About SCAPP
SCAPP (Scotland’s Community of Access and Participation Practitioners) aims to provide a practitioners’ network to support the development and professionalisation of a strong widening access and participation community in Scotland and by doing this embed, enhance and support effective practice in Scotland.
SCAPP aims to be a sustainable, member-led community of practice and to be inclusive with a focus on supporting those directly engaged in delivery, with the purpose of embedding, enhancing and supporting effective practice in Scotland. The membership is growing to include representation from universities, colleges, skills, voluntary and public sector organisations and will continue to build the network to represent the diversity of interests, activities and work in which practitioners are engaged.
SCAPP is governed by a Steering Group with representation from across the university, college, school and charity sector.
SCAPP is funded by the Scottish Funding Council to deliver its activities.
SCAPP Mailing List
If you’d like to become a SCAPP Member and receive email updates on news, events and research or resources from the sector, please join our mailing list.
SCAPP Aims and Objectives
Scotland’s Community of Access and Participation Practitioners sets out to achieve the following aim:
To provide a practitioners’ network to support the development and professionalisation of a strong WA and WP community on Scotland. This will be open to all parties, with a focus on supporting those directly engaged in delivery, with the purpose of embedding, enhancing and supporting effective practice in Scotland.
SCAPP is governed by five objectives:
- Networking
- Training and Development
- Evaluation and Research
- Quality Standards
- Evidence
Networking
Provide opportunities to collaborate, discuss and share practice, resources and skills. Identify and work with, existing communities of practice across Scotland to ensure a positive impact on the learner journey.
Training and Development
Develop and enhance practice by creating, identifying and promoting training opportunities. Develop working groups, activities and training linked directly to elements of the Fair Access Toolkit and other relevant resources.
Evaluation and Research
Work with research to ensure practitioners have access to up-to-date evidence to inform their work. Share practice in the effective use of evidence to improve implementation and evaluation strategies. Support the collation of national and regional data to better track and target relevant groups.
Quality Standards
Ensure quality of practice by supporting and promoting the alignment of practice with evidence. Explore the development of a formal accreditation process to endorse and value the work of practitioners and to assist in raising the status of Widening Access and Widening Participation.
Evidence
Encouraging development of evaluation activity and input to an evidence base for impact of interventions for the sector.
Who can join?
The network is open to all and will have an emphasis on supporting those directly engaged in delivery of widening access and participation to higher education. Amongst others, we welcome school leadership and teaching staff; careers advisors; college and university widening access/participation teams; access researchers and those working in the third sector.
Contact scapp@stir.ac.uk if you wish to join or click here to join the SCAPP Mailing List
History of SCAPP
The Framework Governance Group tasked a Short-Term Working Group (STWG) of WP practitioners to create a community of practice in Scotland for the widening access and participation sector. In doing this, they sought to build on the work of existing networks, their volunteers and their experience which were operating locally and nationally for years, (for example, the SHEP Network and its Practitioner Best Practice sessions; the SWAP practitioner groups). After agreeing a range of aims and objectives, the STWG sought funding from the Scottish Funding Council to create a Development Coordinator (DC) post so that SCAPP could be managed and grow to support everyone across the sector in Scotland. Part of the DC role will be to develop a sustainable membership model going forward so that practitioners across the sector can continue to have a strong professional network to support them in their work. SCAPP will be led and shaped by its members.
SCAPP is funded by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) until July 2024