Close the Gap: Fair admissions in postgraduate research
Close the Gap is a 4-year widening participation project between the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. It addresses the under-representation of Black British, British Bangladeshi, and British Pakistani students in UK postgraduate research overall, and across all major discipline groups at Oxford and Cambridge.
The final output of the project is the Toolkit for Fair Doctoral Admissions for Ethnically and Racially Minoritised Applicants (PDF; 2.26MB).
Close the Gap is one of 13 UK initiatives to improve access to doctoral study for Black, Asian and minority ethnic students, part-funded by the Office for Students and Research England.
Aims of the project
The project aims to transform doctoral student selection to create a socially and epistemically just and inclusive environment for research.
Close the Gap designs, tests, and refines discipline-specific, race-literate, fair selection processes intended to bring about meaningful change in postgraduate research admissions.
The Toolkit for Fair Doctoral Admissions (PDF; 2.26MB) was championed at its launch in October 2025 by the Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge, Professor Deborah Prentice, and the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford, Professor Irene Tracey, who provided the opening addresses and contextualised the project's significance.
Toolkit for Fair Doctoral Admissions
The Toolkit offers an overarching, collaborative approach to reviewing and reforming doctoral admissions to promote fairer practices for ethnically and racially minoritised groups.
Who the Toolkit is for
Designed for those shaping PhD admissions policy and strategy within UK higher education, the Toolkit combines a clear review of the factors driving inequities with practical tools to address them.
Institutions can work through the whole Toolkit or use specific sections and resource packs to tackle particular challenges, supporting fairer and more inclusive admissions.
What the Toolkit covers
The Toolkit is structured around 3 components.
- Understanding the Issue – identifying where disparities exist and potential underlying causes of inequalities.
- Developing and Implementing Solutions – co-developing tailored admissions initiatives based on insights from analysis.
- Evaluating and Sustaining Change – refining initiatives and embedding long-term improvements within institutional practice.
It also includes 9 detailed resource packs for specific, tested initiatives, covering topics such as:
- communications with prospective supervisors
- competency-based admissions
- contextual data usage
- race-equitable interview practices
Give feedback or get advice
To share your feedback on the Toolkit or seek advice on how to incorporate its recommendations into your admissions processes, contact pg-wp@admin.cam.ac.uk.