“I have real concerns about a narrative, and a view, that’s taken hold in some quarters that we’ve reached the mountain top, and that the widening access agenda has fully been delivered,” said the Vice Chancellor.

“Because if we’re tempted to stand still, we’ll end up going backwards.”

The summit discussed the OFFA/HEFCE National Strategy which concludes that while considerable progress has been made in achieving wider access and greater student success, there is still a need for “a more coherent, collaborative and co-ordinated approach”.

In his keynote speech Mr Rammell addressed the effectiveness of bursaries and scholarships as a means to help widen participation. He drew on his own experience at the University of Bedfordshire, where in 2010/11 around three quarters of all students received some form of financial support.

However he explained: “60% of applicants to the University applied without knowledge of the financial support on offer …. and 30% of those that received financial support couldn’t even remember the amount or type that they received.

“It became clear that these support arrangements were not effective in delivering on our core mission of widening access to higher education and transforming lives.

“We took the decision to re-balance and increase our proportionate spend on measures to support access and student success, as well as clarifying and simplifying the arrangements for student financial support.”

As an example the Vice Chancellor explained how in Luton the progression rate to higher education by those eligible for free school meals was at 31%, way above the national figure of one in five.

“We take some institutional pride in that. Not just recruiting in our communities, many without a tradition of going to university, but raising aspiration and ambition in general.

“It’s not by accident that during the last academic year, students from nearly a hundred and fifty schools and colleges visited the University as part of our outreach programmes. That’s where the student lifecycle truly starts.”