University of Staffordshire enlisted BA (Hons) Cartoon and Comic Arts students to create a series of comics to help demystify its Access and Participation Plan (APP) – which outlines the steps it is taking to boost equality of opportunity for under-represented groups.
A team of student research and evaluation assistants were also recruited and trained to explore the impact of the APP’s interventions in their first year, using a range of evaluation approaches, such as focus groups, interviews and surveys.
Figures show just 22.7% of 18-year-olds from Stoke-on-Trent, and 28.4% from wider Staffordshire, entered higher education in 2021-22. There are also low access rates, and attainment rates, for students from some ethnic minorities, particularly those from black and Asian backgrounds compared to their white peers.
Professor Raheel Nawaz, Pro Vice-Chancellor at University of Staffordshire, said: “Our mission is to connect talent with opportunity and to transform lives through education. By improving equality of opportunity for under-represented groups, we work to ensure students can access, succeed in, and progress from higher education.
“The APP has also been about co-creation and empowering students to shape their own educational experiences. Our student research and evaluation assistants were pivotal in compiling this report, and our Cartoon and Comic Arts students have done a fantastic job of turning it into something that is engaging and accessible for a wider audience.”
University of Staffordshire has already been recognised for its efforts to support learners from diverse backgrounds, ranking second for social inclusion in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2026. It was also named as one of the top five universities for first generation students in the Daily Mail University Guide 2026.
University of Staffordshire’s APP sets out how it will deliver on this commitment across the 2024-25 to 2027-28 academic year cycle. It covers the entire student lifecycle, from admissions to graduate outcomes, and details a range of activities and interventions to widen participation and make higher education more inclusive.
This includes the Children’s University, partnering with 21 schools to introduce children to a university environment and develop their love of learning – with participants invited to ‘graduate’ on campus.
Other examples are the Step Up to Higher Education programme which helps adults gain the skills and confidence to progress onto degree-level work, a Student Success Fund for students experiencing financial hardship, and the introduction of more inclusive teaching practices to help both neurodiverse students and those from racially diverse backgrounds.
Final year Cartoon and Comic Arts students Jackson Devlin, CristelRubey, Suzanne Faylee and Georgia Nixon each produced a comic, covering one of the four strands of the APP: Access, Transitions, Curriculum and Student Support.
Jackson, who is now completing a Masters course at the University, worked on the Access strand comic. “Honestly, it was very fulfilling to work on.” he shared. “It’s nice to produce a comic and know that it’s going out into the world with a purpose.
"Using comics is giving an opportunity for that message to go out to as many people as possible, which I find very compelling. I’ve met a lot of people who struggle with long, dense things. But comics are a little bit more accessible for me because the visuals build that understanding.”
Suzanne, who designed a comic for the Curriculum strand, added: “I really appreciate the freedom we’ve had with this. It allowed me to do things at the best of my ability.
"I wanted to make everything as diverse as possible, so people could see themselves in it. Using comic art makes it more engaging and actually encourages people to listen to this and feel convinced.”
Discover more about the Access and Participation Plan and view the comics for each strand below:
Transforming Access comic by Jackson Devlin (he/any)
Artist information:
Transforming Transitions comic by CristelRubey
Artist information:
Transforming Our Curriculum comic by Suzanne Faylee (she/her)
Artist information:
Transforming Student Support comic by Georgia Nixon (she/her)
Artist information: