the UK - Mark Hunter and Javeria K. Shah 18. Theoretical Perspectives on Work Experience and Life Experience in the Context of Mature Students in Higher Education - Nazim Uddin and Lucy Ellis
David Baker is Director of David Baker Consulting, UK, and Professor of Strategic Information Management, Plymouth Marjon University, UK. Lucy Ellis is Senior Associate of David Baker Consulting and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Exeter, UK. Nazim Uddin is the Director of Nelson College London, UK. He is a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and Higher Education Academy.
