Pathways to inclusive practice
Pathways to Inclusive Practice aims to embed inclusive approaches to teaching, learning and assessment. It is a 3-year programme which will complete in September 2028 and is funded by a generous philanthropic donation from Christina and Peter Dawson.
The programme brings together related recommendations from the University’s Review of Teaching (2024-25), and the Review of the Approach to Provision for Disabled Students (2024). It also incorporates commitments made within the University’s Access and Participation Plan 2025-29.
Aims of the programme
The programme has two primary goals:
- Create the conditions for all students to make the most of their education, addressing barriers to this where they exist
- Ensure that our data, processes, and systems actively support inclusive, high-quality education and align with legal and regulatory obligations
Achieving our aims
Department led pilots
We will support departmentally led pilot projects, to explore and accelerate change and build an evidence base for further developments across the institution. We have funded five pilot projects to date, impacting nearly 5,000 students across the institution.
These pilots aim to test how we can best implement inclusive educational practice within our specific educational model and disciplinary contexts. They will create and test a baseline of inclusive practice and a core matrix of reasonable adjustments, consider what support and training is needed to deliver this, and will develop a clear position on competence standards, feeding into University policy on a larger scale. They will also address any specific issues or interventions for awarding gaps.
Setting clear and consistent expectations
We will set clear, consistent expectations for inclusive, effective curriculum design and delivery. This will begin with developing a clear understanding of what inclusive educational practice looks like at Cambridge – to be tested further in our pilots – and how this contributes to, and impacts, curriculum design
Empowering and equipping staff
We plan to empower and equip staff to create learning environments where all students are able to thrive. We will be considering what roles are necessary to deliver inclusive educational practice, what responsibilities they have, and how they can be best supported to realise these
Aligning data, processes and systems
We are aligning data, processes, and systems to support inclusive educational practice and enable meaningful action. This will begin with reviewing the format and process for producing Student Support Documents and consider how information flows across the collegiate University.
We will also be developing a new operating model for the Accessibility and Disability Resource Centre (ADRC), to better support staff and students. Alongside these targeted changes, we will be reviewing available data and processes to ensure they are fit for purpose and able to fulfil our vision for inclusive educational practice as it develops throughout the programme
What we’re doing
We have 8 activity streams:
- Funded pilot projects led by Departments
- Standards and definitions
- ADRC operating model
- Roles and responsibilities
- Support and training
- Data and information (individuals)
- Data and information (trends)
- Scheduling
As a foundational activity to support all elements of the programme, we have created the Inclusive Education Hub, led by Dr John Harding. The Hub will sit within Education Services and offer day-to-day guidance to both pilot and non-pilot areas. We will be carrying out evaluation of the impact of both the Hub and the programme as a whole.
Phase One of our departmental pilots launched in March 2026 and Phase 2 in May 2026. Find out more about our pilots.
Resources and links
We want to share our progress with other institutions and sector bodies. We will be updating this page at intervals throughout the programme.
Find out more
University of Cambridge staff and students can find out more on our SharePoint site.
If you are from outside of the University, please contact inclusiveeducation@admin.cam.ac.uk.