This joint India-UK seminar aims to review recent developments and national strategies for widening participation in higher education and come up with a series of recommendations for future UKIERI joint activities, including research cooperation.

Both UK and India have identified a need to increase participation in higher education from the more disadvantaged groups in their societies. Whilst some of the barriers to success might be country specific there are sufficient areas of similarity and shared concerns to seek to learn from each other's experiences. However there has been little opportunity previously to progress this, in spite of the long history of cooperation between UK and Indian universities and research centres.

Policy makers, researchers and staff from higher education institutions from India and UK will be participating in this seminar which has the following objectives:

•. To review and promote joint understanding of the current priorities and concerns relating to widening access to higher education in India and the UK
• To identify barriers to achieving these objectives – economic, social, educational, cultural and ethnic – in both countries.
• To present details of successful projects and initiatives from both countries and institutions.
•. To identify areas for future cooperative research and/or activities involving both countries.

For further information please contact Vidya Sivakumar at vidya.sivakumar@in.britishcouncil.org