Congratulating the University of Glasgow's Top-up Programme Success

That the Parliament congratulates the University of Glasgow’s widening participation team on the success of its Top-up Programme, which, it understands, was highlighted in a major study published in the Journal of Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning, using 16 years of entry data between 2001 and 2016; understands that the Top-up Programme works with around 100 secondary schools in the west of Scotland and is open to pupils who live in a Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) decile one to four, are care experienced, estranged, a carer, are seeking asylum or have refugee status, helping to prepare pupils with key skills needed for successful study at university and allowing for the potential of an adjusted offer of entry upon successful completion; further understands that the study tracked students entering the University of Glasgow via the Top-up Programme and found that students who completed the programme performed better than their peers from the same schools who did not, and that they performed as well as, or better than, comparator entrants from more affluent backgrounds; considers that this study represents empirical evidence of the success of the widening participation agenda in ensuring young people from all backgrounds are given the opportunity to meet their full potential, and congratulates all of those who have successfully completed the programme since its inception.