On her 19th work anniversary, we chat to Head of Access and Widening Participation (AWP), Lucie March, about leading one of the largest AWP teams in the country, why a daily Wordle break is essential, and how to take part in AWP’s new consultation.
What is your role and what does it involve? What impact do you hope to make?
I’m Head of the Access and Widening Participation Office, leading a team of 30 running a wide range of interventions to improve access to higher education for people from underrepresented backgrounds. You can read about our aims in UCL’s Access and Participation Plan. People don’t always know the scope of the work we do; we are one of the largest Access & WP offices in the country and are made up of four teams.
The Contextual Admissions team runs Access UCL, our undergraduate contextual offer scheme; the UCL East Schools Engagement team is developing strong partnerships with schools in East London; the Widening Participation team delivers programmes aimed at addressing the long-term barriers to HE access, particularly attainment; and the Access team runs programmes for prospective students in Year 12 and supports departments with their local WP projects.
Together, we offer over 30 different projects, reaching more than 4,000 young people from over 900 schools across the country.
How long have you been at UCL and what was your previous role?
I joined UCL exactly 19 years ago today, as the Summer School Coordinator in a very small Widening Participation Office of five people. Since then, the team has grown considerably, and over the years I have been involved in all’aspects of widening participation from running summer schools to developing new attainment programmes and running mentoring schemes in schools. I’ve always taken a big interest in the evaluation of WP work, which has traditionally been a challenge in the sector.
Tell us about a project you are working on now which is top of your to-do list
As well as UCL’s bicentennial, 2025 also marks 25 years since UCL’s first widening participation strategy was developed. We are working on a programme of events and communications to showcase our work and the progress we’ve made. As part of this we are keen to hear from students or alumni who are among the estimated quarter of a million young people who have attended our pre-entry outreach projects. (Please complete this form if you would be happy to share your story.)
What makes you most proud of your work so far?
Reading back over the first strategy, I’m proud to see the progress UCL has made in terms of Widening Participation, both in terms of the make-up of our intake, but also in how WP is embedded into institutional thinking across UCL.
Most of all, I’m proud of the team, and the fantastic projects they deliver. It’s a privilege to work with such an engaged and interested group of people - I’m always guaranteed to have thought-provoking conversations about how we can improve our work and our impact.
What are you most excited about in 2026, UCL’s bicentennial year?
As part of the UCL200 and our own WP25 celebrations, we are launching a consultation to gather views and develop a shared understanding of the future of WP at UCL. We want to look at developments for our contextual offer scheme, Access UCL; how we can contribute to tackling national inequality; and how we can address inequalities in postgraduate access. I’m really looking forward to hearing from the UCL community to inform our thinking and develop a shared understanding.
To get involved and have your say, please complete the consultation here.
What’s a small habit or ritual that helps you stay grounded at work?
I don’t know that I do stay as grounded as I’d like at work, but I like a daily Wordle and Connections break to reset my brain!
Who would be your dream dinner guests?
I’ll go for a mix of musicians and comedians I think would be good fun, so I’ll invite Jarvis Cocker, Rebecca Lucy Taylor (Self Esteem), Nadine Shah, Sara Pascoe, Nick Mohammed and Richard Osman (he can organise a good quiz for us all).
What advice would you give your younger self?
Try not to worry quite so much about everything.
What’s one thing most people don’t know about your life outside of work?
I love live music, and you’ll often find me at a gig, childcare permitting. The last gig I went to was Byrne’s Night - an evening full of lots of indie bands (and Adam Buxton) performing their favourite Talking Heads covers. Next week I am going to see Ash and relive my Britpop youth.
Where do you go (physically or mentally) when you need to recharge? What’s your favourite place?
I find any kind of greenery relaxing, and I love going walking in forests to recharge. I’ve made a New Year’s resolution to meet up with my sister and go on a big forest nature walk every month. I went on holiday to Japan a few years ago and loved the bamboo forests and mountains, so that is my dream place and I’d love to go back.
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