Current students and staff
We have a number of opportunities available to current University of Bristol students and staff to support the Widening Participation team.
Student Advisory Group (SAG)
The Student Advisory Group (SAG) brings together current University of Bristol students to share their perspectives and experiences, and to work in partnership with staff to shape the University. The group ensures that student voices are included in decisions about current and prospective student programmes, support, and the wider experience.
The work of the SAG helps improve the experience for all students across the University; however, it is specifically focused on the undergraduate UK home experience. It also focuses on understanding and improving the experiences of students who may face additional barriers to accessing or succeeding in higher education. The group contributes to the University’s Access and Participation Plan (APP), which sets out how we aim to improve access, success and progression for these students.
As a member of the SAG, you would take part in workshops once a month from October to May, usually on Wednesdays from 3.30 pm to 5 pm. In these sessions, you would work directly with staff on real projects and topics that affect students. For example, you might review marketing or email communications sent to students, share feedback on outreach programmes, or inform how academic support sessions should be run. These workshops are collaborative and discussion based, and your ideas will help shape real changes across the University. Through this, you will develop skills in communication, teamwork, and sharing your ideas with confidence. You will also be paid for your time.
We are particularly interested in hearing from students whose experiences reflect the groups identified in the APP. These include
- mature students;
- students from racialised minority backgrounds
- care experienced or estranged students
- students with mental health conditions or disabilities
- students who received free school meals
- students from IMD quintile 1 and 2 areas
- students from lower socio-economic backgrounds
- Bristol bursary recipients
- local students from Bristol and surrounding areas.
You do not need to identify with any of these groups to apply, and you do not need any previous experience.
Click here to join the SAG
Become a Widening Participation tutor - applications open now
We are currently recruiting from the following subject areas: History / Chemistry / Physics / Maths / Engineering Maths / Medicine / Dentistry / Vet Sci
The Widening Participation team's mission is to diversify the student body at the University of Bristol by empowering and supporting prospective students from underrepresented backgrounds to access university. We work in collaboration with Schools, Colleges, educational charities, community organisations and with colleagues across the University on a diverse range of programmes and events.
The Widening Participation Tutor position is a bespoke and skilled role which will provide successful applicants with an opportunity to develop their teaching, communication and presentation skills. The role is a highly flexible position which you can fit around your studies. Role holders will be expected to plan and deliver seminars, workshops and other academic sessions to young people aged 11-18 in engaging, accessible and age appropriate ways. Some engagement with younger year groups and current University students may also occur.
Please email student-ambassador@bristol.ac.uk with any questions about the role.
Become a Student Ambassador
We have a number of fantastic paid work opportunities available to current students. Applications to become an Open Day steward are now open.
Apply to work on the 2026 Open Days - applications open until 23:59 Sunday 1 March
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Competitive rate of pay - £12.60 p/h (plus 12.07% holiday uplift in lieu of annual leave)
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Paid training for the role
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Free lunch on the day
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Valuable customer service and communication skills and event experience to enhance your employability.
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Competitive rate of pay - £17.16 p/h (plus 12.07% holiday uplift in lieu of annual leave)
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Paid training for the role
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Free lunch on the day
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Valuable customer service, communication, problem-solving, and leadership skills to enhance your employability.
Student Engagement Programme
The Student Engagement Programme is a voluntary programme which allows students to get involved with a range of projects run by the Widening Participation team. We welcome interest from student societies, individual students, or informal student groups. Your input into the design and delivery of our activity could make a real difference. The voluntary nature of the Programme allows students to have more influence over the way we run our events and to get more involved in the design and delivery of sessions.
We are looking for students to collaborate on a range of different projects with us. These range from collaborating on our Destinations Conference through to social media take-overs. We also welcome you to get in touch if you have other ideas that you think could make a difference to students from underrepresented groups.
On the Programme you will have the opportunity to collaborate with the Widening Participation team and shape our events, gain a deeper understanding of WP at the University of Bristol, influence prospective students, and provide feedback to the team on events to help us evaluate them well.
Student Inclusion team at UoB
The Student Inclusion Team provides specific support for students from underrepresented groups. You can find more information about how the Student Inclusion Team at UoB fosters an inclusive community here.
Access Postgrad
As a prospective postgraduate student, you may have reservations about the time, skills and resources needed to access postgraduate study. The Access Postgrad scheme provides peer mentoring and skills development sessions to help current University of Bristol undergraduates decide whether postgraduate study is right for them. Find out more here.
Staff and PGRs
Come along to one of our Active Outreach sessions
This is a great session for anyone who is involved in delivering an outreach or widening participation session to primary or secondary students at the University of Bristol. It aims to explore ideas for active engagement and provides information about widening participation and the UK school system. This is open to PGR students and staff at the University of Bristol.
The dates for the academic year 2025-2026 are as follows:
- Thursday 27th November 2025, 9:30am-11:30am (Online)
- Wednesday 11th February 2026, 1:30pm-4:00pm (In person)
- Thursday 11th June 2026, 9:30am-11:30am (Online)
Please sign up using this form and please contact us at active-outreach@bristol.ac.uk for more information.
School Governance Network
The University of Bristol School Governance Network is a new network that aims to support the recruitment of University staff to local governing boards, to facilitate a meaningful connection between the University and the wider local education community. The University supports staff to engage in school governance by providing staff with up to 18 days of paid absence per year to engage in public duties.
Interested in becoming a governor? Visit the SharePoint site for full details.